There are over 200 steps that go into making every fur-felt Resistol hat. We start with rabbit, beaver, and wild hare's fur sourced from all over the world. Raw fur is cleaned and mixed to our our exacting standards.
After being cleaned and mixed, our fur blends are blown into the forming chamber where the thin fur fibers felt together. A thin burlap cloth is placed around the felt where it will go through additional steps to continue the felting process.
Through the felting process, the hat bodies shrink to 1/3 their size. Each Resistol fur-felt hat gets dyed, sanded, stretched, and blocked before being sent to our finishing plant in Garland Texas.
Hat bodies don't sit around for very long once they get to Garland. Their first stop is at steam block where they get a specific size from 6 3/4 - 7 3/4. After steam block we apply shellac to the hats which stiffens them.
By applying heat and steady pressure, Resistol prepares the hats for one of the most important steps in their journey to becoming a Resistol.
Hats go through multiple rounds of sanding and pouncing to give Resistol its smooth velvety finish.. Many of the machines in the Resistol factory are original. The same machines that built your grandfather's Resistol, also made yours!
After the felt has been sanded to a smooth finish it goes to get pressed into its final shape. Resistol offers a number of different shapes. From pre-creased cattleman crowns to every working cowboy's favorite shape; the open crown.
Hats are inspected every station they leave, but special care is taken to go over each hat once it arrives at Middle Inspect. Sized, sanded, & shaped, the Resistol hat is ready to be finished with trim, but not before it goes through a rigorous review process to make sure it can live up to the brand known as the best-all around.
Resistol hats aren't only known for their top-quality fur, but also their patented self-conforming sweatband, as well as signature buckle sets, and supple leather sweatbands. Each of them carefully sewn in or attached to the hat.
The journey from raw fur to a finished Resistol hat is almost complete. Each hat is fully inspected one last time before it is allowed to bear the brand name synonymous with quality in the western world. Resistol - The Best All-Around.
Once they pass final inspection, Resistol fur felt hats go to packaging where they are carefully placed in a hat box, and are then shipped to retailers throughout the nation.
