Spent a couple hours last night with the kettle

[O'Sully]

Trying to change the crease in my PB custom Indy.
No Dice
Looks like it'll have to be reblocked.
No mater how much steam I used it would return to its original shape.

 

[gtdean48]

I had best luck using a steam iron & a hat shaper to get back to open crown state.
Before the hat shaper tool, I used a mixing bowl to use inside to iron against.
Always had a handkerchief between steam iron & felt.
I went from a factory pressed in cattleman crease to open crown with this Stetson Roadmaster.

 

[O'Sully]

I used a bowl last night but for the life of me I could not get that sharp crease out of the front.

I am going to have to pick up one of those hat shapers.

Fortunately there is a hat shop that offers cleaning and reblocking not too far from my old office in Birmingham.

 

[Strapped-4-Cache]

I'm wondering if the hat is similar to my Jaxon "crushable". If so, it was made to retain that shape and there's little that can be done to change it.

I hope I'm wrong, but felt that it was worth mentioning.

 

[tommyK]

I have a few hat blocks I use to get to open crown. Steam alone won't get you there. As gtdean48 said, I also use a steam iron and and kettle back and forth a few times and get essentially a "like new" open crown hat.


then it's up to you to do whatever crease you like.
If it's a wool hat this probably won't work.

 

[H Weinstein]

I had best luck using a steam iron & a hat shaper to get back to open crown state.
Before the hat shaper tool, I used a mixing bowl to use inside to iron against.
Always had a handkerchief between steam iron & felt.
I went from a factory pressed in cattleman crease to open crown with this Stetson Roadmaster.

While a re-blocking by a pro hatter is likely to be the best way to go, I've used that very same Hat Shaper as gtdean with excellent results.

It's great for restoring a blocked hat to a straight-sided open crown, with no taper -- which is how I prefer my western hats before I re-block them. I know some Loungers have commented before in threads on the Hat Shaper that they prefer their fedoras with a taper. (Of course, there are a variety of Hat Shaper shapes, including some shaped for fedora blocking...)

Combined with tea-kettle steam, I've used mine dozens of times to smooth out any previous creasing.

On hats I've re-blocked a few times, I've had to spray on some hat stiffener before trying a new shape.

I bought the sturdy plastic Hat Shaper because it was MUCH less expensive than the vintage wooden blocks I was seeing on eBay. I've gotten more than my money's worth from it!

 

[hatophile]

I've found a clothes steamer to work very well for reshaping crowns as well as brims. These guys are right though, if you want a nice round crown to start you need some type of shaper.

 

[milliedog]

GTDean- which hatshaper are you using? The classic dome or the straight sided dome?

 

[O'Sully]

From what I remember the hat is half rabbit half beaver but I could be wrong. It was a gift from my wife at least ten years ago

 

[RJR]

I have good luck with the straight dome Hat Shaper.

 

[gtdean48]

Straight sided dome

 

[LuvMyMan]

I used a bowl last night but for the life of me I could not get that sharp crease out of the front.

I am going to have to pick up one of those hat shapers.

Fortunately there is a hat shop that offers cleaning and reblocking not too far from my old office in Birmingham.

I am sure some of us here have experienced a similar ordeal with a hat. I think maybe what happens is the shape is almost "memorized" in the felt of the hat from years of being that way and type of crease. We had a hat one time with a cattleman crease that steam and hand shaping the hat just did not work at all to remove the cattleman crease. The hat shaper and a spray bottle of water and then the iron (wash clothe between the steam iron and the hat) and wow, what a difference. The old "bowl" can work only so much, the same with using a large metal serving spoon on the inside of a hat to do "pin point" work on a spot that needs to be smoothed out to conform to the rest of a hat. Best of luck with your hat, Sir!

 

[O'Sully]

From what I understand I need to buy a size smaller hat shaper if I leave the sweat in.

 

[barrowjh]

O'Sully, right about the size smaller. This is not as simple as blocking the felt and adding the sweat afterwards, whether using a bowl or a smaller block, or a spoon, or a softball, etc, the purpose is to have a firm surfact to press against, whether pressing with your fingers or with an iron. So, you have to move things around as you work on the felt so that you have a firm surface where you need it. The more complete form (block or shaper) becomes most valuable when trying to reshape a hat that was machine-shaped, because a creased block had actually stretch the felt a little bit along the ridge of the crease and it is difficult to get that out by working on a spot at a time, works somewhat better if the whole crown is being stretched over a firm surface. I have found that it can be impossible to get the soiling out of the crease line for machine-creased hats, the felt was bent hard and stretched over the ridge of the crease and light color felts that were handled by the crease (soiled right along that crease line) will retain that line even if you do successfully get the felt to behave.

 

[barrowjh]

O'Sully, was that hat shop in Birmingham "Fine Traditions" at 1917 3rd Ave N.?

 

[O'Sully]

No it is Bon Ton Hatters on 20th

 

[barrowjh]

Thanks, something to check out next visit to B'ham.

 

[Jedwbpm]

I had best luck using a steam iron & a hat shaper to get back to open crown state.
Before the hat shaper tool, I used a mixing bowl to use inside to iron against.
Always had a handkerchief between steam iron & felt.
I went from a factory pressed in cattleman crease to open crown with this Stetson Roadmaster.

Is that the roadmaster I gave you the deal on? What does it look like now.

Jeff

 

[gtdean48]

No Jeff. One from you is still in pristine OEM shape.