How do you properly "age" a new ball cap?

February 1, 2011 8:09 AM

How do you properly "age" a new ball cap?

Ok, I received several baseball caps over the holiday season. I am pleased with all of them and they are, of course, brand new. I had to "retire" my old well worn in ball caps as they were beyond saving. Anyway, now I am trying to get my ball caps to fit "just right", like my old ones did.

I read a lot of online resources about how to break in a ball cap - soak it in water, wear it (and dry it) on your head, etc, which I am in the process of trying. I am working on curving the bill properly and I have one of these which I don't like (or find effective), so I read online about putting your peak/bill in a coffee mug and leaving it like that for a while, which I am trying and thus far, I like the results. Any suggestions on this would be appreciated.

However, I am really trying to figure out how to properly "fray" my hats. I want them to have that worn-in look. There are many new hats that you can purchase that come like this already, such as this one, so I want to figure out how to do this with my new hats. I found some resources that say you can fray your new hat, but they don't tell you how to actually "fray" in any amount of detail (before I just go at it with a knife of something).

Any suggestions about how to fray a hat, without damaging it? Thanks!

posted by dbirchum to clothing, beauty, & fashion (13 answers total)

You can use an emery board or sandpaper along the edges to fray it. I think you are on the right track rolling the bill and putting it in a cup or glass.
posted by tamitang at 8:20 AM on February 1, 2011

My version of this would be tons of fun and would resemble the "printer abuse" scene in Office Space.
posted by xax at 8:20 AM on February 1, 2011

I would pick up a seam ripper, or just use a small pair of scissors to snip through a couple of the threads in the top-stitching, then rub the thread ends between your fingers until they fray out. For the front of the brim, you can just go at it with some sandpaper. Once you sand through a layer of the fabric, you can pick at it with your fingers until it looks appropriately messy.
posted by specialagentwebb at 8:27 AM on February 1, 2011

I've always found wearing it in the shower was good to break in the fabric and the bill. Have it on you head, get it wet, then fold the bill how you want it. You can then take off and let it dry.
Another trick to fold the bill is to make the bill into a full cirlcle (one side will overlap the other and squeeze. Then switch the overlap and squeeze again for symmetry. It will be more of a curve than you probably want but will eventually go back. Do this when it is wet for best results. And do this a few times a day for the first few days and it will take.
For fraying, like someone said, use something to scrape the fabric. after a few washes it will look like the hat in you picture.
Also only do a minimum of breaking in . The rest has to happen naturally.
posted by Busmick at 8:36 AM on February 1, 2011

I was once babysitting a kid who wouldn't stop crying because his new ball cap looked uncool because it was so new and stiff. We frayed the front edge of the bill by taking it out in the driveway and rubbing it on the asphalt. That took about 5 seconds of work, and it looked pretty natural. Then he jumped up and down on it in the yard to grind in some dirt (he was pretty little, so I didn't think this would break it, and it wasn't much dirt). Way faster and more fun than the other more careful methods I thought of (like those listed above). Then we bent the bill and held it with a big rubber band overnight, and it ended up perfect. The parents might not have been thrilled with our methods, but they never said anything b/c the kid was so happy that he now had a cool hat. Plus, I was now officially a cool babysitter...
posted by BlooPen at 8:39 AM on February 1, 2011 [1 favorite]

Paint with your hat on. Get some quickrete and mix it in lightly with your new caps (at an old job, I was moving concrete/quickrete which my cap on in the rain and was putting bags on my head to then push on to a shelf. I got some of the *rete on my cap, and mixed in with the rain, it instantly aged it a good few years). Sandpaper on the bill of your hat works, as does taking scissors to it.
I would be weary of snipping at the seams though- this is a good way to make the cap truly fall apart before it's time. If you do, I would stitch it up with a different color than the cap itself- perhaps the bill since it tends to be a different color that the cap itself.
Duct/electrical tape to the back of the cap (the tightening thing?) as another easy trick to give it the "falling apart look"
posted by jmd82 at 8:42 AM on February 1, 2011

According to prevailing current NYC subway fashion, I'm seeing a lot of caps with the hangtag still dangling, and the bill is store-stiff!
posted by thinkpiece at 9:11 AM on February 1, 2011

Busmick has it right. Wet it thoroughly in hot water and put it on your head. The wool will shrink to the shape of your head.
posted by chrchr at 10:38 AM on February 1, 2011

For dark colored hats I like to get them a bit dirty first as well as curving the brim. When I was a kid that meant kicking your hat around in the dirt when mom wasn't watching. Now that I'm a grownup and don't need to hide from mom, dunking it in tea or coffee and then running it through the wash seems to do the trick.

Another thought: there are some really obsessive denim fans online. If anyone knows the best way to fray your clothes, it's probably them. I've never been a hat-frayer, myself, so I can't help you on that front, but that's where I'd look if I were you.

According to prevailing current NYC subway fashion, I'm seeing a lot of caps with the hangtag still dangling, and the bill is store-stiff!

There are regional and generational differences on this one. Where I live in Flyover Country, a plainly-dressed 30-something white guy who did this would look like he was trying Way Too Hard.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:44 AM on February 1, 2011

Echoing BlooPen: asphalt or concrete is good for fraying edges, and since it's not as fine as sandpaper, it looks a bit more natural. When I was a lifeguard at a pool, we used to 1) rub hat bills on the concrete at the side of the pool and 2) dip the hats in chloriney water before letting them dry on our heads -- molded well and bleached the fabric a bit.
posted by weelittlemaggie at 10:54 AM on February 1, 2011

Ditto the asphalt or concrete to fray the edges. I used to do this in high school, it will take you about 20 seconds to do.

I used to curve the bills by wrapping them around a can of coke and wrapping it up with rubber bands overnight.
posted by hootenatty at 12:16 PM on February 1, 2011

Leave it in a window that gets sun when you're not wearing it to fade the color some.

(Personally, though, I think it's cheating. A cap's wear and tear should be earned by wearing it!)
posted by davextreme at 1:02 PM on February 1, 2011

Hi All -

Thanks for the suggestions! I think for the "bill", the consensus seems to be rubbing the bill on some asphalt or concrete. That sounds fine, but all of our concrete or asphalt is currently buried under a LOT of snow, and it will be late April before I get access to that. I might go with the emery board of the sandpaper option.

I am now interested in how to go about fraying the "top" part of the hat (and how to fray certain seems or edges). This might be a bit tougher! I do like the denim jean suggestion though! Might do some research on that. If anyone knows of a good denim fraying message board or anything like that, let me know. Thanks!
posted by dbirchum at 7:41 AM on February 3, 2011