Mailbox: Small or Large, Poly or Wool 5950s?

Hi there, my name is Thad and I am a fan of your blog, in particular your post about breaking in a New Era 5950. I recently purchased one that is Polyester, unlike my previous Wool one. My old wool one was a little snugger, and took a long time to fit in, but is just right now. My new one is a little looser, hoping that would be ok/more comfortable. I guess my overall question for you is: is it better for the new polyester New Era's to fit a little tighter or looser? Thanks a lot.

Hey Thad! I'll answer this e-mail rather briefly because I've recently just purchased a great hat while thinking about these issues. I should add that wearing a hat that is too small gives me a headache.

I tend to favor hats that are a little loose at first and polyester. The material breathes better and lasts longer and will not become too tight over time. Also, you can use some of our poly specific techniques for shaping the dome. The hats will naturally fit to your head a bit over time, not as much as their wool cousins, but just enough to conform to your head if you wear the hat enough.

Best of luck and thanks for reading!

Mailbag: Low Crown 5950?

Reader Richard asks, 

  

Guys, just read your oven tip for breaking in the 5950 hats. I'll give it a shot. I have a big head to begin with so these hats look particularly silly on me if they aren't broken in. But here's the million dollar question (literally). Why haven't they released a 5950 hat that is broken in already, or sloped in the front. I think they are missing a huge opportunity here. Millions would buy it (I think). It can still be fitted, and look like the real deal, but broken in with the plastic support already broken it. Am I wrong? They have dozens of hat designs, I'm shoked New Era hasn't thought of this. 

Great question, Richard. New Era used to make something quite similar to what you are talking called "low crown" hats.  You can find references to them when you Google the term, "low crown 5950" but I haven't seen one available in stores for years.  

Perhaps we should start an angry petition?!   

Edit: Believe it or not, we get a lot of e-mails about this post.  We've heard good feedback from people heading in this direction for MLB low crown 5950 hats.  Also, New Era claims to be releasing new low crown 5950s soon.  Any further tips would be appreciated! Finally, please visit our sponsors to keep this site alive! 

Mailbag: Molding a Wool 59Fifty Hat

Reader Chris writes:

I am an avid purchaser of hats.  Usually just a few different teams (primarily the Atlanta Braves).  I recently purchased my first two 59/50 hats.   One is wool and one is poly.  I've read your site on the suggestions of how to mold/shape them my head and more to my liking.  The poly doesn't seem overly complicated with the hairdryer technique and I will try that asap.  However, the wool kind of confuses me.  I've seen tons of suggestions and methods.  The most one that seems the most effective I have read about is soaking it in warm water then putting it on your head.    My question is, do you put the whole hat into the warm water?   Will this hurt the logo?   

Thanks for the question, Chris!  You've anticipated the major line of my suggestions in your e-mail.  There are, as you mention, a ton of suggestions on how to shape wool 5950 hats.  They range from the fairly loony - wearing your hat in the shower, to the more subtle - wear it on a hot day.  Both of these suggestions come from somewhere, however, the desire to shrink the excess materials around the hat.

My suggestion is like the one Chris mentions - shape the wool hats with warm water.  Unlike our earlier suggestions about the new polyester caps (you can check on the MLB 5950s - if the underbill is grey you have an older wool cap and if it is black you have one of the newer polyester caps).  With the polyester techniques, I've mainly focused on shaping the wire mesh in the front of the cap that keeps it firm.  

The warm water sounds fairly simple, but there are some tricks to it.  Turn your cap over for a moment.  Do you see the light on the other side poking through those nice little ventilation holes?  Here is what I suggest doing.  First, take some water and put it on the stove and make it warm.  It is incredibly important that you don't bring the water to a boil or make it too hot - you don't want to burn your head.  Make the water warm, give it a moment to cool off, and hold the hat above a clean sink.  Slowly pour the water in a circle through those little ventalation holes.  It is important that you avoid letting the hat touch the logo in the front or the MLB logo in the back so that you avoid allowing the colors to run.  

