Club Obi Wan

You get it when you get that first mark on a pristine white liner.

Mine now shows red clay dust marks from Kauai. I LOVE IT!

That makes it look more lived in doesn´t it? But I know what you mean, this was one of the reasons (beside a little bit of variety) I went with a cream coloured liner in my Penman.

There are somethings you never want to see... how sausage is made, your grandparents in the nude, or someone else's dirty liner.

Words to live by, Eric.

The first water mark or sweat stain is always killer. I hate it when it happens. But once you have it, you can go on enjoying the hat because it is no longer pristine and you may as well wear the #### out of it. I fell the same way with (two very different items) guitars and shoes. I try my best to keep both pristine but inevitably, they will get scuffed up and scratched and once that happens I don't care anymore and just enjoy them instead of babying them.

Dave

First and foremost, a hat is a tool. Use it for what it was designed for...to protect your head against the elements....oh, and it can STILL look nice while doing it.

Regards! Michaelson

Makes me put mine down on the brim to hide the stains......I asked John to put a black liner in the Raiders lid to avoid that problem...

Ian

Sweat stains dry white.

Sweat stains dont bother me. Substances in there that dont belong in there bother me.

Michaelson wrote:Sweat stains dry white.

Ian

I felt the same way after I got sweat stains on the liner of a Penman hat I used to own. After the initial "ah, man," every time I saw the stain I was reminded of the hike I took with my sons that causes the stains to get there.

Sort of like the coffee stain on the carpet of my first car. I was irritated when it happened, but after that was a reminder of my buddy who caused it. I got to think of him almost every day when I got into the car.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Indiana Jeff wrote: I got to think of him almost every day when I got into the car.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Hopefully in a GOOD way....

Definitely! Friends since we were 5, best man in my wedding, etc. I bought the car upon graduating from college just prior to moving from Ohio to Missouri for grad school. I wasn't going to be seeing him much and given this was the early 90's, long distance communication wasn't nearly as convenient as it is now. That coffee stain helped me feel a little closer to home.

But, back to hat stains...

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Indiana Jeff wrote:I felt the same way after I got sweat stains on the liner of a Penman hat I used to own. After the initial "ah, man," every time I saw the stain I was reminded of the hike I took with my sons that causes the stains to get there.

Sort of like the coffee stain on the carpet of my first car. I was irritated when it happened, but after that was a reminder of my buddy who caused it. I got to think of him almost every day when I got into the car.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Well, I have a Penman coming my way soon. I for one intend to treat it as my "go to" hat. If it gets sweat stained? Meh. If it gets dirty? Meh. I don't intend to abuse it, but I'm certainly not babying it either. I want it to be an integral part of my everyday "costume" so I'm just going to let it build character in its own way. To me, keeping it clean is kinda like a spotless 4x4 off-road vehicle. No one is really going to believe you've gone anywhere without some dirt.

My bride just noticed a sweat stain in my AB Sahara 'Michaelson' and said, "Oh no, can you get that cleaned?" I told her I could, but that getting a sweat stain is right of passage for hat wearers and this stain will always remind me of our holiday in Denmark.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

This is funny to me. Just this weekend I was wearing my early AB and was commenting on how the liner used to show the headpiece. Now, the illustration is hardly recognizable at best, and the liner FAR from pristine!

That's caused by the caustic hairjell you use to keep your Mohawk up, bink.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to the time when I can't read the Adventurebilt name on my sweat and the logos on the liner are faded away. Bink, speaking of early ABs I'm bringing a treat to the QM.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

Indiana Jeff wrote:Yeah, I'm looking forward to the time when I can't read the Adventurebilt name on my sweat and the logos on the liner are faded away.

It's not all its cracked up to be, Jeff.



Regards! Michaelson

Indiana Jeff wrote:Bink, speaking of early ABs I'm bringing a treat to the QM.

Regards,

Indiana Jeff

First sweat stain? I've got a Henry who's liner turned the CS colour! Well... not that uniform though

Sweat stains don't bother me much, as they are a sign of a well loved hat.

Regards, Geert

I sent my Henry off to John for a fettle.....I remember feeling a little sorry for him having to handle my horrible, sweat-stained liner...

I felt better when I got it back though..

Ian

I look at each stain, and each mark as an individual scar of
use. It gives each and every piece it's own character.
They aren't unique until a person puts their own mark on
them. Until then they are sterile, rigid, and cold. Once they
begin to meld with their owner they grow warm and comfortable.

garytelecastor wrote:I look at each stain, and each mark as an individual scar of
use. It gives each and every piece it's own character.
They aren't unique until a person puts their own mark on
them. Until then they are sterile, rigid, and cold. Once they
begin to meld with their owner they grow warm and comfortable.

well said!

garytelecastor wrote:I look at each stain, and each mark as an individual scar of
use. It gives each and every piece it's own character.
They aren't unique until a person puts their own mark on
them. Until then they are sterile, rigid, and cold. Once they
begin to meld with their owner they grow warm and comfortable.

