How to remove loose straws in a Panama?

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

I have a Panama hat which has some straws with ends that lay over top of the rest, instead of being woven under them. I may not have described the issue properly. Hopefully this picture will illustrate what I mean (it's kind of hard to see, because I can't make my camera focus on the loose straws well enough):



I can also bend those loose straws back, to make them stick up. Here is what it looks like when I do that:



I made this thread in hopes that someone can tell me the answers to these two questions:

1. Should loose straws like this be considered a serious flaw in a new hat?

2. Is there a method by which those loose straws can be removed without damaging the hat? If so, how can it be done?

 

[RJR]

I have a Panama hat which has some straws with ends that lay over top of the rest, instead of being woven under them. I may not have described the issue properly. Hopefully this picture will illustrate what I mean (it's kind of hard to see, because I can't make my camera focus on the loose straws well enough):



I can also bend those loose straws back, to make them stick up. Here is what it looks like when I do that:



I made this thread in hopes that someone can tell me the answers to these two questions:

1. Should loose straws like this be considered a serious flaw in a new hat?

2. Is there a method by which those loose straws can be removed without damaging the hat? If so, how can it be done?

I suspect the issue you have is pretty normal.If the loose ends bother you I'd try snipping them off very closely with fine scissors or clippers.Alternatively you can dip a toothpick tip in crazy glue and carefully glue the loose piece down.

 

[zetwal]

My two cents ... just leave 'em flat and let 'em be

 

[Genuine Classic Gangster]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

I suspect the issue you have is pretty normal.If the loose ends bother you I'd try snipping them off very closely with fine scissors or clippers.Alternatively you can dip a toothpick tip in crazy glue and carefully glue the loose piece down.

It does bother me because the loose pieces looks much bigger than the other adjacent pieces, as if the hat has a bulge in that area. And also because after handling the loose pieces with distilled water and my fingers, that area has now become a different (greyish) color than the other straws, and it also sticks up higher off the hat than it originally did (as if it is hovering by a couple of millimeters) before I handled it.

If I want to take the hat to a tradesman and ask him to try his best to cut off the loose pieces, what kind of tradesman would be best? I have a good tailor who will probably accommodate that request, but he won't have had any experience doing that kind of thing to a hat, so he might wreck it even more. I do not have steady enough hands or the strong fine motor skills of the kind that this task seems to need, so I'd rather not make the cutting attempt myself. Would a cobbler be likely to do a better job than a tailor? Would another type of tradesman be likely to be even better than those two?

 

[Monavillecowboy]

I'm with RJR. It's normal and I just clip them as close as possible.