Western Wear
Cowboy Hats : Fitting & Care Guide

Cowboy Hats : Fitting and Care Guide

Cowboy hats are everywhere in Montana. A good quality cowboy hat is functional and very practical. Moreover, a quality cowboy hat can well last a lifetime with proper care.

To help our visitors learn more about cowboy hats, this buyers guide has been prepared to help you properly fit a cowboy hat and to provide some information on how to take care of a cowboy hat.

How to Fit a Cowboy Hat

Getting a correct fit with a cowboy hat is very simple. All you need to properly fit a cowboy hat is a tape measure. Take a tape measure and measure around your head, above the brow. This measurement then converts to the following hat sizes:

How to Care for a Cowboy Hat

Cowboy hats, at least good quality ones, are very durable and can take a tremendous amount of abuse. However, some common sense and a few guidelines can help you keep a cowboy hat looking good for many, many years - even with lots of use.

1. Straw hats - Keep your hats dust free. Brush a straw hat with an ordinary whisk broom or soft, clean cloth. If this doesn't get everything off, use a damp cloth and gently work your way around the hat. A specialized Hat Sponge is perfect for this task.
    
2. Felt Hats - Keep your hats dust free. Use a soft bristle brush for cleaning felt hats. Always brush with the nap in a counter clockwise motion. Ordinary dust marks and smudges may be removed with a hat cleaning sponge.
    
3. How to Maintain Shape - A common curse of first time cowboy hat owners is discovering that a cowboy hat can lose its distinctive shape if just left stored in a plain box or on the top shelf of your closet. To maintain the shape of a cowboy hat, always store your cowboy hat in a Hat Box, placing the hat upside down on its crown to avoid affecting the shape of the brim. A specialized Hat Rack can also be used and is really recommended if you wear your cowboy hat frequently as it is easier to "hang" your hat than stuffing it in a box.
    
4. Hat Brushes : Several different types of brushes are available for cleaning cowboy hats, particularly felt hats. The Crown Brush is used to clean the crowns of the cowboy hat by lifting nap and surface dirt. A Brim Brush is used to clean the brim of the hat. When choosing a brim brush, choose a light colored brim brush (usually grey) for light colored hats and darker colored brushes for dark colored hats.
    
5. Rainy Weather : Straw and Wool Cowboy Hats may get wet without any problems. Just be sure to NOT dry them near a heat source. Instead, just let them dry naturally - preferrably hanging on a Hat Rack. Felt cowboy hats, however, are not designed to be used in wet weather. If a felt cowboy hat does get wet, flip the sweatband outward and set the hat upside down on its crown to allow it to dry naturally. If you plan on using your hat in rainy weather, consider getting a Wool hat instead and/or getting a Rain Cover for your hat, which fit most hats and generally only cost around $5 or so.
    
6. Handling the Hat : When putting a hat on, do NOT pick it up by the crown. Once in a while won't hurt the hat, of course, but repeated handling of the crown can damage the shape. Instead, when putting on/taking off the cowboy hat, handle it by the brim instead.
    
7. Temperatures : High heat can cause the sweatband on a cowboy hat to shrink. As the sweatband shrinks, this causes the hat itself to shrink, too. As such, a cowboy hat left exposed to high heat for extended periods may no longer fit. To avoid this, never leave your hat in a car or the trunk during warm weather or near other high heat sources.

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