Best way to stretch a hat?

[Lao Feng]

Hi - I have a near brand new Fed IV Deluxe that is a little on the tight side. (I should have gone up a size from my Fed III given the new Fed IV sizing...oh well). I am currently keeping one of those terrific wood hat keeps in her and twist her on up and get a good stretch....but after a couple of hours the hat returns to where it began as a bit too tight. Any thoughts on the best way to stretch it? Maybe I should just sell it and try again. Cheers -- Lao Feng

[Michaelson]

Have you tried turning the sweatband inside out, wetting the leather sweat with water all the way round, THEN installing the hat stretcher and leaving it stretched until it completely dries? (Takes about a day).

It should pretty well stay after that treatment...at least mine always have.

Regards! Michaelson

[BendingOak]

Have you tried turning the sweatband inside out, wetting the leather sweat with water all the way round, THEN installing the hat stretcher and leaving it stretched until it completely dries? (Takes about a day).

It should pretty well stay after that treatment...at least mine always have.

Regards! Michaelson

What he said.

[WConly]

Have you tried turning the sweatband inside out, wetting the leather sweat with water all the way round, THEN installing the hat stretcher and leaving it stretched until it completely dries? (Takes about a day).

It should pretty well stay after that treatment...at least mine always have.

Regards! Michaelson

Now you tell me ! In the past I always would insert the stretcher....steam around the inside of the sweatband area with a clothing steamer and slowly stretch and let stand for a day, however quite often the hat would shrink down some and I would have to repeat the process numourous times. Geez. What a dolt! I shall remember this in the future should I encounter such an issue. Thanks! Good information to have on file ! W>

[Lao Feng]

Many thanks, Michaelson. (Knower fo things... )Nope...never tried it that way. Sounds like it's worth a try. So...after I turn the sweatband up and wet it all around, I assume I fold the sweatband back down into proper position before applying the stretcher? Correct?

[BendingOak]

Correct. You might have to do this a couple of times and treat the face of the sweatband.

[Lao Feng]

Terrific. Thanks for the advice. Cheers -- Lao Feng 老冯

[Michaelson]

[Lao Feng]

Please to report a successful application of Michaelson's technique for stretching a hat. I practiced first on a 30-year old Stetson "Madison" (Yep...been wearing fedoras that long). It took two iterations, but the desired effect was unquestionably achieved. Will now move on to the Fed IV in question. Many thanks. Lao Feng

[New Jersey Jones]

Been thinking about doing a little stretching on one of my hats. It's just slightly tight.

This is the only place I've seen anyone suggest wetting the hatband. Even David Morgan's video on YouTube has him steaming the hat from the outside then placing a hat jack in it.

Just how wet should one get the hatband? I assume it's a light misting of water, rather than soaking it?

I just bought a lovely vintage wood hat stretcher on ebay to use, but I'm worried that it may have more taper than my Penman.

Any suggestions/input on the proper way to do this is greatly appreciated!

Rick

[Michaelson]

I just get a cup of water, wet my finger then rub it around the inside of the sweat to where I can see the leather darken, showing some water has ben absorbed. I then install my stretcher, tighten to the right size and let it dry.

Easy.

Regards! Michaelson

[New Jersey Jones]

I just get a cup of water, wet my finger then rub it around the inside of the sweat to where I can see the leather darken, showing some water has ben absorbed. I then install my stretcher, tighten to the right size and let it dry.

Easy.

Regards! Michaelson

What kind of stretcher do you use? Did you have to pay close attention to the taper?

Many thanks for your input!

Rick

[BendingOak]

I have Been doing that kind of stretching the sweatband by wetting for some time now. Works very well.

[Michaelson]

I just get a cup of water, wet my finger then rub it around the inside of the sweat to where I can see the leather darken, showing some water has ben absorbed. I then install my stretcher, tighten to the right size and let it dry.

Easy.

Regards! Michaelson

What kind of stretcher do you use? Did you have to pay close attention to the taper?

Many thanks for your input!

Rick

https://www.pbhats.com/private/HAT_ACCE ... page_1.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I use the one from Peters Brothers myself. It's all plastic, so I never have to worry about it warping.

They call it a 'shape retainer'.

As to taper, no, not if you just tighten the stretcher up to conform to the original size. If you overtighten, then sure, you could have a bit of a taper issue, but then why would you want to OVER stretch your hat beyond it's original size and shape?

Like BO says, it's easy, and it works.

Regards! Michaelson

[BendingOak]

The thing I don't like about hat jacks is you can't be sure 100% of the time that you are not over stretching.

