Unstiffening a hat

[inexpensive_jones]

A friend recently gave me a brown beaverfelt cowboy hat that he tried to reshape it with steam but couldn't get it to take shape because it's too stiff. I did a search and saw how denatured alcohol removes stiffener if soaked for a couple days. I was wondering if I can just soak the brim and crown separately so that I don't have to take out the leather sweatband. Any suggestions for a simple way to do this?

[inexpensive_jones]

Anyone, anyone?
Bueller, Bueller?
Fedora, Binkmeister, Michaelson, Oaks?

[binkmeisterRick]

The only way I've ever loosened the stiffener was either by steam or to work the hat with my hands. That said, some hats have so much shellack/stiffener in them that they may as well have been made from cardboard as trying to bend them could break the hat! I've never heard of soaking a hat in denatured alcohol, but I'd definitely leave it in a safe place away from flame and where fumes won't be an issue. It might be worth a shot, though there's no guarantees that I'm aware of.

[BendingOak]

IJ, you would have to strip down the hat and soak it. Then reblock the hat.

[inexpensive_jones]

Thanks for the input. If I come up with anything good, I'll post pics.

[DanielJones]

Yeah, that's the only route that I can find. I'm going to begin redoing an old campaign hat that is super stiff (think bowler stiff). I have poured alcohol on the brim & it softened it up to make it very shapeable, but two things happened. The varnish or shellack that is in it is super sticky and it gets all over your hands which is a bear to wash off. And, once it dries, it goes back to that stiff as a bowler mode. I suppose soaking the hat for several days would break down the shellack to a point that the hat won't remain stiff anymore. I'm just going to have to experiment and see what happens. The hat wasn't very expensive so there is no great loss if I destroy it.

Cheers!

Dan

[jkdbuck76]

I was told by F____ra to beat my Fed IV with a brush handle
to break up the shellac bond.

FWIW....

[inexpensive_jones]

I'd be afraid it might break the brush handle.

[darthbish]

Following some advice that I'd read previously, I find that putting the hat on the edge of a soft chair and sitting on it repeatedly has done WONDERS.

[BendingOak]

Try wearing it.

[DR Ulloa]

Try wearing it.

Honestly, that is the best way to soften up a hat. Wearing a hat will break down the stiffener and make it much softer and floppier than when you first received it. Just look at any photos of a hat when first received and follow photos from a couple months later.

Dave