Would partial wetting or steaming result in reverse taper?

[Russ]

Some of the posts on the lampshade trick got me thinking, if the lampshade trick results in a slightly smaller base relative to the top of the crown, what would happen if someone exposed just the bottom half of the hat to steam? Would this result in a nice mushroom shape?

Or, since it is hard to control steam, but easy to control a spray bottle, what if someone sprayed the bottom half of a hat, gradually and evenly lightening the spray as it approaches the top of the crown and then dried it with a hair dryer? Would that result in reverse taper, especially when combined with the lampshade trick?

I would try it and find out myself, but I don't want to risk ruining one my hats. I'd rather somebody else ruin theirs first.

[Marc]

Due to the shape of a rawbody, the top of the crown is the most stretched part of the hat. With that said, it is the part that will shrink back to it's original shape faster then the other parts if submerged to steam and it's almost un-avoidable to have some steam hit the top of the crown, once you steam the bottom. - I'm not saying it's impossible but I'd be VERY cautious about doing so and only wetting half an inch of the crown. And the sweatband should be removed to not prevent the felt from shrinking as well. Last but not least, the crown should be held upside down, so the steam can move up and away from the top of the crown.... Now that I think about it, it would probably be best to remove all trimmings, put the hat inside a brim flange, wet the brim break area only and then use the lamp.

Btw: the lampshade trick works on the sweatband and not of the bottom of the crown.

Just my two cts.

Marc