Shrink to fit

[hargist]

I recently bought a new light gray Beaver Brand Heritage fur felt fedora. I bought my normal size (7 1/4) and the fit did seem a little loose, but I was okay with that because I know in time that hats tend to shrink to fit. That happened with another fedora I bought. The fit was a little loose when it was new, but now it fits perfectly.

My question: Is there any way to hurry the shrinking process along? In it's current state, it's just loose enough to feel strange. Can I do something to the leather sweat band to make it fit better?

Or am I better off waiting for it to happen naturally?

 

[Feraud]

A strip of foam weatherstripping under the sweatband should help.

 

[Andykev]

Hey I think you are stretching it there!

I would recommend having a "shim" installed. What is that? Just put some very thin foam between the leather sweatband and the felt on the inside. You can use paper also. They make "sizing strips" which most hatters or hat shops can sell to you.

To shrink up a sweat? Well, I have gently wet the inside of the sweatband, folded down, and it shrank when it dried. If the hat is a "finger or two" loose, then go with the sizing strip. If it is just a bit wiggly loose, try to let it shrink naturally, or with the bit of water, BIT of water, not soaked.

If the hat is just "it may blow away on a windy day" loose, time may be the best course of action as you are correct: most hats sweatbands shrink with time.

Most of my hat collection requires a seasonal "stretch". I have an electric, two dome, and three or four wood stretchers.

 

[dhermann1]

Shim

If you insert a shim, will that prevent the narural shrinking process? Which is better with a new hat: a little large and let it shrink down, or a little small and stretch it?

 

[hargist]

If you insert a shim, will that prevent the narural shrinking process? Which is better with a new hat: a little large and let it shrink down, or a little small and stretch it?

I was wondering the same thing about the shim. I know the hat will eventually shrink. I'm just looking for a way to hurry up the process so it feels better on my head.

That's an excellent question about buying too big or too small. It seems to me that it is better to buy a little too big because hats want to shrink naturally. Stretching seems to be the inverse of that, making the hat do something it wouldn't do naturally. But who knows? I've never tried stretching.

 

[hargist]

Well, I have gently wet the inside of the sweatband, folded down, and it shrank when it dried.

That seems to be worth a try.

 

[playitagainsam]

Let us know how it turns out. I'm in the same boat with you on my new Akubra Fed. Got the size I needed according to tape, 58, but it's a wee bit loose so I added the sizing foam. It works OK but I don't like the idea of using it.

Guess I'll just need to be patient and see if it tightens up.

 

[Doh!]

I've never tried it myself, but there's a thread here somewhere that suggests leaving the hat on top of a lit lampshade and then letting the heat do the work. I don't recall for how long to leave it, though.

 

[rongoms]

I use my Microsoft Employee stock option certificates folded over as a shim.
For that and wrapping fish.

 

[J.B.]

I use my Microsoft Employee stock option certificates folded over as a shim.
For that and wrapping fish.

 

[Feraud]

I've never tried it myself, but there's a thread here somewhere that suggests leaving the hat on top of a lit lampshade and then letting the heat do the work. I don't recall for how long to leave it, though.

Could that also shrink the felt on the hat??
A piece of foam is the simplest solution.

 

[hargist]

It fits!

I'm happy to report that I was able to successfully shrink my hat. It now fits perfectly!

I combined Andykev's and Doh's suggestions. I moistened the sweat band and then dried it on an electric radiator. After about one hour, I took it off the heater and let it cool. Once cool, I tried it on and it fit perfectly!

Finally, the hat feels like mine now.