Club Obi Wan

Hello Penmann Co. it is me once again asking about steaming a hat. How many times does a fedora need to be steamed and shaped before it can hold a shape for a long while? And what Temporature does the steam need to be?

Regards from a questionative gentleman: baddates1

baddates1 wrote:Hello Penmann Co. it is me once again asking about steaming a hat. How many times does a fedora need to be steamed and shaped before it can hold a shape for a long while? And what Temporature does the steam need to be?

Regards from a questionative gentleman: baddates1

That's a hard question to answer. It all depends on the age of the hat, the felt, how much stiffener.

Most people loose the shape of their brim and they think they can just hit it with some steam and they can re-shape it. What really is needed is a flange. Think of a flange as a block for the brim. You have to use a block to get you shape. You need a flange to get you brim shape.

I hope that helps.


"....... And it's spelled Penman.

Dang I didn't spell your name right ONCE AGAIN! I thought that you could just take the brim and hold it over the stove while the steam is coming up and than it will get hot than you could shape as it is. Is there anyway to make a simple temporary flange out of a few things around the house? like make something that is round and slanted down at the top, and that you know a cloth to make sure it doesn't bring to much steam at the top.

Oh and my hat is a federation deluxe IV from Hat's direct in Australia. I think I have had it since pretty much the beginning of February. Almost a year this February. So is it too old?

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=33459&hilit=hose" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

looks like a quick and dirty way to do it. Never tried it however.

I think the thing that most people don't understand is when the flange is shaped using a flange is that its shaped like when you bash a hat. That's wrong. When flange a hats brim. It's exactly like blocking a hat. When you block a hat, you pull the felt over the block to copy the shape of the block.

You are actually shrinking the felt to get that shape. You need water, steam and heat. Your not bashing the brim. I hope that's more clear.

I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong, however it's my understand that when properly flanged, the brim has curvature all the way around, so when the brim is snapped up it looks like a shallow trough all the way around the crown. When you snap the front of the brim down, you end up with the reverse curve in front, and the upward curve in the back.

If your hat loses that curve, I think the only solution is to have the brim re-flanged, which involves getting the felt wet and reshaping it on a form, or "flange." (I think that's where the iron comes into play, but I'm not sure.) Just as when the crown loses its shape the only solution is to re-block it.

Steaming, or using a cold water spray allows you to reshape the curvature that already exists, but won't solve your problem if the felt has stretched or shrunk to the point that the original shape is gone.

Because I tend to roll up my hats when I travel, I often end up with the brim looking a little wavy and uneven, which I can solve easily by getting it a little damp and smoothing out the curve. Same with the crown, if the creases look a little funny.

But steaming or misting an assembled hat are by no means the same as re-flanging or reblocking the hat. Doing either of those requires stripping the hat down to nothing, taking the ribbon off, and the the liner and sweatband out, and effectively re-making it almost from scratch (no need to trim the brim into shape, but you do have to sew all the parts back on).

Reblocking is necessary when the felt has tapered, shrunk or stretched to the point that the original shape is gone, and there is nothing you can do to make the hat look "right."

It's kind of like the difference between changing the oil and sparkplugs and rebuilding a whole motor. Anyone can do the former with a few household tools. The latter takes more time, more skill and the right tools.

Ridgerunner58 wrote:I am happy to be corrected if I am wrong, however it's my understand that when properly flanged, the brim has curvature all the way around, so when the brim is snapped up it looks like a shallow trough all the way around the crown. When you snap the front of the brim down, you end up with the reverse curve in front, and the upward curve in the back.

If your hat loses that curve, I think the only solution is to have the brim re-flanged, which involves getting the felt wet and reshaping it on a form, or "flange." (I think that's where the iron comes into play, but I'm not sure.) Just as when the crown loses its shape the only solution is to re-block it.

Steaming, or using a cold water spray allows you to reshape the curvature that already exists, but won't solve your problem if the felt has stretched or shrunk to the point that the original shape is gone.

Because I tend to roll up my hats when I travel, I often end up with the brim looking a little wavy and uneven, which I can solve easily by getting it a little damp and smoothing out the curve. Same with the crown, if the creases look a little funny.

But steaming or misting an assembled hat are by no means the same as re-flanging or reblocking the hat. Doing either of those requires stripping the hat down to nothing, taking the ribbon off, and the the liner and sweatband out, and effectively re-making it almost from scratch (no need to trim the brim into shape, but you do have to sew all the parts back on).

Reblocking is necessary when the felt has tapered, shrunk or stretched to the point that the original shape is gone, and there is nothing you can do to make the hat look "right."

It's kind of like the difference between changing the oil and sparkplugs and rebuilding a whole motor. Anyone can do the former with a few household tools. The latter takes more time, more skill and the right tools.

give that man a cigar. you got it. You are now officially my PR person.