Akubra Fed IV

[scottslatton]

The brim on my Fed IV Hertiage will not hold a shape. It has no snap to it. I have a bottle of hat stiffener spray and have put three light applications on, but still not getting the desired stiffness or snap into the hat...suggestions????

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[Zombie_61]

I have three Fed IVs--two standard/Imperial Grade and one deluxe/Heritage--and none of their brims snap up and down because the flange is too shallow to put any tension on the felt. I use distilled water rather than steam to shape my hats, so I just sprayed the brims, shaped them as I wanted, and let them dry; they've all held their new brim shapes quite well for years. The Heritage took four or five applications before it held the shape I wanted, but it finally gave in.

Someone with more experience might have a better suggestion, but this worked for me.

 

[belfastboy]

I have three Fed IVs--two standard/Imperial Grade and one deluxe/Heritage--and none of their brims snap up and down because the flange is too shallow to put any tension on the felt. I use distilled water rather than steam to shape my hats, so I just sprayed the brims, shaped them as I wanted, and let them dry; they've all held their new brim shapes quite well for years. The Heritage took four or five applications before it held the shape I wanted, but it finally gave in.

Someone with more experience might have a better suggestion, but this worked for me.

Not sure if this is an accepted way to do it (other than in my world) but I do the same, spray/steam and then with the brim held on the ironing board by a weight (iron) I let the hat itself hang outboard. The more the hat hangs outboard the more weight and the greater bend to the brim. Once I have settled on the desired amount of bend I let it sit overnight and it dries in the desired state. If I get too much bend I just start from scratch and repeat with less hat overhanging the ironing board. I store in a hatbox upside down and the brim stays in the desired state.

 

[scottyrocks]

When a brim gets wonky, I steam the brim all around, put the hat on my head, and run the underside of my fingers front to back (and repeat) against the underside of the sides of the brim while pushing up and in to the sides of my head.

Sometimes I curl my fingers, and thus the edge of the brim, when the edges of said brim need more curl. I apply more pressure than seems necessary because the brim always comes back a bit.

This process, particularly the sliding front to back and forth, results in a nice curl that blends with the back and front edges of the brim.

 

[scottyrocks]

I have also sprayed hats down with water and pushed in creases and rolled brims. Then let dry overnight and everything stays in place.