You know what the biggest problem with flat brim hats is? They don’t stay flat. Whether your hat is felt or straw, the bigger the brim the wavier it gets. Don’t worry though – it’s an easy fix you can do at home.
Why do flat brim hats get wavy?
The short answer is: gravity. The brim of wool felt and straw hats (fur felt has a bit of a natural advantage here) needs a tremendous amount of structural integrity to keep itself completely flat, which is accomplished with either reinforcement around the edge of the brim in the form of a welt and wire (welt is the technical name for the folded and stitched edge around the brim) or a ton of hat stiffener. Very few flat brim hats are made with one or the other of these, so they get droopy over time.
How to fix a wavy brim: the quick method
Materials:
- an iron
- distilled water
- a clean cloth
- an ironing board
- your hat
A few notes before we start:
- You can use tap water but distilled is better for the long-term health of your iron - with regular tap water, mineral deposits build up inside the iron and clog steam vents which cause water to spit rather than steam. Spitting makes it really easy to burn yourself and damages some materials.
- When you steam a hat, you’re reactivating the stiffener in the hat. With straw in particular, it can get sticky so, for the love of all that is holy, don’t bring your hat in contact with dirty or dusty surfaces or paper. Once it’s cool and dry the stiffener rehardens and the stickiness goes away.
Method
- Fill your iron with distilled water.
- For straw, set the iron to the highest heat setting and highest steam setting. For felt, set it to the wool setting.
- Lay your hat brim down on your ironing board.
- Lay the towel over the brim (I used cloths cut from an old bedsheet, but a thin dish towel is a good choice).
- Iron the brim through the towel. Make your way slowly around the entire brim – you will probably need to shift your towel and/or your hat to get the whole brim. Take your time (really, a few minutes) and use lots of steam.
- Leave the hat to cool and dry on a flat surface.
Voila! Your straw flat brim hat is flat again.
How to fix warped brim: the slow, no heat method
Materials:
- a clean, flat surface
- a clean towel
- heavy objects*
- your hat
*heavy objects can be just about anything - books, canned goods, weights, a marble bust – whatever you have around. I usually use books and/or my antique heavy irons**
**For those of you who enjoy my story telling and/or rambling asides: I have four or five heavy irons, which are just what the name implies – very heavy, like 20 lbs, irons. They have nob and tube era wiring which doesn’t (or at least probably doesn’t) work. My husband bought them on eBay, all on the same day, about ten years ago with the thought that at least one of them would have a heating element that was still functional and could be rewired and be safely used. And if none of them worked we could use one the old school way and heat it on a hot plate like it’s 1850. Back then, we spent a few days with Kate and John at the then Brass Rooster now McLaughlin & Hayes Hat Co, because we were considering hat cleaning and repair to our services. Ultimately, we opted not to do work on hats and send all inquiries to McLaughlin & Hayes and/or Mike the Hatter (if you need a restoration of a vintage hat or family heirloom, McLaughlin & Hayes are the people to talk to). Anyway, hubs hasn’t even looked at them - one is still coved in plastic cling wrap from shipping. I don’t know if any of them work, but for this project I just need them to be heavy, which they are.
Method
- Lay your hat brim down on a flat surface (I have a REALLY big tray I use for this kind of project because the hat needs to stay on the flat surface for a day or two or three and counter space is precious at the store).
- Lay a towel over the hat brim (I used cloths cut from an old bedsheet, but a thin dish towel is a good choice).
- Lay your heavy objects on top of the towel around the brim with as little gapping between objects as you can manage.
- Leave your hat alone for a few days and let gravity and rest take their course.
How to prevent a brim warping
With any completely flat brim, you're going to have to commit to a certain amount of reflattening. You can passively reflatten by storing your hat flat when you aren't wearing it, preferably with heavy objects over the brim (basically, the no heat method but with less intensity of heavy objects).
PRO TIP: Humidity and gravity work against you. Let gravity work for you by storing your flat brim hats on a flat surface, like a shelf in your closet. Hats look cool hanging on the wall but you will need to reflatten your brim more often if you hang your hat.
The other option is to choose a hat with just the slightest bit of a curl to the brim rather than a completely flat brim. A few of our favorite flat brim alternatives are Special Edition Buck, Stratoliner, Colver, Ari, and anything with a pencil roll (pencil rolls are the next big thing in hat trends.
The other option is to choose a hat with just the slightest bit of a curl to the brim rather than a completely flat brim. A few of our favorite flat brim alternatives are Special Edition Buck, Stratoliner, Colver, Ari, and anything with a pencil roll (pencil rolls are the next big thing in hat trends.
