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Hat Care and Hat Rolling
Caring For Your Panama
Reshaping Hats:
If your Panama becomes misshapen you should be able to recover the original shape of the hat by lightly steaming it over a boiling kettle and then shaping the hat by hand back to it’s original form. A blow dryer can be used on a low heat setting to dry the hat while you are holding its shape.
If the brim has becomes misshapen, you may iron the brim under a slightly damp cloth with the iron at a medium to low setting (high heat iron settings can cause burn marks to the hat). Then the Panama should then be placed over an appropriately shaped object such as a bowl and leave to regain its shape.
Cleaning:
Should your Panama become dirty one should first try to remove dirt by lightly dusting with a dry cloth. Should the mark prove stubborn and difficult to remove in this way try using a moist facial or baby wipe. This should remove most marks although care should be taken not to rub too hard. We recommend to not use soap and water.
The Pachacuti Guide to Rolling a Panama Hat
The genuine Panama Hat is famed for its supple weave and its flexibility. Although Panamas are made from a type of straw, the preparation and fineness of a Panama's weave is such that it can be rolled and easily packed away for traveling. Below are a series of illustrated step by step guides to rolling three different types of hats followed by some useful general suggestions regarding the rolling of Panama hats .
Rolling a Colonial Style Panama Hat
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Hold the hat in front of you with the distinctive crease running from left to right.
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Carefully fold the hat along the crease so that one side curves into the other forming a bowl like shape which will begin to roll quite easily.
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Gently roll the hat into itself whilst placing a finger on the inside of the crown to avoid the hat being rolled too tight and damaged.
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A rubber band may be placed around the rolled hat to hold it in position before it is placed in one of Pachacuti's balsa boxes or a suitable tube for transportation.
Rolling a Fedora Style Panama Hat
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Hold the hat in front of you with the ridged crown running from left to right.
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Carefully push out the indented crown taking special care around the 'pinch' at the front.
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Now you are able to carefully fold the hat in half so that one side curves into the other forming a bowl like shape ready to roll.
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The hat may now be gently rolled into itself with a finger placed on the inside of the crown to avoid the hat being rolled too tight.
Rolling a Ladies Wide Brim Style Panama Hat
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Hold the hat in front of you.
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Carefully fold the hat along its length so that one side curves into the other forming a bowl like shape which will begin to roll quite easily.
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Gently roll the hat into itself whilst placing a finger on the inside of the crown to avoid the hat being rolled too tight and damaged.
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A rubber band may be placed around the rolled hat to hold it in position before it is placed a suitable tube for transportation, (wide brim hats will not fit our balsa boxes).
Panama Hat Rolling Tips
Rolling not folding:
Although Panamas are flexible and can be rolled without undue difficulty they should not be folded, scrunched up or mistreated. Such treatment will soon result in the straw cracking and damage to the weave.
Store unrolled :
Panamas should only be rolled for traveling and should never be stored rolled for long periods of time. The longer a hat is left rolled the longer it will take to return to its original shape. Steaming a misshapen hat can help it regain its shape, see our Care page for details.
No dry rolling:
In intense heat the straw the hat is made from can dry out and become brittle, attempts to roll hats in such a condition could result in them cracking! Humidify the hat by steaming it over a boiling kettle or misting with warm water.
No rolling Standard:
Standard grade hats with their courser weaves are less supple and flexible and thus more prone to cracking. Pachacuti recommends that our customers choose the more flexible superior or fine grade hat for rolling.
The fiddley Fedora:
The fedora hat shape has a sharp 'pinch' at the front of the crown and can be liable to crack. If care is taken when rolling and the hat kept supple by humidifying one should be able to roll both Superior and Fine grade Fedora's without problem.