Anybody re-shaped an Akubra hemp-braid straw w/water or steam?

[H Weinstein]

Calling all experts! I just got an Akubra Balmoral hemp-braid hat. Has anybody here tried re-shaping one of these hemp-braid straws using either the water or steam methods many of us commonly use on felt hats?

While the Balmoral has a nice shape as is, I'd really like to re-do it with a higher, center-dent crown. But I was hoping for some experience-based advice from the Lounge gang before I risked ruining the hat! Does hemp-braid react to water the way a Sunbody Guatemalan palm-leaf-braid hat does, where it softens enough to re-shape and then hardens again when dry?

Overall, the hat is quite stiff (as others had mentioned in past posts), but also lighter-weight than I expected (MUCH lighter than a Sunbody, for example). I'm hoping it'll be a good warm-weather alternative.

Thanks for any tips or help!

 

[JackieMatra]

Yes, I have reshaped all six of my Akubra hemp hats with just plain water, very much like I have done with all of my open crown Sunbody hats.
I have simply dunked the portion of the hats that I want to reshape into a sink full of tap water with no ill effects whatsoever.

I've raised the crowns on all of my Akubra hemp hats and reshaped the brims on most of them.
Here's my tried and true method for raising the crown on Akubra hemp hats, (which has also worked splendidly on all of my fur felt hats).
1.Dunk the crown of the hat in a sink full of water for about 10 to 15 seconds. (This also works for fur felts, similarly to what is seen in Leonard Slye's (Roy Rogers) video on YouTube, except that he puts his hat under a shower, although steam works just as well even though it takes longer.)
2.Put the hat on your head and shove it down onto your ears, crushing them down under the hat.
3.Using your fingers, push the now softened crown down and shape it so that it fits on and around the top of your head.
4.Wear the hat, pushed down onto your ears, for about an hour, (indoors, away from any heat so that it doesn't shrink), until it is pretty much dry.
5.Remove the hat from your head, have a look at it to see if it looks okay to you, and if not, then repeat steps 1 through 4 until you get the look that you want.
6.Put the hat back onto your head as you intend to wear it and the crown should now be a higher and off the top of your head.
7.Have a look in a mirror to see how you look in your reshaped hat.
8.Take the hat off and look it over to see it you like how it looks.
9.If you don't like the result, repeat steps 1 through 8 above until you are satisfied with the fit and appearance of your hat.
10.My ears have always immediately sprung back to their earlier configuration. I would venture to guess that yours will do so, as well. If they do not, I would suggest taping them up until they return to their earlier configuration, and, failing that, arrange for consultations with several cosmetic surgeons.

 

[William G.]

You guys are tempting me into a Balmoral.

 

[H Weinstein]

You guys are tempting me into a Balmoral.

You calling us hat devils...?

This is my first Akubra straw, after being dissatisfied with the crown shapes of cheaper toyo straw brands like Scala. So I wasn't sure what to expect. Sizewise, this Balmoral fits very much like a felt Akubra -- I wear a 58, and this is ever-so-slightly loose, but easy to fit with some padding in the nice leather sweatband.

And the Balmoral wasn't much more expensive than a Scala, especially with the ongoing nice exchange rate.
Mine took a week to get here (Maryland) from Sam at Everything Australian. Ordered on 1/15, arrived 1/22.

 

[H Weinstein]

Yes, I have reshaped all six of my Akubra hemp hats with just plain water, very much like I have done with all of my open crown Sunbody hats.
I have simply dunked the portion of the hats that I want to reshape into a sink full of tap water with no ill effects whatsoever...

Thanks, JackieMatra! That's exactly the info I needed. I'll give it a shot.

 

[William G.]

I have a snap-brim Panama that I'm afraid to wear unless I know for sure it won't rain, and the Balmoral is very similar to it. I almost ordered a Balmoral a couple of weeks ago, in fact, but I was concerned I could't reshape it to a snap-brim.

Is the Balmoral a good sun protection hat? I've got some melanoma risk from an old sunburn.

 

[JackieMatra]

"is ever-so-slightly loose, but easy to fit with some padding"

Why don't you just shrink the hat down to fit you?
My tried and true method for shrinking non-synthetic hats down, up to an entire size.
1.Turn the sweatband inside of the hat inside-out.
2.Wet the sweatband on the rough side with water.
3.Fold the sweatband back as it was originally.
4.Turn on a table or floor lamp with about a 100 watt light bulb and place the hat, right side up over the lampshade.
4a.Most of the shrinkage will occur at the beginning of the drying, so you may want to try the hat on for size after about 12 minutes or so.
4b.You can use a hair dryer to dry the hat, if you're in a hurry, but the higher heat will dry the hat more quickly, so it will also shrink more quickly, so you should try it on after only a minute or two.
5.When the hat is nearly dry, but still slightly moist, put it on your head and let the heat from your head finish drying the hat so that it fits your head just right.

 

[JackieMatra]

"Is the Balmoral a good sun protection hat?"

The Balmoral has a brim width of 2.75".
For sun protection, the wider the brim, the better.
I've heard it said that the recommended brim width for good sun protection from a hat is at least 3" or more, and my personal experience would lead me to agree with that.
For sun protection, less than 2.5" is fairly worthless, 3"+ is best, and in-between the two is fair if you don't mind burning the tip of your nose a little after a few hours outside.

 

[JackieMatra]

"I was concerned I could't reshape it to a snap-brim."

I reshaped the brim on my Akubra Balmoral, as well as raising its crown, to have an upswept back brim, but I was not able to give it a real snap-brim, meaning that I can't get the front of the birm to snap up or down as I wear it.

