Adventurebilt Shrinkage

[fatwoul]

Hi all,

I've been gone from the forum for probably over a decade, but for those of you who remember my username, I hope the last years have been kind to you.

I have a (Steve Delk) Adventurebilt which I bought probably 14 years or so ago, and which to my shame I don't wear very often - I'm mostly too scared a seagull might poop on it.

Anyway, it (the hat, not a seagull) has sat on various shelves in my house throughout the years, occasionally being worn by me. In that whole time, it has never changed shape or size, which I would expect from a hat of that quality made by someone that meticulous. However, at some point in the last six months it has gone from being the same perfectly comfortable, perfectly sized hat it always been to suddenly being tight enough to be uncomfortable.

As I said, I rarely wear it, so the oils and moisture from my head are probably not the culprit, but what about temperature? The only thing I have changed since last year is my hats are now all on a shelf I built in my hallway, and are possibly exposed to warmer temperatures during the year than they used to be. I've never heard of temperature alone being a cause for shrinkage, but has anybody else experienced this?

I've taken to leaving a hat stretcher inside it, gently applying a small amount of pressure to hold a comfortable size, but I didn't used to need to do this. What other things might I try to preserve this lovely fedora?

Thanks everybody

 

[Zombie_61]

...As I said, I rarely wear it, so the oils and moisture from my head are probably not the culprit, but what about temperature? The only thing I have changed since last year is my hats are now all on a shelf I built in my hallway, and are possibly exposed to warmer temperatures during the year than they used to be. I've never heard of temperature alone being a cause for shrinkage, but has anybody else experienced this?...

It hasn't happened to me personally (not yet, anyway), but there are a number of posts on various hat threads here that mention hats having been left in cars on hot summer days that were later discovered to have shrunk. So, yes, temperature can definitely affect a hat's felt negatively. Short term, I'd say move the hat(s) back to where you previously stored it/them. If the shrinkage wasn't too severe and the hat stretcher seems to be working, for now I'd stick with that to correct the problem. Otherwise, it/they might have to be re-worked by a hatter.

 

[RBH]

Hi all,

I've been gone from the forum for probably over a decade, but for those of you who remember my username, I hope the last years have been kind to you.

I have a (Steve Delk) Adventurebilt which I bought probably 14 years or so ago, and which to my shame I don't wear very often - I'm mostly too scared a seagull might poop on it.

Anyway, it (the hat, not a seagull) has sat on various shelves in my house throughout the years, occasionally being worn by me. In that whole time, it has never changed shape or size, which I would expect from a hat of that quality made by someone that meticulous. However, at some point in the last six months it has gone from being the same perfectly comfortable, perfectly sized hat it always been to suddenly being tight enough to be uncomfortable.

As I said, I rarely wear it, so the oils and moisture from my head are probably not the culprit, but what about temperature? The only thing I have changed since last year is my hats are now all on a shelf I built in my hallway, and are possibly exposed to warmer temperatures during the year than they used to be. I've never heard of temperature alone being a cause for shrinkage, but has anybody else experienced this?

I've taken to leaving a hat stretcher inside it, gently applying a small amount of pressure to hold a comfortable size, but I didn't used to need to do this. What other things might I try to preserve this lovely fedora?

Thanks everybody

GREAT hearing from you again. I cant add anything to what Zombie said, the hat jack is your friend.
hope to 'see' more of you here!!

 

[Frunobulax]

Hi all,

I've been gone from the forum for probably over a decade, but for those of you who remember my username, I hope the last years have been kind to you.

I have a (Steve Delk) Adventurebilt which I bought probably 14 years or so ago, and which to my shame I don't wear very often - I'm mostly too scared a seagull might poop on it.

Anyway, it (the hat, not a seagull) has sat on various shelves in my house throughout the years, occasionally being worn by me. In that whole time, it has never changed shape or size, which I would expect from a hat of that quality made by someone that meticulous. However, at some point in the last six months it has gone from being the same perfectly comfortable, perfectly sized hat it always been to suddenly being tight enough to be uncomfortable.

As I said, I rarely wear it, so the oils and moisture from my head are probably not the culprit, but what about temperature? The only thing I have changed since last year is my hats are now all on a shelf I built in my hallway, and are possibly exposed to warmer temperatures during the year than they used to be. I've never heard of temperature alone being a cause for shrinkage, but has anybody else experienced this?

I've taken to leaving a hat stretcher inside it, gently applying a small amount of pressure to hold a comfortable size, but I didn't used to need to do this. What other things might I try to preserve this lovely fedora?

Thanks everybody

Assuming you have a HVAC system and the temps in your house are rather moderately ranged, the temperature is a little iffy in my book.

Have you measured the hat? Does it still fall within the boundaries of your size? Also - I don't mean to be facetious - but have you checked to make sure your head is the same?

 

[M Hatman]

The first and usual cause of hat shrinkage is not in fact the felt, but the leather sweat. Leather is quite sensitive to heat (and well...getting wet and subjected to salt from our perspiration, and drastic temperature changes),

BUT in your house, the far bigger culprit is dry air from our indoor heating/cooling systems that BOTH (heating and cooling) suck the moisture out of the air drying out not only our fine books and wood furniture BUT also our sweat bands attached to hats left on shelves (or hooks, hatstands etc)!

A good application of your favorite leather preserver and some time on a hat jack often corrects the issue.

One final note, RAW WOOD hat jacks (that are untreated) will also wick moisture and dry a sweat too.......not to mention the acids in the wood don't do the sweat any good either......