stretching a felt

[ideaguy]

Gentlemen: I'm always running into great hats that are just a bit small for
me,and I wonder if there's a guideline as to how much a hat can be
stretched safely- I've got a 7 3/8 long oval head, and just found a size 5
Italian Borsalino-21 3/4 circumference. Can it be done, and if not, what are
the boundaries?? Any help would be great, keep passing on 7 1/4 hats,etc...
thanks-M[huh] [huh]

 

[Mike in Seattle]

I believe what's been posted here a few times is that three-quarters to one full size is about the outside limit. Going beyond that can warp the brim, tear the sweatband inside, the ribbon outside, or worse, tear the hat itself.

 

[GentlemanFarmer]

The rule of thumb is stretching up only 1 size. I stretched a 7 up to a 7 1/4 (two sizes), but it had no sweatband at the time. It took alot of steam and handwork (even a steam iron) to get the hat looking right, both brim and crown. Then I had the new sweatband put in.

Just be careful if you do it yourself or, send it to a pro.

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

I wear between a 7 1/4 and 7 3/8 depending on the hat. That having been said, I have had good luck stretching 7 1/8 hats up to fit. The key seems to be getting the hat very moist. I use a spray bottle and dampen the outside, turn the sweatband out and spray the inside as well as the leather sweatband. I must add that the sweatband must be conditioned with some type of leather care product (this should have been done days prior to the stretching). I like Lexol myself. Next is to have a good stretcher, I would recomend one of the antique ones that can be found on ebay for around $20.00. The next thing is just start stretching slowly allow at least a day and check the progress, you don't want to over stretch it. Good luck

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Does the residue from the Lexol cause any skin irritation? I have some vintage hats with dried out or wavy sweatbands and I want to try it on them.

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

I have not had any problem, from time to time I have used baby oil as well, just use it spareingly and allow it to fully absorb before turning the sweatband back in. (I turn it out , in order to make sure I do not get any on the felt)

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

p.s. this is my weapon of choice

 

[feltfan]

Does the residue from the Lexol cause any skin irritation? I have some vintage hats with dried out or wavy sweatbands and I want to try it on them.

If you use too much, the leather can be a bit tacky
for a while, but no skin irritation here, either. I put it
on the side that touches skin out of fear that if I treat
the other side, it might leach onto the felt.

BTW, there are two reasons not to stretch a hat more
than about a size. The first is the physical limitations
discussed here. The second is that if you stretch most
hats beyond a size or so the hat begins to look odd.
You can lose the intended dimensions of the crown and
possibly distort the brim.

I would add that when stretching a hat you should
put stiff paper between the sweat band and the felt.
I rip the paper unevenly at the top. The reason for
this is that you can end up with the impression of the
sweat band and bow visible in the felt. A wide hat band can
cover up sometimes, but for those Open Roads, beware.

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Thanks! I'll give it a try.

 

[ideaguy]

Is there a previous thread that deals with stretching in more detail?
Thanks, M

 

[feltfan]

Is there a previous thread that deals with stretching in more detail?
Thanks, M

More than one. And some threads on how to
search this site using Google's domain search.

 

[ideaguy]

Feltfan-I was quite sure that the topic had been broached before, but not knowing how to track a thread properly on this site, I thought a member would
be so kind as to steer me in the right direction.

 

[Bud-n-Texas]

While I do not claim to be an expert, fire away. I have had a certain amount of luck in enlarging a few hats. I tried to cover the basics in my prior post, but if you have a question please ask away. Friendship should be a large part of this forum and I believe that is what was intended by the originators.

 

[feltfan]

Feltfan-I was quite sure that the topic had been broached before, but not knowing how to track a thread properly on this site, I thought a member would
be so kind as to steer me in the right direction.

Often I will search for folks and put up the link, but I was pressed for time yesterday (though I did write three paragraphs of instruction
in my first response in this thread).

That said, if you use the Advanced Search in this forum,
search only under the "Hats" forum and use the keyword "Lexol",
you'll find a few discussions of the subject. You will find related
discussions if you do the same with the keyword "stretcher".

For example:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=9428

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=5752

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=4970

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=4231

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=5604

I'm sure there's a lot more. It's a popular topic.

 

[ideaguy]

Thanks very much-invaluable help. So, thanks, friend-I'll be the one down cellar with his Jiffy steamer and a couple of old
6 7/8 stretchers, sipping a tumbler of Lexol....

 

[matei]

I've tried to stretch two hats up a size... with varying success.

The hats always seem to want to return to their original size. The one that fits better suffers from brim distortion.

In retrospect it is probably better to wait for one of the rare, large sized vintage lids to come along.

Just my two pence.

 

[feltfan]

sipping a tumbler of Lexol....

Drink enough of that and your head will shrivel to fit the hats.

Contrary to Matei's experience, I've had frequent
success stretching hats. I do use one of those full
sized stretchers, not the little ones that just fit on
the sweat band, but one that fills the crown. Sometimes
they shrink back a bit, but not often, and it can be corrected.

Usually I use a lot of steam in the process, but currently my
steam source is down (my espresso machine) and I was still
able to stretch a hat. That said, the other hat I'm stretching
now is resisting fiercely. So a lot of steam is recommended.

One last comment about hat size. In my experience (and I'm
not the only one to say this), vintage hat sizes vary a lot. I have
a 7 5/8 homburg that is tight. I have a 7 3/8 Cavanagh that
fits perfectly without stretching. I have a 7 3/8 LO Cavanagh
that is as small as any I've seen. Some of the old blocks must
have been different sizes. Some of the vintage hats must
shrink. Point is, you can be pleasantly surprised by buying
a hat you thought you would have to stretch and unpleasantly
surprised by buying, "one of the rare, large sized vintage lids".
Of course the one time I tried buying a hat that was clearly
too large (7 3/4) it did turn out to be, in fact, too large. But
that's okay- it's a project hat (about which you will hear more
as soon as I get that espresso machine fixed).