Getting Your Fedora Hat Fixed

Lab Work from Borsalino for ATICA on Vimeo.

 

 

Getting your hat fixed can seem like a pain but it's often a necessity. Afterall, hats can take a beating - even when you do your best to take care of it. Borsalino for Atica often receives client requests for fixing and cleaning our fedora hats but we realize there isn't much information on the process of getting your hat fixed! There are quite a few steps involved to getting your hat fixed up to look as good as it did the day you bought it.

Steps to Fixing a Fedora

Prep Workstation: our hat experts prep their workstation to ensure they have all the right materials they need to properly clean and fix up a fedora hat. This includes tools like hat brushes to lift off any caked on dirt or sweat to spray cleaners for spot treating. They will also inspect the hat to see what work needs to be done. Once dirt is lifted, a sprayer is used to steam and mist the hat to remove further dirt and debris.

Fitting the Head Block: a special head block is used to place the hat on to ensure the hat stays in tip-top shape as it's being cleaned and reformed.

Reforming the Crown: While the fedora hat is on the hat block, the hat is sprayed with a special formula to help reshape the hat. A very specific sponge is used to help reform the material before it is sprayed, again, with the steam while still on the head block.

Brim Work: the hat is removed from the head block and placed on a special flat block. This time, the brim is sprayed on the top and underside then wiped down. When the underside of the brim is facing upward, a sheet is placed on the underside of the brim and sprayed. A warm iron glides over the brim to help bring it back to shape.

Reform Brim: to reform the brim, our hat experts gently glide their hands over the underside of the brim while it's still warm, then they iron it once more. The hat is then removed from the block and sprayed.

Fashioning Centerdent and Tappers: while the fedora hat is damp, our hat experts gently press the top of the hat to fashion the centerdent and tappers - giving the hat it's true fedora hat look.

Fasten Lining: since the lining of that hat takes a beating, our hat experts carefully place an adhesive underneath the inner rim and lay the lining inside.

When the hat feels ready, it's given some finishing touches and then thoroughly inspected to make sure the hat feels as good as new.