The raw materials can be: hats made of wheat straw, twisted paper, panama paper or other materials, braids of straw, polypropylene, paper and various other kinds. They must be unprocessed at the raw stage and therefore not formed. The production stages for making STRAW HATS are:

• PRESSING (WEAVING/INCISION/FREE TENSIONING)
• GROSGRAIN ATTACHMENT
• WING CUTTING
• STITCHING
• EDGING
• LABELLING
• PACKAGING

In brief the main phases that must be performed in a hat factory are:

• for straw braids and/or ribbons, stitching with specific machines ( so-called “Anita” or chain machines)
• hot modelling, with the various electric or rubber presses, both for stitched hats and for caps
• the trimmings can be applied not only manually but also with special stitching machines or with other methods (trimming machine, cylinder machine or point machine)
• packaging stage: this consists of the final check on the product eliminating any imperfections