Today, many women own a wide brim hat and sport it as they feel like! They wear it with their casual and beach outfit and style it differently for different occasions. Regardless of how you use your wide brim hat, it is necessary to take care of it to last long.
Are you wondering how to take care of your hat? If yes, you can check out the following pointers to take care of wide brim hats for women.
- Storing the wide brim hat
Do you want to place your hat down on a flat surface? If yes, you should lay it upside down on the crown and not the brim. If you leave it on the brim, it might flatten the hat and change its shape.
If you want, you can hang the hat on the hat rack. Ensure that you have a wide hook that doesn’t generate a crease or dimple in your hat. Is the hook very sharp? If yes, you can slit a tennis ball and slip it on for a broader platform. It would help if you didn’t store the wide on the hook for a long time. That way, gravity will alter its shape.
Do you want to store the hat for a long time? If yes, you should place it inside a box with space for the crown and the brim. Keep the box in a dry and cool place because both heat and moisture can cause damage to your hat.
- Clean your hat
Loose dirt can accumulate on the hat and make it appear dirty and tired. When you see this happening make sure to brush the hat. You can opt-in for a horsehair brush. The brushes that have nylon bristles can be a little harsh on the hat. You can also opt-in for a soft shoe shine brush. Ensure that you choose a brush that has light-hued bristles for a light-colored hat. If you have a dark-colored hat, you can use a dark-colored brush.
Even when your hat is not dirty, you can opt for daily brushing to add more life to the hat. You can practice the following:
- You can wipe the hat to remove the dust with a damp cloth
- Is your hat covered with fuzz and pet hair? If yes, you can wipe it gently. You can wrap a tape around your fingers, keep the sticky side out and then gently sweep it across your hat.
- There are few sponges made for the wide brim hats. If you have a stain or smudge on the hat, you can take a rubber sponge to take it off. You can also choose a dry-cleaning sponge for this. Just in case the smudge or stain persists, you can use a cleaner. Spray it and then wait till the time turns into powder. After that, you can brush it off. If there is a grease stain, you can rub corn-starch to take it off. If you have a straw hat with a stain, you can use water and ivory soap to remove the stain.
- Add more years to your wide brim hat
It would help if you always handled a wide brim hat by its brim instead of the crown. Even though holding it by the brim might look cool, it isn’t correct for the hat. Every bit of that pinching can weaken the crown’s capacity to retain its shape. Very soon, you might find a crease in the hat which you can’t fix. Dirt and oils from your hand might soil the hat. So, go ahead and pick your wide-brim hat by holding it right at the back and front of its brim. Ensure that your hands are clean when you are holding your hat so that there is no grime on it.
If your wide brim hat is wet, allow it to dry naturally. You might get caught up in a downpour, and it might wet your hat. When this happens, you should enable the hat to dry naturally. Avoid all kinds of artificial heat, such as a heater or a hair dryer that can shrink or distort the hat. You can also turn the sweatband outside and keep the wide brim hat on the brim on your towel. It will prevent the hat from developing flat spots on its crown. A wet hat will end up drying in the shape you keep it. A few other tips to remember include:
- Make sure that your wide brim straw hat doesn’t get wet. It’s because the moisture can make the straw swell and change the hat shape.
- It would be best if you didn’t leave a hat inside a hot car. Sunlight and heat can shrink, fade and dry out the hat.
- As the sweatband gets oily and wet, you should slip it down so that it dries out.
These are some of the crucial ways to take care of your hat and keep it appearing like new for years.
