Shrinking a leather belt?

[shadowrider]

Has anyone ever attempted to shrink a leather belt?
I was thinking maybe the hot water/dryer treatment.
Need to shrink it a size or so, I'd say abot two inches total in lenght.

 

[samo]

Even if You would be able to shrink such thick piece of leather the results probably will not be flattering? It would be easier to punch additional holes?

 

[Dickie Teenie]

Best bet is to buy a cheap punch off ebay and add a hole or two. If you don't want that many holes cut the buckle end leather and re do that.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I find the best way to shrink a belt is to drink a lot of beer.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Can't really add anything that hasn't been said already. You can't shrink a leather belt but you can shorten it by cutting off the excess & punching a few holes if necessary............alternatively, you could buy a belt your size.

 

[robrinay]

Moving the buckle is the neat way - ask a cobbler or better yet buy a stitch marker, needle, waxed thread and an awl or a stitch chisel and diy.

 

[wdw]

I just bought a decent leather hole punch for about £10 off Amazon. No probs at all.

If the belt's too long now, just cut something off the pointy end.

 

[shadowrider]

Thanks for the replies, folks.
The issue is, this belt is of the kind where the end segment on each side is narrower than the middle part (1 inch vs 1.5 in the middle). Kind of like a ranger belt without double layers.
That is why I was thinking of shrinking instead of altering it (to retain its simmetry). But you're right, it's probably a bad idea lol!

 

[Carlos840]

Don't cut off the pointy end!

First try adding holes (punch and hammer), if that isn't what you want and you actually want to shorten the leather band you have to do it from the buckle end.
Unstitch it, cut and then restitch, or drill the rivets, shorten and rivet again (or replace the rivets with chicago screws).

It's actually very easy to do and that way it will be invisible.

 

[Feraud]

Agreed on the home remedy fix. Or take it to your local cobbler and ask him to shorten and re stitch the buckle end.

 

[nick123]

I'll admit to cutting a belt to size with home scissors. Whoops.

 

[Carlos840]

If you need a push, here are some belts i hand stitched:

This is how i taught myself to do it:

 

[Feraud]

I heartily second Nigel's videos!