by Kolalo Shifter

Created on: June 22, 2010

Flat-brim hats are all the rage these days. Many people enjoy the style of them, but sometimes they don't always stay looking the same or as flat as the time when you purchased it, due to normal wear and tear. If you want to keep yours looking like new, there are many easy maintaining steps you can take to do so. 

If you had bent it, for one reason or another, or it became bent or loose over time, then you can flatten it back to its original flatness by placing it under heavy books or other weights. This will make it as flat as possible for free. It might not stay like this for very long, though. However, you can buy products that can chemically stiffen the brim to keep it flat for quite a long time.

The product that works the best for this purpose is starch. It normally comes in a spray bottle or aerosol can and is usually used for ironing. In order to use starch, you should flatten the hat first using the aforementioned book or heavy weight method, making it as flat as you want, then you should spray it right away with starch, to maintain its present flatness. You can get this spray at many stores such as Target, K-Mart, fabric or sewing supply stores, or many hat stores. This is probably the best method for flat brim upkeep and will work the best if you bend it in some situations or keep it flat for others.

Another way of keeping your brim flat is ironing. This will only work if your hat is made out of certain types of material and you should NOT iron unless it says so on the hat itself. Usually it will tell you if you can iron the hat on a tag that is normally under the sweatband. Most New Era brand hats say to not iron, and you most likely will ruin or burn your hat if you do not follow these instructions! If your hat is a normal New Era hat made out of the same material as most others, than most likely, you should not iron it. Ironing should only be done if you know that it is ok to do. 

Hopefully you will be able to re-flatten your brim to keep up with the flat brim styles. You should also clean your hat regularly; you can find many articles online and products for doing this properly. Keep rocking in the flat caps!

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