New Panama help needed.

[Cigarband]

I just acquired a Cuenca "Havana" model from Panama Bob.
The weave is so supple that when I try to snap the front brim, it won't stay snapped. How do I shape this hat so it stays? This is my first post, but I've been lurking for months.
The knowledge and wit and wisdom on this forum just blows me away. I admire all the hat mavens here.
Thanks for the aid.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I just acquired a Cuenca "Havana" model from Panama Bob.
The weave is so supple that when I try to snap the front brim, it won't stay snapped. How do I shape this hat so it stays? This is my first post, but I've been lurking for months.
The knowledge and wit and wisdom on this forum just blows me away. I admire all the hat mavens here.
Thanks for the aid.

Welcome:eusa_clap This is a nice place as you well know. Post a pix. Also contact Bob he may be able to help. I do not know if stiffener was applied. Bring your hat into your bathroom when you shower, I mean if you shower. The moisture from the shower should help you ease your brim into shape.

 

[Goose.]

Hi CigarBand...

I'm no expert, but I have five Panamas. Three of them are BBB and have tight WPSI and two are "whatever"...one being a Stetson and the other "???".

Anyway, on all of them, I have found that a nice steaming in the bathroom works nice. Not over direct steam. But I steam up the bathroom by running the shower and shaping them. I'd do it in the sauna...but the boyz at the country club might think I'm nutz.

Last night I noticed my Stetson has a dent in the rear side. I spritzed it lightly with distilled water and shaped it by packing the inside lightly with a t-shirt. Then let it air dry.

For brims, a bit more labor...gotta steam then hold it while it starts to dry and form.

These are my cheesy ways. Someone with more knowledge will chime in.

Here's a link: http://www.panamahatsdirect.com/panama-hat-care.htm

And, of course, I must credit Brent Black: http://www.brentblack.com/pages/foundation_detail.html

I've contacted him a few times with questions and he is always the gentleman.

HEY! Post before and after pics

Your mileage may vary. Don't run with scissors.

 

[indycop]

Welcome to the lounge Cigarband!
If you like cigars also check the cigar thread in the connoisseur section!

 

[jpbales]

yar, steam be tha way- usually I use a tea kettle, but not everyone has a tea kettle, so I suppose the shower way works fine too.
Welcome,
Jim

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

"I spritzed it lightly with distilled water and shaped it..." - from Goose

That's the gimmick, right there.

I'd stay away from hot, direct, tea kettle steam on a straw.

To shape my straws, I use water to moisten the straw, both sides.

To get a brim to snap better, I turn it UP all around and work the brim into slightly more of a bowl shape than it may presently have. This is a feel thing. You are coaxing the weave to loosen a little near the crown and tighten a little at the brim edge. Careful.

Once dry, snap the front down. It should then have more staying power.

Let us know how it goes.

And welcome!

 

[dummkauf]

another straw hat ?

So I got my first straw hat from Panama Bob, and I love the hat, the only question I have is around steaming it to shape the brim. I've read you can steam it and then shape it as needed, and I'm fairly certain I understand that process, what I am wondering is how well the brim will hold it's shape after doing this. I read about steaming when I was researching straw hats, and when I got mine, I put it on, bent the front down a little and it stayed, so I thought I was all good. However, as I've been wearing it out and about lately, just a little gust of wind will flip it up on me(very irritating on the first walk since I left my sun glasses at home figuring the hat would shade my eyes), and I'm wondering whether steaming will help this, or if this is one of the differences between a cheaper hat(it was one of PB's clearance hats) as opposed to the more expensive straw hats.

Would steaming and shaping help the front brim stay down?

 

[job]

I use felt hat stiffener.

 

[The Wiser Hatter]

Yes you can steam the front of the brim to stay down as you wish. What you are doing with the steam is warming the stiffener that the hat is dunked in during the final stages of being made. I do this in my kitchen as our kitchen has a bull nose edge (rounded) that workes well. Move the steam across the front area of the brim for a couple of mintues then place hat on counter and hold down the brim for 5 minutes so that the stiffener has time to reset. Repeat to adjust as needed.

 

[jaco]

I'd stay away from hot, direct, tea kettle steam on a straw.

If it's straw you're right. If it's toquilla straw you're wrong, pardon me.
I've recently reblocked by myself a Borsalino Superfino real montecristi using steam and an old millinery C-Crown block and it was as simple as the same operation with the felts.
It's only a matter of quality of straw and good aging and conditioning of toquilla just before the weaver starts his work.
With poor raw material you'll ruine a hat, with fine steam only rejuvenate both scellac and fibers.
Plain and cold water are, in my opinion, dangerous if you don't have the possibility to block firmy in a shape.

...and I'm wondering whether steaming will help this, or if this is one of the differences between a cheaper hat(it was one of PB's clearance hats) as opposed to the more expensive straw hats.

Would steaming and shaping help the front brim stay down?

