Wash it and wash it until it gets soft enuf that the string easily pushes it out of the way. My complaint with boonies is not string contact, but that unless I keep the sides rolled up, it messes with my hearing. So I, like Ozark Rambler and others, use the chinstrap to hold the sides up ... unless comes a rain, then I let 'em down. At least the front of a boonie is soft, while the fronts of standard "baseball" style caps are hard as hell and refuse to let the string come back. Once you get it figgered out, please let us know. Dave