Re-shaping the brim on a Snowy River

[Dr Roly]

I seem to have caught the Akubra bug. I have a Cattleman, with a Banjo Paterson on order, and am now eying up the Snowy River. I like the colour and hat band on the SR, but no so much the up-turned sides (and I have a Stetson for if I want that look).

How easy (or otherwise) would it be to flaten the brim, then steam in a drop to the front of the brim and either a drop or upturn to the rear of the brim?

Why don't I just get another Cattleman? I prefer the raw edge, no ventilation holes and thicker hat band on the SR.

 

[ManofKent]

Pretty straightforward to flatten - use a tea-towel or similar on the brim and iron with a steam iron. Getting the drop and raised rear can be a bit more fiddly, but I've done it to my satisfaction on flat-brimmed Akubra feds using steam from a kettle and hands.

 

[gtdean48]

To soften up the brim, I use a 50-50 mixture of distilled water & rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle, really soak the brim then work it with your hands. Next, I take a steam iron & handkerchief & iron it with lots of steam. The alcohol will break down some of the shellac & get the brim more pliable. The way they flange in those brim shapes & the level of shellac makes them a challenge to change just with steam or water....

 

[Macbeth]

Glad to see this thread. I bought 3 Snowy Rivers off the bay. All were pretty much new and the combined price including shipping was less than I could get one new. I justified it to myself with the fact that they are different colors
I decided to turn the brim down on one so I got the kettle out, steamed the underside of the front brim and just molded it with my fingers and let it dry. Seemed pretty stiff as you say and I did not realize that. There was shellac in it so that explains it
I'll do the sides a little flatter later as I too don't want much of a curl.
Question is: if I use the alcohol to break down the shellac will I end up with a floppy brim eventually. I actually like the stiffness of the Snowy River.
I don't think ill do anything to my Lightning Ridge since it is a perfect shape for me.

 

[gtdean48]

You'll get some stiffness out, not all, none of mine are close to being floppy, just more pliable

 

[H Weinstein]

I've changed the brim shape on all 10 of my hats (9 Akubras of varying thicknesses, 1 Stetson western). I picked up these tips right here at the Lounge.

I set my steam iron to hot/cotton setting, set the hat on an ironing board, place a heavy t-shirt over the portion of the brim to be flattened, then iron it one section at a time all the way around.

You want to do this on a surface without much texture (so not on a heavy bath towel, for instance) so the underside of the brim doesn't pick up the texture. That's also why I use the thick t-shirt between the iron and the brim -- no texture to speak of, and protects against leaving iron imprints or scorch marks on the brim's topside.

You may need to iron the brim a couple of time to get it flat. Then let it cool on a flat surface for a while. Once it cools, the brim is likely to resume its original stiffness.

To re-shape the brims to my liking, I just use tea-kettle steam to soften the felt. Some re-shaping I do by hand. But I've found various "tools" to help me get uniform curls -- a wooden rolling pin, and cardboard paper-towel rolls of various sizes.

The process gets pretty easy with a little practice, and I haven't damaged any of my hats using these methods.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I just soak the brim in my laundry sink, re-shape and leave to dry. Takes about 5 minutes.