WTB: 4 Way Hat Stretcher

[Apollo]

Good day

WTB: 4 Way Hat Stretcher

Thanks for your time

 

[belfastboy]

Good day

WTB: 4 Way Hat Stretcher

Thanks for your time

I cannot remember the name but there is shop on ETSY that sells what looks to be a great design of a 4 way stretcher. It is on my list to buy when I get around to it.

 

[Apollo]

I cannot remember the name but there is shop on ETSY that sells what looks to be a great design of a 4 way stretcher. It is on my list to buy when I get around to it.

Wow! Really. I been checking out Etsy, I can’t find it at all. For months now.

 

[belfastboy]

Wow! Really. I been checking out Etsy, I can’t find it at all. For months now.

The Etsy search engine sucks. I cannot locate it on Etsy now either BUT I did find it on Amazon.ca...."Tang's Hat Stretcher" $60 Canadian funds and I can have it at my house by Tuesday.

 

[Bill Hughes]

Are you looking for something like this?

Hats By The Hundred - 4 Way Hat Jack

This is the hat jack of hat jacks. What the pros use. Check out our full range of hat stretchers today! We offer world wide shipping!

www.hatsbythe100.com.au

 

[Apollo]

I cannot remember the name but there is shop on ETSY that sells what looks to be a great design of a 4 way stretcher. It is on my list to buy when I get around to

Are you looking for something like this?


View attachment 411748

I am not sure if that you show me is effective as the old school four way hat. Here is the one I am talking about. It looks totally different

http://[ATTACH type="full" alt="1647800992091.jpeg"]411749[/ATTACH]

 

[belfastboy]

I am not sure if that you show me is effective as the old school four way hat. Here is the one I am talking about. It looks totally different

http://[ATTACH type="full" alt="1647800992091.jpeg"]411749[/ATTACH]

View attachment 411749

A little different packaging but the principle upon which it is based is the same. Also understand that stretching a hat up one full size is fraught with difficulty and danger to the hat. You can ease a hat out slightly but stretching it out one full size often distorts the hat, it bulges, the brim goes wonky. Realize a hat is made under some tension and exists in multiple planes. There is the felt itself plus the leather sweat plus the ribbon/bow you are stretching. Stretching de facto distorts the hat. It is a matter of how much you stretch it before you do damage to the hat.

 

[belfastboy]

I am not sure if that you show me is effective as the old school four way hat. Here is the one I am talking about. It looks totally different

http://[ATTACH type="full" alt="1647800992091.jpeg"]411749[/ATTACH]

View attachment 411749

Also, for less than the $160 for the stretcher you can send the hat out to a hatter and he/she can upsize the hat to your proper size. Getting a hatter to size it properly is the only really satisfying way to approach it. Find a hatter close to you and check with them.

 

[Apollo]

Also, for less than the $160 for the stretcher you can send the hat out to a hatter and he/she can upsize the hat to your proper size. Getting a hatter to size it properly is the only really satisfying way to approach it. Find a hatter close to you and check with them.

That’s sounds like a plan, thanks man for the advise!

 

[mark balen]

Hats Unlimited offers a four way stretcher that appears to be very similar to that shown in the link posted above. You can find it on Amazon and the price is $49.

 

[mark balen]

Hats Unlimited offers a four way stretcher that appears to be very similar to that shown in the link posted above. You can find it on Amazon and the price is $49.

Oops...my mistake. It is on the Hats Unlimited site.

 

[Apollo]

Oops...my mistake. It is on the Hats Unlimited site.

Thanks! I read reviews on how some people mention how on that particular one you suggested that the left and right didn’t come out simultaneously. Have you ever you used it before?

 

[Bill Hughes]

Thanks! I read reviews on how some people mention how on that particular one you suggested that the left and right didn’t come out simultaneously. Have you ever you used it before?

I've used mine several time without issue. Worked as it should.

 

[Apollo]

I've used mine several time without issue. Worked as it should.

Wow, that great to hear! I will check it out later!

I have a 7 3/8, I need it to be 7 1/2. What are the steps you personally take properly stretch a hat? Thanks

 

[Pkyoakum]

Wow, that great to hear! I will check it out later!

I have a 7 3/8, I need it to be 7 1/2. What are the steps you personally take properly stretch a hat? Thanks

I have stretched from a 7 1/4 to a 7 3/8. First I took out the stitching of the sweat band, snipped the reed that goes around the sweat band, steamed to back of the hat on the outside and then did the stretch. I have a large antique wooden stretcher that the hat fits over . Then I let it sit a day. Repeat as much as needed until the hat holds the stretch.

 

[Apollo]

I have stretched from a 7 1/4 to a 7 3/8. First I took out the stitching of the sweat band, snipped the reed that goes around the sweat band, steamed to back of the hat on the outside and then did the stretch. I have a large antique wooden stretcher that the hat fits over . Then I let it sit a day. Repeat as much as needed until the hat holds the stretch.

Thanks for you reply! When you clip the stitching for sweatband, do you clip the whole thing? The reason I ask because I don’t know how to sew sweatbands on a hat. I am not good at sewing.

 

[belfastboy]

I have stretched from a 7 1/4 to a 7 3/8. First I took out the stitching of the sweat band, snipped the reed that goes around the sweat band, steamed to back of the hat on the outside and then did the stretch. I have a large antique wooden stretcher that the hat fits over . Then I let it sit a day. Repeat as much as needed until the hat holds the stretch.

Which 'stitching' did you remove from the sweat?

 

[belfastboy]

Hats Unlimited offers a four way stretcher that appears to be very similar to that shown in the link posted above. You can find it on Amazon and the price is $49.

The same one is listed on Amazon.ca for about the same price but free delivery with Prime

 

[Pkyoakum]

Which 'stitching' did you remove from the sweat?

In the back where often the sweat band is stitched. It is possible to just remove the sweat band and gain almost a hat size. I did this once to a cool 1960s Borsalino in size ~7 to 7 1/8 where I removed the sweat band and stretched to fit a 7 3/8 rather nicely. The hat was only cost $25, so it was worth the gamble and paid off. Normally just buy your size. It's tricky stretching a hat.

 

[belfastboy]

In the back where often the sweat band is stitched. It is possible to just remove the sweat band and gain almost a hat size. I did this once to a cool 1960s Borsalino in size ~7 to 7 1/8 where I removed the sweat band and stretched to fit a 7 3/8 rather nicely. The hat was only cost $25, so it was worth the gamble and paid off. Normally just buy your size. It's tricky stretching a hat.

When stretched you just leave it unsewn?