Club Obi Wan

Yup thats the question.
I have one on order, just give my AdVantage a bit of a strech. Pun intended.

Here’s the question, how do you operate it.
Put it inside, turn/twist to expand it.

Won’t the put unduly stress on the liner where it’s sewn.

Just looking for others knowledge.
This will probably be one of quick threads, and I did a search on strecher and there wasn’t many, but none the how to use.

Thanks in advance.

Croft

Mine is two curved and tapered blocks of wood with a turnbuckle between. I've used it dry and I've used steam to relax the felt and sweatband. Leave it in the stretcher overnight or however long you wish.

My noggin is a long oval and the stretcher does a nice job of getting the "swoop" as you tighten it up.

Nah, it'll be fine. You won't over stretch it unless you really go crazy and try to take it like two sizes bigger. If you're just looking to take it up half a size or return it to its original size more or less because of shrinkage then it's no big deal. Just make sure it's facing the right way -- the blocks are angled slightly to mimic the slight taper of the crown -- and give it a few turns until it's slightly stretched and let it sit for a day or so. Not too long because then you can leave impressions in the sweatband and even put some weird crinkles in the ribbon. If you really want to use steam then go ahead but not too much.

Think of it like leaving a tight hat on your head for a day.

Thomas from AdVintage suggested one for my hat, which while the right size for my head, is not as oval shaped as my head.

I'm very hesitant to do so, because I have no experience with such things, and I'd be afraid to deform the lovely shape that it has. Steam definitely terrifies me.

One thing I don't quite get... if you put your hands inside the crown and pull slightly from front to back, you'll see the sides swoop up more. Won't a hat stretcher exaggerate the side swoop?

For me, (and this is just for me), wearing my head as much as possible has made it MUCH more comfortable than when I first got it. It's about a month now. I'm inclined to let time, heat, and sweat do it for me naturally. But I can see the need if the hat shrinks over years of use.

Good thread topic, and I'm interested to hear more on it.

Your hat was made using copious amounts of steam, usually the issue for hatters without a factory is not having enough steam. As long as you keep steam away from the sweatband, you'll be fine. Steam is the appropriate method to shape your hat. It also helps when brushing.

Yes, if you stretch too much, you can cause brim and crown distortion. This is generally not an issue with stretching back to size or giving a hat a small bump.

Thanks for all the responses, it’s about what I thought, though I didn’t realize there was a front and back.
Need to get a small kettle for steam. I’ll go slow as I don’t need much just a little stretch.

Never be afraid to tweak your hat, worse than can happen it goes off for a re-block.

Hat stretcher was into day’s mail.

Croft

Hedji wrote:...

One thing I don't quite get... if you put your hands inside the crown and pull slightly from front to back, you'll see the sides swoop up more. Won't a hat stretcher exaggerate the side swoop?

The swoop makes the hat! Yes, the stretcher will do the same thing as putting you hands in the crown and spreading them- depending on how much you tighten it.

Indiana Croft wrote:Thanks for all the responses, it’s about what I thought, though I didn’t realize there was a front and back.
Need to get a small kettle for steam. I’ll go slow as I don’t need much just a little stretch.

Never be afraid to tweak your hat, worse than can happen it goes off for a re-block.

Hat stretcher was into day’s mail.

Croft

Handheld clothes steamer also works well, though usually the tanks on those are kind of small. That said, should be enough for your purposes.