 

[JackieMatra]

The Akubra Byron hemp hat, which is the precise same hat as the Akubra Planter, except that it does not have a curled brim edge and has a different hat band, surprisingly to me, turned out to have a true snap brim. I can wear it down all around, as pictured on websites, or up all around, or down in front and up in back, as-is, without any modifications.

 

[William G.]

Thank you!

 

[JackieMatra]

For sun protection, I like the Reef and the Range most from among Akubra's hemp hats.
They have the widest brims at 83mm.
The Range is differs from the Reef in having a vented crown and a different pugaree hatband.

They don't look very "city" or "formal" because of their wide brims, their pugarees, and their not having snap brims.
The ones that I purchased looked exactly as pictured on the website(s) that I purchased them from, but be forewarned that a number of loungers have complained that they received Akubra "straw" (hemp or polyethylene) hats that had hatbands that were different from the ones that were pictured. One lounger said that the retailer that he corresponded with about this matter told him that Akubra occasionally changes the pugarees on their hats and there is no way of knowing about this until a hat arrives from Akubra.

 

[William G.]

I just ordered a Balmoral. It has the same general color and brim-width as my Panama hat, which I love, with the added bonus that I don't have to worry about ruining it if I get caught in the rain. I think this is going to be a great spring / summer hat for me. Heck, last year I was wearing my stingy brim paper straw hat well into October.

Jackie, thanks so much for all your help and advice in this thread. I'm really looking forward to reshaping the brim and giving it that upward sweep in back.

 

[Chamuco]

Yes, I have reshaped all six of my Akubra hemp hats with just plain water, very much like I have done with all of my open crown Sunbody hats.
I have simply dunked the portion of the hats that I want to reshape into a sink full of tap water with no ill effects whatsoever.

I've raised the crowns on all of my Akubra hemp hats and reshaped the brims on most of them.
Here's my tried and true method for raising the crown on Akubra hemp hats, (which has also worked splendidly on all of my fur felt hats).
1.Dunk the crown of the hat in a sink full of water for about 10 to 15 seconds. (This also works for fur felts, similarly to what is seen in Leonard Slye's (Roy Rogers) video on YouTube, except that he puts his hat under a shower, although steam works just as well even though it takes longer.)
2.Put the hat on your head and shove it down onto your ears, crushing them down under the hat.
3.Using your fingers, push the now softened crown down and shape it so that it fits on and around the top of your head.
4.Wear the hat, pushed down onto your ears, for about an hour, (indoors, away from any heat so that it doesn't shrink), until it is pretty much dry.
5.Remove the hat from your head, have a look at it to see if it looks okay to you, and if not, then repeat steps 1 through 4 until you get the look that you want.
6.Put the hat back onto your head as you intend to wear it and the crown should now be a higher and off the top of your head.
7.Have a look in a mirror to see how you look in your reshaped hat.
8.Take the hat off and look it over to see it you like how it looks.
9.If you don't like the result, repeat steps 1 through 8 above until you are satisfied with the fit and appearance of your hat.
10.My ears have always immediately sprung back to their earlier configuration. I would venture to guess that yours will do so, as well. If they do not, I would suggest taping them up until they return to their earlier configuration, and, failing that, arrange for consultations with several cosmetic surgeons.

You just made my day !!!! LOL I almost spit my espresso on my laptop !!!

 

[RJR]

You just made my day !!!! LOL I almost spit my espresso on my laptop !!!

+1

 

[wmc]

I received my new Akubra Balmoral today. The hat shape is
round and my head is long oval. The hemp is very stiff. Can it
be steamed and reshaped to better fit a long oval? Has anyone
tried. Thanks

 

[Xylophile]

I received my new Akubra Balmoral today. The hat shape is
round and my head is long oval. The hemp is very stiff. Can it
be steamed and reshaped to better fit a long oval? Has anyone
tried. Thanks

No hemp experience- however I was able to steam the polystraw Akubra Country Club into an oval shape by holding it crown side down over a large and tall aluminum pot we have with 1/2" boiling water in the bottom, and held on with ski gloves as I pushed in while holding the brim in the middle of each side to form the oval. Soon I could feel it "let go" and I pushed it in till I thought it was right, then pulled it out of the steam and let it cool for a short time. I took the pug off to do it. Of course that's not hemp however my experience with the large steaming pot may be of use. I'm not quite a 59 and have a tissue folded up in front and in back, and I don't think I could improve the fit 5%.

You may find that having moved the sides in to form the oval distorts the brim a little. With my felt BGCD I was able to help that a lot with steam along the brim and careful shaping.

 

[TheDane]

I received my new Akubra Balmoral today. The hat shape is
round and my head is long oval. The hemp is very stiff. Can it
be steamed and reshaped to better fit a long oval? Has anyone
tried. Thanks

I lowered the crown on the hemp hat I recently bought from Peters Bros. without problems. A little steam made it quite malleable

 

[GLB Pro]

I just ordered a Balmoral. It has the same general color and brim-width as my Panama hat, which I love, with the added bonus that I don't have to worry about ruining it if I get caught in the rain. I think this is going to be a great spring / summer hat for me. Heck, last year I was wearing my stingy brim paper straw hat well into October.

Hello William, have you had a chance to wear your Balmoral in the rain? I'd like to try out a Byron and am wondering how it would hold up to our thunderstorms

Bruno

 

[RJR]

I lowered the crown on the hemp hat I recently bought from Peters Bros. without problems. A little steam made it quite malleable

My experience as well with both Peters Brothers and Stetson hemps.