How to make a hat fit a little tighter

[DarenHenryW]

What are the best ways to make a hat fit a little more snugly?

Daren Henry

[Chewbacca Jones]

Are we talking one size or less difference. If so, slip some craft foam under the sweatband and you're done!

[Weston]

Is this a new hat we're talking about? If so, and if it has a real leather sweat, just wearing it will often snug it up a bit. If it is too loose, like the guys said, put a little foam, or folded paper towel into the sweat. I've had to do that in the past, and over time, I ended up removing it as the hat eventually conformed perfectly to my size.

I did have a fedora that was a little loose and I solved it by folding the sweatband. Just another option.

Weston

[rcinlv]

I know that everyone talks about foam, but I have always used... KLEENEX! Folded longways, with the number of folds determined by the thickness you desire. Put one in the front, one in the back, one on each side... Whatever the discrepancy requires. If the sweatband shrinks, which has happened with an AB I purchased from Chewie, you can decrease the number of folds, or remove the tissue entirely. The tissue comes in handy on a cold day, or a day in which the pollen is particularly bothersome, and it is easily replaced.

Cheers,

RC

[Jens]

What RC said ... I just use a newspaper page instead.

[Indiana Joosse]

It also helps to grow a lot more hair...

[Ken]

I believe there is also a lamp shade trick but I have never used it myself - I will let an expert chime in with that one.

[Restless Dreamer]

I believe there is also a lamp shade trick but I have never used it myself - I will let an expert chime in with that one.

I head about it too, but there is risk of taper

[binkmeisterRick]

Other than the staple technique, everyone else's suggestions all do the trick.

[Digger4Glory]

I always just used a strip of thin cardboard like the kind you would find on a gift box for a shirt. It works very well and with no buldgey areas. Just nice and even all the way round. Just cut to the length of the sweat and tuck it in.

[Fedora]

Commit an act that makes your loved ones brag about you, incessantly. Your head will swell, and the hat will fit. Ok, NOT what you were looking for.

I have become so picky that I won't tolerate an ill fitting hat. And I won't use padding either. A resize in in order. Few things are worse than a hat that does not fit right. Plus, my experience tells me the pads just wrinkle up the sweatband too much. Would you pad a too loose pair of shoes, so they fit? Or put pads around the waist band of a pair of trousers that were too loose? But, that's just me. I think I may be weird.

Way back, I bought a hat that was too tight. Took me a couple of days to figure out where the headaches were coming from. Till I figured it out, I had to take aspirin to were the hat!! It was summer, so I removed the sweatband, tightened the ribbon up, and it was the most comfortable hat I ever wore. Which says much about a hat with no sweatband. It is the most comfortable hat you will ever wear. The down side is, it doesn't take long for the hat to get covered in white salty sweat stains. I reckon that is why they call it a "sweatband". Keeps the hat cleaner. When it gets really hot this summer, no doubt I will do this again. The difference in comfort level is day and night. Fedora

[Texan Scott]

Depends on how much room you have there, but perspiration and heat, as body heat escapes through the top of your head, will cause the leather hat band to shrink. Similiar to Michael, this Henry was a bit loose, but now fits perfectly with use. Do some yard work around the house in it, work up a sweat, it'll shrink.

[tekors]

Depends on how much room you have there, but perspiration and heat, as body heat escapes through the top of your head, will cause the leather hat band to shrink. Similiar to Michael, this Henry was a bit loose, but now fits perfectly with use. Do some yard work around the house in it, work up a sweat, it'll shrink.

But how long does take a hat to shrink? Mine Henry is a bit loose, i placed leather pads on in the back and another in the front... after a while i removed the front one. But without the pads is kinda loose. It's been 2 months now and lots of sweating.
Does it take more for shrinking? Also, I was thinking about soaking both sides of the sweatband to increase the shrinking since the sweat is concentrated on the front part.


regards
teko

[Ian]

My Fed sweat shrunk up nicely over a period of a few months, so now it's fine, although still not a custom fit. My Henry, well, I've had that since Feb and given it loads of wear - The sweat in that hasn't shrunk at all, so I needed the pads in it (it's way too big). I've sent it to John for some TLC.

