What’s Old is New Again

Don’t give up your beloved old hat.
Send it to the experts at Rand’s.
“We Bring ’Em Back Alive!”

A well-made hat is like a living thing. It needs care, cleaning and looking after. There are many places one can buy a hat. But most of those relationships end at the point of purchase. At Rand’s we offer more than just “selling hats.” We offer a variety of services to help you further enjoy your purchase of a Rand’s Custom Hat. Hats are personal items that accompany the owner on life’s adventures and let’s face it – things happen. Your hat will never be as clean as the day you first put it on. So to take the worry out of the equation – at least when it comes to your hat – here are some of the ways the folks at Rand’s have your back – at least your hat’s back!

Qwik-Fix.

Candidate for a simple Qwik-Fix. When your hat needs a small tune-up – a bit of a re-shape, stiffening or just a good brushing, this is what our Qwik-Fix is for. It's the most common hat maintenance we do – brushing, stiffening, re-texturing and pressing. This will allow us to add some body and proper shaping back to your old friend without taking your hat apart to do a complete restoration. But if your hat does not fit properly or needs more love, it may require rebuilding and re-shaping, if that is the case, please refer to the Renovation section at right.

Renovation/Restoration.

This service includes cleaning, blocking stiffening, re-shaping and the addition of all new parts. Renovation/Restoration is called for when a hat has been highly-used, dirty and needs all new parts and might not fit as well anymore. After taking the hat apart, we hand scrub the hat using degreasing solutions. After a thorough cleaning, we may still be faced with left over stains from the grease and dirt left in your favorite hat over time. There are few choices remaining as hats that have faded or are discolored by perspiration cannot be re-dyed.

New arrival for Renovation. Next we block and iron the hat, add stiffener and body builders to help support the body of the hat. The next step is to iron the crown and the brim so we can restore the size needed for the customer. Once that is completed, we hand sew in a new leather sweatband, add a new silk hat lining and let the hat dry to perfection. This hat may still require a new hat band. If so. we have thousands of rolls of ribbon in different colors and widths to choose from.

Finally, we reshape the hat to meet the customer’s needs and style desired.

(There may be some fading and discoloration left behind in Renovated hats. Each color of fur felt reacts differently to the sun and elements.)

Resurrection.

"We Bring'Em Back Alive!"Rand’s Resurrection service is the last, best hat service available in the country. If we can’t save your hat with this service it will be determined as D.O.A. It starts with a bath. We take your old friend and start soaking it in a degreasing solution. Next, we remove all parts of the hat including the bound edge if your hat has one. After hand processing your hat several times to make sure all perspiration and dirt are removed, we turn the hat inside out if necessary for additional inspection and cleaning. Then we may turn the hat around front to back to start the sanding and ironing process to try and strengthen the weak spots on the brim and the soft spots on the crown or crease areas. Then the stiffening and drying process starts. In order to add body back into most hats, it requires multiple layers of the fur felt to be stiffened, dried and stiffened again. Then the hat is pressed at two-hundred degrees to iron in the stiffener. This action will require a wooden block to be placed back in the hat to start the sanding process and finishing the texture so that the hat will be soft to the touch once again. Next we need to hand sew a new, soft leather sweatband in your hat to the size that has been pre-determined when your hat arrived. Then we add a new silk lining and trim the hat with a new hatband and ribbon edge binding if required. And as with the other services, we finish your hat with water repellent to help enable your “old” hat to withstand the elements better. A final re-crease and shape and we have brought your hat back to life.

Call or email for details: 1-800-346-9815 or Randshats@gmail.com

D.O.A.

Rest in Peace  But remember, there are some hats that simply cannot be saved. If that is the case with your hat, we will tell you gently as losing a loved one can be devastating. May this one, Rest In Peace....

But all is not lost. If your hat is determined to be D.O.A. we will be pleased to fit you with a new Rand’s Custom Hat – perfect for your next round of life’s adventures. We have many styles and colors and we’ll make it just for you!

Visit our Gallery of Hats for ideas, or our How to Order page for step-by-step instructions to order your new custom hat from Rand's.