streching a hat

[porthos]

i have a fedora that was my fathers. its a little small. anyone know how to strech it. funny , many years ago there were many places that could do that. even shoe repair shops. any help?

[Bigslug]

Maybe: https://www.davidmorgan.com/shop/product/68/hat-stretcher/

[dougader]

They sell hat stretchers made for the task. How much do you intend to stretch the hat? Stretching up 1/2 to maybe 1 size can be done... but if your Dad wore a size 7 and you wear a 7-5/8 then you run the real risk of tweaking the hat... tearing the sweatband and torqueing the crown of the hat.

https://www.amazon.com/Killer-Heavy-Stretcher-Medium-7-Through/dp/B001XON4BY/ref=sr_1_8?crid=1R8S07VJ2JWF9&dchild=1&keywords=hat+stretcher&qid=1609622586&sprefix=hat+stretc%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-8

[cwtebay]

It's fairly simple as far as the steaming and such goes. But something like that (sentimental value) may be best done at a hatter or habadashery. They'll generally stretch, reblock, clean and replace the sweatband.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[porthos]

thanks i keep forgetting that goggle is our friend

[WebMonkey]

+1 the above.
i've got the hat jack mentioned above and it works a treat.

washed patrol hats tend to shrink and the hat jack gets them right back to size

[CastingFool]

Webmonkey's post reminded me what I used to do to keep my fatigue caps from shrinking. I used one of my wife's ss pots that was about the right diameter for my head.

[waksupi]

The jacks will work, when used with steam. A little at a time!