Panama Hat Works of Montecristi

Taking Care of Your Hat

Factory Service, Repair Washing, and Reblocking

Rips, holes, and tears are usually repairable, often without even being noticeable, and we offer this repair service as well. If you want to wash and/or reblock your hat yourself, we've provided a few pointers below, but we obviously can't take responsibility for your technique or mishaps. If you do try to service your own hat and aren't satisfied with the results, no problem. Simply send the hat to us and we'll do it, again charging a reasonable fee plus shipping. Please do not attempt to glue holes, rips, or tears, simply return the hat to us for reweave repair. A customer-glued repair must be cut out making the reweave more extensive and more expensive. If there is an indelible stain such as paint or ink, we can possibly remove it. Send copies of photos of your hat if you want the original block or see our styles on this website specifying a block. Also it is important to record the actual hat size you desire in centimeters and send that along with the hat and photos. Contact us for information on factory service.
You Can Wash Your Hat

Hand washing your Panama hat before reblocking isn't difficult. We have to say this: never machine wash a Panama hat. First you should make a drying form. This is a cylinder made from cardboard exactly the same size as the inside dimension of your hat before you wash it — neither a tight nor loose fit, just snug. Use colorless heavy cardboard or white poster board to make this cylinder about 2 or 2½ inches tall, and tape it well at each loose end so it won't uncoil or compress later. Several coils or passes of the cardboard should be used to give your form body and substance. Try to make the form somewhat oval in shape to match your head shape or the actual hat's shape. Save this form for a lifetime.
Remove the decorative outside hatband, leave the leather inner one alone. Our hats come with non fading inner bands, we can't say the same about some other brands, so these instructions are for our hats. To test if the inner leather band will fade its color onto the hat fiber, manipulate the inner leather band so that it is bent out of the hat on one side. Now dip a cotton swab or small piece of cotton in water and shake it off so that it is wet but not sopping wet. Rub it onto a small area on the inner leather band. Wait a minute and wipe it again in the same place with the cotton. If the color transfers to the cotton, the inner band will fade. If it does transfer to the cotton, it is best to send the hat to us for professional cleaning since we remove the inner leather band completely, wash the hat, reblock it, then reinstall a brand new leather inner band that won't fade. Send copies of the photos with the hat if you want the original block or see our styles on this website specifying a block. Not all hats can take all block styles, so give us some alternatives in order of preference.
To wash, use a clean sink or bucket of water at body temperature, adding a teaspoon of colorless or clear common liquid dish detergent. Gently swish the hat in it for a few minutes in a gentle way. Don't use a stiff brush and don't use violent motions. At most you may use a paint brush or shaving brush while washing to attack stubborn stains. Do not use dishwasher detergent, as it contains a lot of chlorine that will degrade the hat's fiber and leather inner band.
Tip: laundry detergent doesn't remove grime and grease as well as dish detergent, but if you use laundry detergent, dissolve the powder completely in the tepid water and don't use detergent that contains bleaching agents, enzymes, or spot removers.
Rinse in clear water (cold or tepid) several times in a sink or bucket to remove all detergent. Ordinary soap leaves a residue . . . don't use it!
Do not wring the hat out like a washcloth, just let it drip for a few minutes.
Pat dry with a cotton towel supporting the hat inside the crown with a towel as well, and allow it to dry on your cardboard form. The hat and the leather band will want to conform to your cardboard form.
You may reform the block and snap brim with your fingers before the hat is completely dry. Prop the snap up with a folded towel as the hat sits flat on a table so it dries more or less the way you want it. Don't pinch the fiber hard nor stress it. Once the hat is completely dry, touch up the block and snap as to your exact specs, as described above, using the steam from a tea kettle spout or steam from a pan of vigorously boiling water.
Tip: Photograph your hat from several angles before you wash it or reblock to refresh your memory as to its original shape, though the hat will hold considerable memory itself.
Tip: You can set the hat on the drying form you made in front of a fan to speed drying. You can put the hat on top of your refrigerator (if you have room) as well because the air current provided by the mechanism in the back of the refrigerator will encourage drying.
Overheating

Be careful if you are using a gas stove not to let the heat from the gas flame itself scorch your hat. You can use direct sunlight to dry your hat.

Don't dry a hat in your oven nor with a hair dryer nor any artificial means since quick drying isn't good for the leather band and will make it non-pliant. Hair dryers produce very hot air which initially is much hotter than the boiling point of water and will literally cook areas of your hat, thus degrading the fiber. DON’T USE HAIR DRYERS!!

You Can Reblock Your Hat

Time, humidity, and use will effect the block and snap of your hat. The snap refers to the upturn of the back of the brim and/or the downturn of the front of the brim. Reblocking your Panama hat isn't particularly difficult when the shape becomes somewhat bedraggled through use.
First, remove the decorative outer band. The inner leather band can stay in place. If you have a tea kettle which jets steam from an orifice or just a pan with boiling water, hold your hat over the steam for a few seconds and reshape the block in that area with your fingers, making sure your fingers are clean. Ironing a hat with a normal iron (using its point), using a curved ironing board edge as a professional blocker would do, is not especially hard for the unprofessional. A small travel iron, perhaps one made of plastic and with steam is good.
IMPORTANT ! ! A non-fading cloth such as a piece of old bed sheet or pillow case or from an old white T-shirt must be used as a heat buffer between the iron and the hat surface. Care must be taken not to overheat the straw and a medium permanent-press setting should be used. Don't use dark-colored cloth for fear of color transfer to your hat.