Once you've got the hat warm and wet, put it on your head and hold it close to your dome.  Though your girlfriend won't like you very much for the next few minutes - you'll smell like a wet dog - she'll eventually like the fat that your hat looks far less goofy. 

Hope this helps.  Feel free to e-mail us with more questions! 

Breaking in a new 5950 Hat Part III

We could basically start a blog just on this topic.  This topic is one of our most popular and we ask people who find this page just based on these posts to stick around a little bit to read the rest of our blog.  Also, please visit our linked sponsors to feed us.  

We've written about breaking in New Era 5950 hats twice before.  First, we suggested heat and sweat to break in the lid.  We then suggested a technique involving a blow dryer.  This post will suggest our boldest strategy yet - putting the hat in an oven like a batch of cookies.  A word of caution - this is our most dangerous strategy for breaking in your hat, we are not responsible for your hurting yourself.  Call the fire department or your mother to supervise if need be.  

Alright, a brief recap.  The new 5950 - with the black underbill - is made of shrink resistant polyester.  The key with the old version of the 5950 was to shrink the wool on the outside of the hat, lowering the dome to make you look less like a goofball or a 75 year old manager.  The key with the new hats is to shrink the plastic mesh on the inside of the hat without ruining it (or burning your house down).  

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees with a cookie sheet placed inside.  Once the oven hits 200, place the cap in the oven for five minutes.  The metal piece on the top of the cap will become very hot if you put the cap in the oven for much longer, or at a much higher temperature than this.  Once you've had the lid in the oven for 5 minutes, take it out and slowly place it on your head - making sure you don't hurt yourself - and hold the top of the front of the dome down to the shape of your head.  Wait until it cools.  Repeat as needed.  

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Breaking in a New 5950 Hat Part II

This summer, we came up with what has become our most popular post about breaking in a new 5950 cap.  Specifically, we've gotten a number of e-mails about shrinking the top of the cap or the "crown" of the hat.  

We've recently invented a new technique for shrinking the crown of these caps - so we thought a new post was  in order to explain our technique.  Once again, this is our most popular cluster of posts - so we invite you to visit our sponsors so that we can keep this page running.  

Step 1 of this new technique is to find a girlfriend and temporarily steal her blowdryer.  The WellDressedSportsGirlfriend was happy to oblige in this case.  Thanks, lady.  

As we mentioned in our previous post on this topic - the 5950 contains a plastic mesh frame beneath the caps logo to keep the crown firm.  The goal of this technique is to heat up the plastic on the inside the cap and shape it to your head.  Don't go overboard here - avoid heating up the cap too much and don't burn your head.

Reader Robb sent us the following tip for this stage: 

I wanted to pass on another suggestion (courtesy of my wife). I took her bottle of Downey Wrinkle Releaser and sprayed the whole outside of the bowl of the hat, with it on my head. I soaked it pretty well. I worked it in by smoothing it out hard with my palms. After it dried, I repeated that; but this time I blow dried it dry. I'm not sure if there was one portion of this procedure that was the kicker (I believe it was the wrinkle releaser/blowdrier) but the whole process has yielded a pretty good result.

Step 2 - Heat up the blowdryer and turn the cap over.  Start heating up the inside of the cap behind the logo.  

Step 3 - Once you've gotten the blowdryer warm and the inside of the cap is a bit loosened up, start pressing down on the crown of the cap, encouraging the plastic mesh inside to bend just a bit. You'll start to feel the heat on the other side of the cap.  Once you start to feel it getting hot shut off the blowdryer and give the cap a second to cool down.  Then put the cap on your head and hold your hands on top of the crown of the cap, shaping it to your liking.   

And there you have it!  Do this a couple of times and the plastic inside of your cap will bend to your liking.  It doesn't require any of the cap surgery that can result in breaking the hat and gives you an excuse to ask that girl you have a crush on for a favor.  Yup, we're just here to help.

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