fedora pinch problem

e.m.t. jones · Post by **e.m.t. jones** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:21 pm

The pinch on my AB seems to be fading compared to the rest of the hat. Has anyone else had problem, does any anybody know how fix/stop it ? please help e.m.t.

Post by **Michaelson** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 9:08 pm

Do you grab your hat by the pinch when you put it on and take it off?

If so, sounds like a cleaning problem rather than a fading problem.

Regards! Michaelson

e.m.t. jones · Post by **e.m.t. jones** » Wed Sep 27, 2006 10:59 pm

That was my first thought, I used to grab the pinch to take it on & off, and I thought maybe I ground dirt into the fabric, I stopped grabbing the hat that way. I tried brushing the hat w/a hat brush, and tried steam but dosent seem to help.

Strider · Post by **Strider** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 12:35 am

I get this happening every so often with the ABs I've owned, too. I think it fades in one spot the more you touch it there.

Last Crusader · Post by **Last Crusader** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 7:04 am

NEVER GRAB YOUR HAT BY THE PINCH!!!

I think it´s time to put this into the Fedora-FAQ-thread.

VP · Post by VP » Thu Sep 28, 2006 7:18 am

Hey, it's screen accurate.

Post by **Michaelson** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:57 am

True, but everytime Ford wore one out, they just handed him another. This is e.m.t.'s only hat.

Regards! Michaelson

Bufflehead Jones · Post by **Bufflehead Jones** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 10:51 am

Michaelson wrote:True, but everytime Ford wore one out, they just handed him another. This is e.m.t.'s only hat.

Regards! Michaelson

Exactly. Getting drug behind a truck is screen accurate for a jacket, too, but I'm not going to do that with my Wested.

You shouldn't pick a hat up by the pinch, and it has been posted on this forum many times. With a very tight pinch, like on the Raiders hat, you can even crack the felt and cause it to split by continually picking it up that way.

It reminds me of a piece of paper. If you fold a piece of paper very tightly, it will tear perfectly along that fold very easily. Same kind of thing with the Raiders tight front pinch, only on a much larger scale. With the felt in such a tight pinch, if you continue to pick up the weight of the hat and put pressure on that tight front pinch, the felt will eventually split.

Ummmm.....an air conditioned Raiders fedora.....hey, that could be your summer hat!

VP · Post by VP » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:11 am

Perhaps a Fred C. Dobbs The Treasure of the Sierra Madre hat?

Everytime I read e.m.t.'s nick I think of the Finnish acronym emt, "en minä tiedä" meaning "I don't know".

Bufflehead Jones · Post by **Bufflehead Jones** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:20 am

e.m.t. jones wrote:That was my first thought, I used to grab the pinch to take it on & off, and I thought maybe I ground dirt into the fabric, I stopped grabbing the hat that way. I tried brushing the hat w/a hat brush, and tried steam but dosent seem to help.

Is this the mottling that fedora has said that is sometimes on the hat? I take it, that the spots were not there when you first got the hat. If so, I would think that it could be removed by sending it back to fedora for a cleaning and a reblock.

Fedora · Post by **Fedora** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 3:22 pm

Compression lines. You get one at the 90 degree brim break as well. A lighter colored line. I know we love the tight pinch, but this is something we will have to live with. Also, you can expect the tight pinch one day to crack!!! How long this takes, I do not know. I would imagine many years though. And that is why the old hat rules stated never to pick up your hat by the pinch. It will wear the felt out, over time. You can camoflauge this line with the use of a small amount of hot hat oil(which would also give you more time before the felt cracks) applied only to the compression line. Fedora

Indiana Croft · Post by **Indiana Croft** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 5:37 pm

Hey Fedora, were can one purchase this "hat oil"

Croft

e.m.t. jones · Post by **e.m.t. jones** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 8:35 pm

Yes fedora what is hat oil ? where do I get some ? Even though my hat dosent squeak LOL

Now I have a new stress , What if my hat cracks?

OH no!!!

Fedora · Post by **Fedora** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 10:16 pm

With good felt, it literally takes years for the felt to develop the cracks, holes, etc. Unless you take a bullet through the hat.

