ReCrease Question

[zetwal]

I'm sure this has been asked a million times before. But here goes -

I have a 50s Royal Stetson that has obviously been kept in the same crease for a long time. When I push it around to where it's good for me it looks a little bumpy and ruffled where the sharper creases were.

With lounger encouragement, I've several times used steam and water to make minor modifications on other hats. And it worked perfectly everytime. But I think I want to make more dramatic changes on this one and so have the following question.

Rather than use steam or water to help push from one crease to another, is a good idea to steam the crown fully open, let it cool, and then just start from stratch? Would this approach likely remove any bumps and wrinkles? or might it add to the problem since the hat's not being blocked?

I did open the crown on another hat using water. It worked quite well but reactivated the stiffener more than I had hoped and expected. On this next hat I'd like to open and smooth out the crown without causing it to stiffen.

I would prefer to simply experiment on another hat rather ask this sort of question. But I don't have another hat with the same characteristics upon which to work.

Does my question make sense? any recommendations?

 

[gtdean48]

Going to an open crease to smooth out prior creases is a good way to have your target crease look smoother. The felt has "memory" & unless you send it to a hatter to really open the crown, you may still see "shadows" of the prior crease since it was in that shape for so long. I'm dealing with that on a vintage resistol that I'm setting up for my brother. It had a cattleman crease & I'm trying to keep my cost down since it is a gift hat.

 

[deanglen]

This sounds like a re-blocking issue, even if, and I wonder if it's done, a re-blocking to open crown condition. Steaming can really have some challenges with ghost creases. For me, I always prefer doing the work myself, probably only sending the hat to Optimo or someplace if I fail consistently to be satisfied with my efforts. I can't stand waiting for stuff, and I love succeeding under my own "steam", you might say.




dean

 

[jimmy the lid]

For me, it's all a question of degree. Sometimes, a vintage lid will have been lightly creased by hand, and a bit of steam will quite successfully yield a nice open crown. By the same token, sometimes a vintage lid will have been creased in such a way that the crease has really "set" over time. On such lids, I routinely send them on to Optimo and have them re-blocked into an open crown. After getting these lids back from Optimo, you would never think that these hats had ever been touched, let alone creased!

Cheers,
JtL

 

[johnnycanuck]

I am not a fan of steam when it comes to reshaping hats. Cold water it my method. I am in the process of reshaping a akubra snowy river into..... well I have not decided that yet. I have soaked it in the shower under cold water (until saturated) and worked it out to a domed open crown. Working the crown with my fingers pushing out the original bash crease. I have done this three times and the hat does not pop back into its original shape anymore. One more soak and I will shape it how I want it to look. Now I just have to decide what style I want.

Only thing about mine is its sand coloured so the crease lines got discoloured. I am Thinking it may add some nice character being it is a western style of hat, but if your hat is light and has marks and you don't like the marks you may want to pick up some hat cleaner (scout brand or dry-cleaning balls http://www.noggintops.com/page.cfm?p=83 ).

Johnny

 

[lc1484]

Zetwal,
I have used steam on a couple of 50's hats I got off of ebay, that have had the crease in it for a while....I just kept steaming it and shaping it...there was the faint older crease mark that showed, after the steam....I would go at it with my hat brush and after persistence and continually doing it over and over, my new crease stayed and the marks of the old were gone.

Larry