I also found that, on the Henry, the bottom of the hat flared out slightly due to the pads, giving it more of a tapered look - Not much, but it was there. Just couldn't live with the pads........JOHN!!!!!

Ian

[tekors]

Btw ... John penman's advice is to place the leather pads on the sides and not the front/back.
But also, as Ian said, with the pads on the sides I noticed a bit of a tapered look on the Henry.

what I will do is to keep only 1 pad in the back (just to give a bit of a more tighten feel) and wait more time for the swetband to shrink.

I am considering to soak the sweatband on both sides and let it dry naturally to get some shrinkage.

Teko

[theinterchange]

[quote="Fedora"]

[tekors]

I have become so picky that I won't tolerate an ill fitting hat. And I won't use padding either. A resize in in order. Few things are worse than a hat that does not fit right. Plus, my experience tells me the pads just wrinkle up the sweatband too much. Would you pad a too loose pair of shoes, so they fit? Or put pads around the waist band of a pair of trousers that were too loose? But, that's just me. I think I may be weird.

Fedora

I'm the same way. If the hat doesn't fit my head, I'm not running around with junk in it to make it fit. The way hats sit on my head, it looks funny when I do anyway, you can tell it's too large. And I would be concerned about the sweatband shrinking up in odd shapes causing the wrinkles Fedora mentioned.

Randy

I feel this way too, don't like the idea of having pads in my hat. Mine is a bit loose but nothing dramatic... and i just got it: 2 months ago. So it's still fresh and i guessl the sweatband will tighten over time.


teko

[Vespera]

Depends on how much room you have there, but perspiration and heat, as body heat escapes through the top of your head, will cause the leather hat band to shrink. Similiar to Michael, this Henry was a bit loose, but now fits perfectly with use. Do some yard work around the house in it, work up a sweat, it'll shrink.

Looks like I'm going to have to wear my hat while working out or just working in the garden then...in high summer that is..

I have a hat (that I am wearing in my avatar btw) that has always been a little big for my head actually, and this thread has given me some good tips to make it fit tighter.

Although...I must admit(rather embarrasingly ) that I have never known the proper name for my style hat.
It's much smaller than a Fedora obviously...would anyone know what it's called or where I may find out more?

(goes and crawls into a crate due to feeling so ashamed of herself...)

[binkmeisterRick]

Based on your avatar, it is a fedora you're wearing. The general specs of a fedora have changed throughout the years, but the name remains the same. Until you get nit picky with things like Stingy Brims, Trilbys, Pork Pies, etc...

[Vespera]

Huh..well there you go..I did not know that it is a Fedora after all...

So, Fedora's can range in size, in particular with the rims?

Thanks btw for enlightening me.

My eldest brother actually bought this hat for me when I was fifteen years old. He went for a business trip to Brisbane and saw this hat in a store and just knew I would love it.
You see, I was a BIG Duran Duran fan back then and I always loved those hats they wore in the early 80's.
So my brother saw this one and had to get it for me.
I was tickled pink when he presented it to me...
And I think I must have squeezed the daylights out of him for surprising me with it!

My brother's spoil me...being the baby of the family and all...LOL.

[DR Ulloa]

They were one of the more underated bands of the 80's. I love the story of the bassist. He was their guitarist until they decided he stunk too much. There's half the bassists in the world for you...guys who couldn't make it as guitarists.

Dave

[Vespera]

They were one of the more underated bands of the 80's. I love the story of the bassist. He was their guitarist until they decided he stunk too much. There's half the bassists in the world for you...guys who couldn't make it as guitarists.

Dave

I'm assuming you mean John Taylor(whom I had the most humongous crush on for years!), turned out to be a fabulous bass player. However, even if guitarists are considered to get all the attention as a sex symbol, and all that, well it certainly didn't affect John. He was never short of beautiful women on his arm...
So there you go. Bass players can rock too.

