How to reblock at home

[CM]

Is there a good post here on how to re-block a hat yourself? Bashing it I have no problem with.

How wet should the hat get? Do you soak it, or spray it with cold water? How long do you leave it on the block, etc? How tightly should it fit on the block? What else needs to be done?

I've searched for a while but can only find incomplete answers.

Regards CM

[Dr.Seuss]

Yikes.

CM: When you gather the answers to those questions, kindly let us know.

It seems to be more of an experimenting game. Except for the hatters, of course.

A very good resource book, is Scientific Hat Finishing and Renovating, by Henry L. Ermatinger, 1919.

Sincerely,

[Marcus Brody]

The professional thing would be do remove the hat's components and then do the reblock, but it is possible to get away without doing it and still get good results.

I've done this maybe twice using makeshift "blocks" and the times I've done it I've completely soaked the hat, but that isn't completely necessary. Depending on how extensive the reblock will be, you may not need to go to such extreme lengths to soften the hat, although I think soaking the hat makes things fairly easy.

Basically you want the hat to dry on the block too, otherwise it will shrink without the block holding its shape. Also if you soak it, you want to make sure to let it dry for more than a day without artificial means like hair dryers, otherwise it will shrink.

Fedora and a few others are pretty knowledgeable on this subject, so maybe they can give more detailed a pro advice.

[Mac]

Here's a thread that should answer most of your questions:

viewtopic.php?t=20959

It's a comprehensive description of the process. If there's anything you don't understand then post a specific question and I'm sure someone will be happy to help you out.

Good luck!

- Mac

[CM]

Fantastic! Thanks guys.