Very true

_, not having stains in your liner from sweat could be due to the composition of your sweat. Some people have oily sweat (which does leave stains) and others have sweat that's little more than water with salt (which doesn't leave stains). Ad to this that sweat varies in pH levels from person to person and you can also explain why the headpiece on the liner might disappear with some. True, hair care products can contribute, but stains can happen without them. Looks like liner wise you are one of the lucky ones.

Regards, Geert

Best way to never get a single stain on the liner is to remove it.

rick5150 wrote:Best way to never get a single stain on the liner is to remove it.

The only problem that I have with removing the liner is that you run the risk of permantly staining the felt. And if that happens you will need a new hat. Which can seem like a good excuse until you look at the cost.

I've worried about this problem as well with my hats. I want to use the heck out of them but am a perfectionist of sorts and don't want to see the "blemishes" that come with such wear. I've been trying to figure out how to still be able to wear the hat and yet have the liner pristine and came up with two options that might not be all that cost hindering:

1) Replace your favorite liner right away with a more generic one. If having a special embossing on your liner is not important to you but just having a liner in your hat is, then send the hat out to a hatter explaining the situation and having them replace your favorite liner with a cheaper generic one and returning the hat to you with the original liner. This way you can keep the liner pristine and yet wear the **** out of your hat. Plus, when the generic one is beyond useable, you can have a new generic one replaced. Then, when you feel the hat is ready for retirement or more casual "less sweaty" events, you can then send 'er off one more time to have the original put back in for years of display or light wear.

2) Put a plastic protective liner in your hat. I've seen this done with a couple of hats I've bought over the years and if I recall correctly from my Akubra, I think they even have that plastic protective film in theirs. It can be somewhat annoying at times, but if you want to protect your liner and yet be able to wear the hat with it in, perhaps this might be an option as well.

Just trying to think of options to "have one's cake and eat it too".

"Ruin" is in the eye of the beholder. Some say it adds character. I think that Steve was saying at one time during a conversation I had with him that naphtha works well for cleaning hats. I have been wearing the Indy hat for nearly a decade and have never ruined one by sweating. And I do a lot of that while wearing the hat.

i hope i'm asking in the right thread. if the leather band starts to wave or buckle a little.and chance of fixing that?

keith

kwh wrote:i hope i'm asking in the right thread. if the leather band starts to wave or buckle a little.and chance of fixing that?

keith

Sounds like the sweat is starting to shrink a little. If you don't want to go the route of replacing your sweat, I would think a good hat stretcher used after a wear where the sweat has become slightly moist (say, sweat) would restretch it out so there weren't the waves or buckling. But don't take my word for it - besides consulting others here, I'd get the opinion of a reputable hatter as well.

kwh wrote:i hope i'm asking in the right thread. if the leather band starts to wave or buckle a little.and chance of fixing that?

keith

Hey Keith, what kind of hat is it?

rick5150 wrote:

kwh wrote:i hope i'm asking in the right thread. if the leather band starts to wave or buckle a little.and chance of fixing that?

keith

Hey Keith, what kind of hat is it?

herbert johnson magnoli clothiers. but it's probably close to 3 years old now. i'm the 2nd owner. i've had it for about a year maybe.and the little bucklle just started.

kwh wrote:i hope i'm asking in the right thread. if the leather band starts to wave or buckle a little.and chance of fixing that?

keith

Two words , Hat jack.

As for sweat stains on a liner. That's One of the purposes of a liner. Better to have the sweat stain the liner. It's a lot cheaper and easier to replace the liner than to strip the whole hat down and have it cleaned and reblocked.

The reason I asked about the manufacturer of the hat is that I would expect that a sweatband buckling on a hat is similar to a zipper bucking on a jacket. When a leather jacket shrinks, and the zipper does not, it creates a waviness to the zipper because the material has to go somewhere, but it is firmly sewn in. So it does "the wave." If the felt of your hat shrunk slightly, it would cause the sweatband to get that same waviness for the same reason - it has to go somewhere. I believe that is why BendingOak suggested a hat jack.

BendingOak wrote:

kwh wrote:i hope i'm asking in the right thread. if the leather band starts to wave or buckle a little.and chance of fixing that?

keith

Two words , Hat jack.

thanks john

rick5150 wrote:The reason I asked about the manufacturer of the hat is that I would expect that a sweatband buckling on a hat is similar to a zipper bucking on a jacket. When a leather jacket shrinks, and the zipper does not, it creates a waviness to the zipper because the material has to go somewhere, but it is firmly sewn in. So it does "the wave." If the felt of your hat shrunk slightly, it would cause the sweatband to get that same waviness for the same reason - it has to go somewhere. I believe that is why BendingOak suggested a hat jack.

Correct. The other thing that happens is the ribbon shrinks and causes the same problem.