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Should I unsnap my snap brim while drying?

KK

New in Town
Messages
30
Location
Virginia
Man, the rain is sitting right on top of us and it won't let up. Seemed like a great chance for me to get my Saxon to shrink to fit. It's sitting on the crown on a paper towel, and now I'm wondering: should I take the snap out of the brim as it dries to preserve its symmetry?
 
drying

I would flip the brim up while its drying. Although I don't know if it really matters. I'd set that hat on a white towel, never know if any print from the papertowel design will leach into the hat.

In fact I soaked a hat tonight in this rain; that is where it sits now, on a white towel, un-snapped.
 

Yeps

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,456
Location
Philly
My open road got drenched too, so it is drying, brim snapped up, with the stretcher to make sure it keeps shape.
 

Dewhurst

Practically Family
Messages
653
Location
USA
I have allowed my hats to dry with the brim snapped up and down. The results have always been hit and miss. Sometimes things go without a hitch and I can get back to wearing the hat the next day. Other times I get to stand in the kitchen and make a few alterations upon waking.
 

danofarlington

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,122
Location
Arlington, Virginia
KK said:
Man, the rain is sitting right on top of us and it won't let up. Seemed like a great chance for me to get my Saxon to shrink to fit. It's sitting on the crown on a paper towel, and now I'm wondering: should I take the snap out of the brim as it dries to preserve its symmetry?
I got my beater hat wet in the same Virginia rainstorm, and faced the same decision. Sometimes I do it one way, other times another. This time I did not unsnap it, and it's OK after drying. But normally I unsnap it (meaning I pop the brim "all up") because when it's up, dry, you can snap it down as usual and shape it if need be; whereas if you leave it in the down position while drying, and it got wavy, then you have to do more with it. So putting brim "up" while drying minimizes potential waviness of the brim, in my opinion.
 

BanjoMerlin

A-List Customer
Messages
477
Location
New Hampshire, USA
I pop mine brim up and place them crown up on a gridded plastic drying rack with a stretcher in place. My stetchers are the old wooden ones and heavy enough that if I put the hats upside down it affects the crease.

For western hats and others that cannot be popped brim up I place the stretcher on a block to raise the hat enough to keep the brim from being unshaped.
 

BanjoMerlin

A-List Customer
Messages
477
Location
New Hampshire, USA
scottyrocks said:
I use motorcycle helmets to place my hats on so that the brims just lie like they do on my head. You can use anything rounded that would simulate a head.

Do you use anything to allow air flow to the inside of the hat?
 

zetwal

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,343
Location
Texas
CircuitRider said:

What if you have a square head?:)

In that case you will want to go something like this -

6b055048.gif
 

Mr Vim

One Too Many
Messages
1,306
Location
Juneau, Alaska
It's always raining here, so I have to be careful not if my hats are rained on but how much they are. And yep, I always snap the brim up.
 

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