[Michaelson]

True, but after a few years of practice, I seem to hit it every time on my hats.

Regard! Michaelson

[New Jersey Jones]

Here's the vintage hat stretcher I bought.

http://s1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa3 ... 0b31d9.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It has size markings on the brass sliders between the blocks.

I intend to take this very slowly and incrementally, and not stretch it much at all.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

Rick

[BendingOak]

True M but you can over stretch a hat learning how to do it.

I really like the vintage one.

[Michaelson]

Of course you can. Practice practice practice.

Start with a slight adjustment and see if that takes care of it. If not, do it again, and bump it a bit more. The learning curve is not that steep.

Regards! M

[New Jersey Jones]

Well, I can't seem to figure out how to embed pix in a post, so I'll just have to describe what I did.

I followed the sage advice of Michaelson and Bending Oak.

To begin, I turned the leather sweatband inside out, wet it with a damp sponge just enough to moisten the suede-like back of the leather, then turned it back into the hat. Next, I placed my vintage wood hat stretcher into it, and slowly opened the stretcher until it was snug. Then I opened the stretcher just a little more, until I heard the sweatband squeak a little. I checked the hat to make sure I wasn't distorting it at all, then let it sit for 24 hours.

When I tried it on the next day, the hat still felt snug, so I repeated the whole process, turning the stretcher out a little more, being careful that I wasn't distorting the shape of the hat.

After another 24 hours, I removed the stretcher and tried on the hat, and it was perfect!

I don't know if it will stay this way, but I consider this a successful experiment, and won't hesitate to do it again.

Thanks to all for the advice!

Rick

PS - I would definitely NOT try this with a cheap hat that didn't have a leather sweatband.

[Michaelson]

PS - I would definitely NOT try this with a cheap hat that didn't have a leather sweatband.

Agreed 100%. Anything other than leather, all bets are off.

Glad it worked for you. 9 times out of 10 it will hold for quite a while, or in many cases is a permanent fix.

Regards! Michaelson

[davidd]

Old topic, but my question seems pertinent to this discussion, so rather than starting a new topic, here we go: I've been looking at a particular Stetson model recently. Only one online vendor stocks this particular version of the hat. Unfortunately, they are out of stock in my size, 7-5/8 (61). The dealer was kind enough to inquire about availability, but the hat is no longer available in my size. Instead they responded with:

Unfortunately, they are out of stock of the felt for the Natura and we are the only store that carries the Boss in this special felt. However, we would be happy to stretch a 60 to a 61 if you are interested.

I found one topic on the forum where one of the resident hatmakers stated quite unequivocally that a hat can not be stretched a full size.

In this topic, however, some of you seem to suggest that perhaps it can.

I'm not entirely comfortable investing what would be for me a sizable chunk of change into a "stretched" hat if it's not going to work, if it's going to damage the hat, or if the "fix" won't be permanent.

Then again, I assume a high-end Stetson is a decent quality hat, and that if any hat could handle a stretch from 60 to 61 this one could.

Any thoughts?

[Michaelson]

Here's what Steve Delk said about the subject back in 2006:

No reputable hatter would ever take a too small hat, and use the stretcher to make the hat larger, before he sold it. Fedora

Taken from this thread, for full context. That is what one of our hat makers said about the subject.

http://indygear.com/cow/viewtopic.php?f ... stretching" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't know if he's changed his position on the subject in the past 9 years or not, but I couldn't find anything to the contrary in my search after that date.

Regards! Michaelson

[New Jersey Jones]

Working very carefully, drawing on the expertise of people here and elsewhere, I successfully stretched my beaver/rabbit blend fur hat with a leather sweat band using a vintage wooden hat stretcher about 1/8". It did not distort the hat, nor damage the sweat band. It took several days of slowly widening the hat stretcher in very small increments.

I don't think I'd want to try to stretch a hat more than I did. From a size 60 to a 61 is 1/4", and that's a lot.

If you would like to increase your knowledge base about the subject, look here at a thread on The Fedora Lounge:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/threads/ ... hat.45981/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I think you'll find the general consensus is that trying to stretch a hat as much as you are hoping to is not a good idea.

Cheers!

NJJ

[davidd]

Thank you for the input. Yes, that topic with the Steve Delk comment was where I began my search on the forum.

I'll take a look at the discussion on the FL forum. But I think for now, when it comes to my next hat, I'll keep looking until the proper size turns up.

Again, thanks for the info. Much appreciated.

[Michaelson]

Keep an eye on the classified ads, as I've seen size 61's turn up every now and again, and not that long ago either!.

Regard! Michaelson