I contstantly keep changing bashes on some of my hats...

[PabloElFlamenco]

Steam, steam, steam away... I just finished un-optimoing my artificially optimoed Panama Bob hat. Steam, pull, push... I even found that, by pulling both ends of a section of weave in-between (two) sets of thumb and forefinger (or, is that the index finger?), that section curls upwards. Panama hats are, indeed, magic.

It's pretty much the same with felt: I change my bashes. Perhaps, too often. Mind you, not on my very best hats: those are..immaculate..but there are others, mostly those I conceive being the not quite perfect ones, and I keep steaming and pulling and ... changing the bash!

How about you guys?

Paul

 

[HatsEnough]

I don't change that often. If I don't like the cease when I first get it then I usually change it then. After that I usually just leave it.

 

[DNO]

I enjoy changing the crease on hats. I'm always amazed at how malleable the fur felt becomes but, like HatsEnough, I usually do this when I first obtain the hat and then I generally leave it alone.

 

[The Good]

Am I the only one who's never actually steamed a hat before? What I always did, and this may not have been ideal, was apply some cold, shower water onto the hat to the point that it's relatively soaked. I did this with my Akubra Federation and my vintage Stetson hats, and the results were fine. The Akubra's the fedora I changed the crease on most, while my Stetson St. Regis has since three quarters of a year ago, had the same low-crowned bash with side dents and a gap in the middle.

 

[monbla256]

Since I live in Texas and not OZ, I don't "bash" my hats. We normally have a crease put in our hats. At least I do and I let it continue to evolve with wear and handling to become MY crease Unless it goes for a swim in a stock tank or a trip in the wind down the steet, or one of my horses plays with it, then I fire the hat steamer up and re-crease it back to what it was.

 

[gtdean48]

Am I the only one who's never actually steamed a hat before? ....

Cold water can make the felt malleable. Steaming softens the felt as well but reactivates the shellac/stiffener in the felt to "set" the crease when it cools.
Even if you use cold water to shape a crease, hitting it with steam will set it in place.

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

Since I live in Texas and not OZ, I don't "bash" my hats. We normally have a crease put in our hats.

Why, dear Monbla, I wouldn't want to hurt your Lone Star State sensibilities, and if my choice of words hath been rather coarse, I do verily apologize. On a side note, I agree the word "bash" isn't perhaps the most elegant, and to put a crease -in a hat- sounds like a perfectly civil thing to do.

I'm not Australian, never been there, and rarely in fact encounter Austalians. My native language is not English and, even if I'm proficient in using English or "American", me using the word "bash" demonstrates that the learning process, nowadays, crosses unsuspected boundaries. I would never have said "bash" if it weren't for the Fedora Lounge, which is where I must have picked up the word...

My heartfelt love to Texas! (I miss the great American West!)
Pablo

 

[Machine Ager]

Hi Pablo

Well here is another Texan's opinion (although an Austinite)

When I think of a "Bash" I think of the Felt Fedora with a Teardrop shaped pinch on the front, and the crown top push in or "bashed" to your shape taste.

Now as my fellow Texan says on our Western styles Straw, Felt, or Shantung we do like definite Creases either on sides of crown or in the top or both.

My Favorite Western crease is the so called "Gus" which is a sloped crease in the top of crown

Any way my worthless 2 cents...

MA

 

[T Rick]

Am I the only one who's never actually steamed a hat before? What I always did, and this may not have been ideal, was apply some cold, shower water onto the hat to the point that it's relatively soaked. I did this with my Akubra Federation and my vintage Stetson hats, and the results were fine. The Akubra's the fedora I changed the crease on most, while my Stetson St. Regis has since three quarters of a year ago, had the same low-crowned bash with side dents and a gap in the middle.

Seems your method was good enough for Roy Rogers. Have you seen the video of him doing the double teardrop on a high crowned Resistol? Check You Tube.

One caveat, I like distilled water in a sprayer, as one never knows what's in the tap water (some may stain a hat).

I do like my steamer though, it really does something more than just water, particularly IMO on vintage hats.

 

[DJH]

I tend to change my hats around until I like then, then leave them alone.

The Optimo I received yesterday is a good example. Squashed in shipping, I was able to get it back to its original teardrop crease. Didn't like it too much so I changed to a diamond.

Better, but still not happy. I tried to use steam to make a center crease, but the hat insisted on following the old folds.

Brute force needed, a good wetting with distiller water, then onto my block to get back to open crown. I shaped to center crease while still wet and finally happy.

 

[scottyrocks]

You may have to contact BA - Bashaholics Anonymous.

 

[JohnnyDollar]

I pretty much try a few bashes on a hat till I get it where I like it and then leave it and let the bash figure out what it wants to be through repeated wearings etc.

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

You may have to contact BA - Bashaholics Anonymous.

I strongly suspect, my dear Mr. Scotty (is that ...on the rocks?) that you are close to the crux of the matter: some kind of neurosis. I knew I was (in youth, I must add) "bashful".

Paul

 

[scottyrocks]

Even without professional help, you will probably eventually find a crease for each of your hats that you will like. Of course, you then may be plagued by the only slightly less annoying habit of 'obsessive tweaking.'

 

[RBH]

Dang... is there no hope for the hopeless?????

 

[randooch]

I could post a few pictures of "not quite right" bashes, but they're a tad embarrassing. That's what keeps me tweaking them: what could be the perfect Toilet Bowl Bash is somehow just a little lumpy, or what is almost a nice Teardrop has a smirk to it . . .