Take a look at my former statement. In addiction: more fine and thin are the fiber more reactive to stiffening and softenig actions they are. With a coarse grade they didn't absorb uniformly the shellac (in my opinion) so using steam, if not in a very huge quantity and working very well by hand, brings to a wort result.
But, I repeat, this is only my opinion and (limited) experience.

I use felt hat stiffener.

Good advice.

 

[monbla256]

So I got my first straw hat from Panama Bob, and I love the hat, the only question I have is around steaming it to shape the brim. I've read you can steam it and then shape it as needed, and I'm fairly certain I understand that process, what I am wondering is how well the brim will hold it's shape after doing this. I read about steaming when I was researching straw hats, and when I got mine, I put it on, bent the front down a little and it stayed, so I thought I was all good. However, as I've been wearing it out and about lately, just a little gust of wind will flip it up on me(very irritating on the first walk since I left my sun glasses at home figuring the hat would shade my eyes), and I'm wondering whether steaming will help this, or if this is one of the differences between a cheaper hat(it was one of PB's clearance hats) as opposed to the more expensive straw hats.

Would steaming and shaping help the front brim stay down?

One thing you have to understand about quality Panama hats is that they DO NOT have the same qualities shape wise as felt. I have several Montecristi's which are light and soft and most are in the 500+ WPI range and ALL have brims that will flop in the wind when worn on a windy day. Steam and re-blocking done periodicaly can restore the original shape but the really nice thing about them is how they develop their own shape as they are worn. Learn to enjoy them for the qualities they have which are DIFFERENT from felts

 

[Mr. Bingley]

I don't worry about the brim getting floppy on my Panama Bob Cuencano. Here in Manhattan when it's windy it will flap a little; I just tilt my head forward and down she goes (which also helps keep it on my head!)

 

[dummkauf]

Thanks for all the tips. So it sounds like my choices are take my chances with steam, use a hat stiffener for a felt hat, or just deal with the flapping brim.

As far as comparing to felts, I have no real comparison as this is my first hat, this is a recent obsession and since it's summer I figured I'd start with a straw and have been researching felt hats for this winter, so I really don't have anything to compare this hat to, which is why I'm wondering if this is just how a panama hat behaves and I just need to accept that.

 

[monbla256]

Thanks for all the tips. So it sounds like my choices are take my chances with steam, use a hat stiffener for a felt hat, or just deal with the flapping brim.

As far as comparing to felts, I have no real comparison as this is my first hat, this is a recent obsession and since it's summer I figured I'd start with a straw and have been researching felt hats for this winter, so I really don't have anything to compare this hat to, which is why I'm wondering if this is just how a panama hat behaves and I just need to accept that.

The good ones flop Just put it on your head and enjoy a true handmade work of art !

 

[jaco]

One thing you have to understand about quality Panama hats is that they DO NOT have the same qualities shape wise as felt. I have several Montecristi's which are light and soft and most are in the 500+ WPI range and ALL have brims that will flop in the wind when worn on a windy day. Steam and re-blocking done periodicaly can restore the original shape but the really nice thing about them is how they develop their own shape as they are worn. Learn to enjoy them for the qualities they have which are DIFFERENT from felts

Full Quote!

 

[dummkauf]

Ok, so I took my chances with steam last night, and it worked out very well, the front brim now stays down the way I wanted it, even if I flip it up it still goes right back down, however it's still very flexible it will still most likely fly up in the wind, though atleast now it should go back down on it's own without me having to pull it down every few seconds if it's windy out.

Thanks again for the tips!

 

[jaco]

Eventually you can use a hat stiffner or shellac (dissolved in pure alchool and then sprayed all over the brim).

 

[dummkauf]

Eventually you can use a hat stiffner or shellac (dissolved in pure alchool and then sprayed all over the brim).

Do they really just use dissolved shellac? Are you talking the over the counter junk they sell at the big name hardware stores, or the actual shellac flakes that you need to mix yourself to get a certain cut? I am assuming you are talking about the premixed stuff from Home Depot or you would be mentioning the pound of cut for mixing it up(shellac flakes are usually mixed with denatured alcohol to make the finish).

If you haven't guessed, I am an woodworker, and I never use the premixed hardware store shellac due to all the additional chemicals they put in it, which is why I'm wondering about applying to a hat.

 

[danofarlington]

The good ones flop Just put it on your head and enjoy a true handmade work of art !

Yes, they flop. For those who want a stiff hat, get a straw one. A fineweave Panama hat is to a straw hat as satin is to burlap. Or maybe better put, straw hats are like wicker furniture, and fineweave Panama straw is like microfiber.

 

[PabloElFlamenco]

On a slightly different note, there is one definite advantage, I found, to a flopping brim: the hat has far less tendency to blow off your head, in case of wind. And nothing looks more ridiculous than, between those tall buildings, having to hold on to your hat with both hands, with the exception of not doing that, and then having to chase that elusive hat rebounding down that long street... But yes, shellac works best for stiffening. Steam's ok, but the effect is quickly gone, due to the ambient humidity, and the brim ends up much as before...weak and floppy.