Opps...think I got off topic.Sorry.

[BendingOak]

Btw ... John penman's advice is to place the leather pads on the sides and not the front/back.
But also, as Ian said, with the pads on the sides I noticed a bit of a tapered look on the Henry.

what I will do is to keep only 1 pad in the back (just to give a bit of a more tighten feel) and wait more time for the swetband to shrink.

I am considering to soak the sweatband on both sides and let it dry naturally to get some shrinkage.

Teko

Im not a big fan of padding a hat to fit but if you have to, fill the voids

[gobo]

Having a roundish head, I didn't achieve a nice 'long oval' brim swoop on my Henry until I padded out the front of the sweatband.

[Indiana Blooze]

If I have to use a pad, I like to use 3M scrubbing sponges. I carefully strip off the green scrubber part, and then cut the remaining sponge to the size I need. There are different sizes and thicknesses, so you can pretty much custom fit your pad. I also use a fillet knife to trim the sides and bottom of the sponge into very shallow wedges, to help with the transition into the main thinckness of the sponge, and minimize the bulge under the ribbon as much as possible.

I place the pads in the rear of the hat, centered on the pinch. I do this to try and mimic a long oval head shape, which I don't have. I feel this helps to accentuate the ROTLA brim distortion that we all like, well I do anyway. I only put a very small pad in the front, when absolutely necessary. A pad sitting against the solid bone of you frontal lobe, can show a large bulge under the ribbon Your hair on the other hand, can help to cushion and hide the presence of a pad in the rear. I never put a pad on the sides, as I feel this gives the impression of having a round oval head, which minimizes the ROTLA brim distortion.

As has been said before, I don't recommend pads as a cure for a wrong-sized or ill-fitting hat. If, however, you have a new hat with a sweatband that hasn't shrunk yet, or are one of those cursed 'tweener hat sizes, they can be very helpful.

Now If I may, I think I need a cup of coffee.

[tekors]

Btw ... John penman's advice is to place the leather pads on the sides and not the front/back.
But also, as Ian said, with the pads on the sides I noticed a bit of a tapered look on the Henry.

what I will do is to keep only 1 pad in the back (just to give a bit of a more tighten feel) and wait more time for the swetband to shrink.

I am considering to soak the sweatband on both sides and let it dry naturally to get some shrinkage.

Teko

Im not a big fan of padding a hat to fit but if you have to, fill the voids

Yeah, I confess I don't like placing pads either. Well, the difference is no that big, i could also take it out. It's more on windy days when i feel insecure that the hat will fly away

teko

[tekors]

If I have to use a pad, I like to use 3M scrubbing sponges. I carefully strip off the green scrubber part, and then cut the remaining sponge to the size I need. There are different sizes and thicknesses, so you can pretty much custom fit your pad. I also use a fillet knife to trim the sides and bottom of the sponge into very shallow wedges, to help with the transition into the main thinckness of the sponge, and minimize the bulge under the ribbon as much as possible.

I place the pads in the rear of the hat, centered on the pinch. I do this to try and mimic a long oval head shape, which I don't have. I feel this helps to accentuate the ROTLA brim distortion that we all like, well I do anyway. I only put a very small pad in the front, when absolutely necessary. A pad sitting against the solid bone of you frontal lobe, can show a large bulge under the ribbon Your hair on the other hand, can help to cushion and hide the presence of a pad in the rear. I never put a pad on the sides, as I feel this gives the impression of having a round oval head, which minimizes the ROTLA brim distortion.

As has been said before, I don't recommend pads as a cure for a wrong-sized or ill-fitting hat. If, however, you have a new hat with a sweatband that hasn't shrunk yet, or are one of those cursed 'tweener hat sizes, they can be very helpful.

Now If I may, I think I need a cup of coffee.

Yeah, coffee would be nice
thanks for your insights