On the oil, it is not a cure, but does help to darken the light lines. Does the same thing to mottle. But, it has an added value of making the hat shed water as well. I use de-fracturnated coconut oil, a colorless, odorless concoction. I bought it online from some cosmetic supply house, but can't recall whom. There are other mixtures used, with one being a mixture of vaseline and coconut oil. In order to do this without drenching the hat, you need to make your self an oil pad. You can take some white cotton and make yourself a pad, about 1/2 an inch thick, folding the cloth into a square. Apply a liberal amount to the pad of cotton cloth and then make yourself an envelope using another piece of cotton cloth. Of course you need to sew this one in order to form an open ended pouch. Then just place your oily pad inside this one. Heat your iron up to the cotton setting and heat up the pouch on the iron. This will wick a safe amount to the outside of the pouch. Then rub the area counter clockwise witht he grain of the felt. You do not want to saturate, just the right amount. What is the right amount, well, that takes experience. It must be applied evenly, and that is the hard part I guess. Use an old hat to get the hang of it, so you will not over oil. And make sure the oil is hot with each application. This requires you going back to the iron several times.

With that said, I like mine with the wear on the pinch. Gives the hat character, but then again, I like my hats to look like an old friend and not a new one.

I am talking Indy hats here, because I also like a nice pristine hat at times as well. But my favorite will always be the one that shows some wear. There is just something special about a hat that you have taken many places with you, and is a reminder of those times. And a well worn hat tends to draw less negetive comments than one that looks like you just bought it, all new and crisp looking. The rougher the hat, the more respect you will get, IMHO. You then look like you have been through some excitement, instead of trying to look like a guy on a film. The person thinking about slinging a deriding comment in your direction, will at many times have second thoughts. This may sound insane, but we pick up alot of info when we look at a guy, some of it unconscious. A guy with a well used hat may not be the one you want to risk silly remarks towards. Afterall, he apparently is a man of action!

Fedora

golpeo_rapidamente · Post by **golpeo_rapidamente** » Thu Sep 28, 2006 11:26 pm

[img]http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n155 ... rra002.jpg[/img]

Farnham54 · Post by **Farnham54** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 1:53 am

Hey Fedora,

Is there any way you can tell us the composition of the oil? I have some (forgive me, folks) massage oil that claims to be 100% Coconut oil--will this serve the same purpose? I don't know it you'd know this or not, but it never hurts to ask!

Cheers
Craig

Dakota Ellison · Post by **Dakota Ellison** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 9:49 am

My Optimo Indy was discoloring at the intersection of the top and front creases. I tried Marc's trick of putting the hat on my block, moistening the felt, ironing, and going over it again with the washcloth dipped in ice water, and the lightened spot was rejuvenated. You do have to re-bash after this and I had to remove the liner, which was sewn in, but what the hey.

Fedora · Post by **Fedora** » Fri Sep 29, 2006 11:24 am

Is there any way you can tell us the composition of the oil? I have some (forgive me, folks) massage oil that claims to be 100% Coconut oil--will this serve the same purpose? I don't know it you'd know this or not, but it never hurts

I have no clue, what the de-fracturanated means. But, it must be some sort of distilling process that keep the organic oil from going rancid. It is not your regular scented oil though.

My Optimo Indy was discoloring at the intersection of the top and front creases. I tried Marc's trick of putting the hat on my block, moistening the felt, ironing, and going over it again with the washcloth dipped in ice water, and the lightened spot was rejuvenated. You do have to re-bash after this and I had to remove the liner, which was sewn in, but what the hey.

Yeah, that works on the pinch-somtimes. But a true compression line cannot be removed, even by pouncing, or at least that is what I observed when trying to get the brim break compression line out of a hat I had to create a new brim break in. Sometimes the line on he pinch is not a compression line, but something else and these can be removed by using a hand held steamer with the integral stiff brush that comes on some of them. Just pop out the crease and steam and brush repeatedly. Fedora

Indiana Croft · Post by **Indiana Croft** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 5:38 pm

Hmmmmm, can see it now.

Bring your hat in for a oil change and reblock every 3,000 "take the hat on and off's"

Croft