Straw Boater Question

[warmentrout]

I bought a straw boater at the local Antique Mall. It is in pretty good shape, no dings or imperfections in the straw. The straw is darker on the top than the underside so I'm assuming it is pretty dirty. It is a Portis and the sweat has to be replaced. I am an extra long oval and the hat looks like a regular oval. The questions are 1) Can I mist or steam the straw to get it to where it has enough flexibility to shape it to a long oval ? 2) How do I clean it ? The lining is in good shape and the Portis logo is clear but is glued in. I don't think I can take it out without tearing it. Can I use naptha on it ?

 

[DanielJones]

I just recently got a straw boater off of ebay and the sizing was a tad on the small size for me. I put it over a kettle to slightly soften the varnish & the straw. Basically warming things up to give it a slight stretch. Once that was accomplished I put in one of my trusty hat jacks and slowly started cranking the scew until there was a bit of pressure on the straw & sweatband. I continued this routine for about a week slowly stretching giving slight turns on the screw & expanding the jack. Did I say slowly? Yes, I believe I did. I only emphasize this so as not to crack the straw or the vintage sweatband. Yes I know it will need replacing but I'll do that this winter. For now it is in good enough shape for a couple of summer outings. This may not work for everyone but this was my experience. Maybe I just lucked out.[huh]

If yours is in good enough shape I would recommend doing this first to get a decent fit. It should be done over a weeks time & be ready for a Friday night out to the park for a concert.

Now I just need to find out how to clean the mesh liner without destroying the cardboard in the to of it.

Good luck to you & keep us posted as to how yours turns out.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[warmentrout]

Straw Boater Update

I will post pics when I can get my daughter to let me use her camera. I tried the steam method. Mine needed a new sweatband. The original one was fabric and had a three in. section cut out of it. I took the old sweat out and steamed the hat with an iron, just hot enough to make steam and moving across the hat quickly so as not to burn the straw. It softened up nicely and I was able to tretch it about two sizes and to my long oval in about an hour. The shellac would cool pretty quickly and be good and stiff in a short period of time. When I was done I had a distinct reverse taper from side to side. My solution was to bulge the sides of the hat , just above the brim, out a little bit to minimze the appearance of the reverse taper and squeeze the top of the crown in some. This creates a little bit of a dome in the top of the crown which actually works for me because I like my hat to sit quite low on my head, just touching my ears. I put in a leather sweat and it is a very comfortable hat to wear. I tried a little bit of lighter fluid on the lining with no ill effect to the cardboard . I am wondering if anyone has any experience giving a boater a naptha bath ?

 

[J.J. Gittes]

I don't know anything about boaters and naptha, but to clean the dust and grime out, I went over mine with a vacuum attachment a few times with great success.
It takes away some of the dingyness, but it will always be darker on top from the aging of the straw and being exposed to the sun over many years.