Help Needed Stretching a Hat...

Take a trip to the upper Amazon?

LOL... now that is not a lot of help.

Thanks... will take a look at that tonight.

Try the "trip" to the lower amazon then.

I've heard there are African tribes that shrink heads...maybe that's the solution.

Keep the hat as-is.

Just get a fake red nose to go with it.

Steam it. I've used a steam iron, but a pan of water will work.

I used a kitchen pan instead of my head for stretching the hat.

I guess your head would work too.

I was going to try that. I will and let you know if it helped.

Like we did in the old days with our jeans, soak 'em down and wear them till the're dry...

There's some nostalgia! OMG, they don't make 'em like that anymore! Best pair I've seen in some time...

You have a very short memory Gilligan

Some truth to this. The act of wearing the hat will help stretch it out to your size, especially if you perspire. I've done it with boots before, slightly undersized and no way to get new ones. Actually wore them down in the corral with all the manure and everything else. Had to keep them on until they dried, but they were a real form fit after.

I tried wearing it for a period of time to stretch it, gave me a headache.

Sorry to hear that. I know my boots were very uncomfortable for the first couple of hours as well, but after they got "wet" for awhile all was fine. I just had to live with the first part but hey, I was very young and foolish back then as I'm sure we all were at one time. Might even go to say a little bit stoic.

I had a hat like that once, and it came from australlia. Someone took it andI found it a year later, streched to fit my head. Cleaned it and wore it for many years.

:-D

Its no problem at all, I have been grown up for many, many years now and I am more than perfectly capable of sticking up for myself and demonstrating just how funny the situation can be made, IN THE RIGHT HANDS, MINE OF COURSE!!

Lyn is simply an old loser, trying to regain his youth!! So please do not hold it against him, he simply is beyond sane help.

He is not alone as there are several cronies of his around....they are mostly harmless and toothless.... Be nice to them all if you can!!

Once in a blue moon he posts something useful, for which I try to compliment him on, but his "Grizzly Bear with a sore arse attitude NEVER changes and instantly breaks though!!"

You simply cannot be nice to him......and it will be a cold day in hell when he gives me a proper compliment, but who cares!!

Its a bit like Grizzly Bear "PMS", if you know what I mean!!!!! It comes and goes about every 28 days or so!!Though I haven't really bothered counting!! I must do that, so this is day 0 again!!!

I never attack him first, I just show him up when he tries to be funny about me. Its a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, no real contest!!

But he seems to like being put down and pissed off from time to time. God only knows why? A Masochistic streak maybe? But I really don't yet know....wait up!!

Its a bit like Grizzly Bear "PMS", if you know what I mean!!!!! It comes and goes about every 28 days or so!!Though I haven't really bothered counting!!

Maybe he is really separated/divorced and misses the battles that some marriages (I have heard) can cause, especially if PMS plays a role!.....just a WILD guess though!!!

Do have a great day and think nothing more about it!

Only too happy to oblige, but as hot air alone simply does not work in resizing any type of hat, as several people who have already posted realize!!

Sadly, Lyn is a slow learner!! But do please forgive him!!

It really needs a very hot, damp and steamy environment!!

So you really need is the almost "nuclear power" of the now widely available "Lynette" hot air system, which comes already combined with large amounts of "spittle", when turned on to something good (like your hat!), which then form a really hot steam jet, allowing you to reform your too small hat very easily and very quickly....

WARNING.

DO NOT HOLD THE "TOO SMALL HAT" IN THIS POWERFUL STEAM SYSTEM FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME OR YOU WILL FIND IT BECOMES FAR TOO LARGE FOR ANY NORMAL OR EVEN AVERAGE HEAD SIZES.

IF THIS HAPPENS, THIS GIANT OF A HAT IS GENERALLY CALLED IN THE TRADE AS THE "LYNETTE BH" OR BIG HEAD VERSION!!!

It will simply then sit on your shoulders covering your head completely, but it will still fit both a "Lynette" or a "Lyn" perfectly!!! Like twins!!

You may need to cut holes at your eye level if you are still determined to wear it!!

Then its possibly also a great disguise for "Trick or Treating" for you and all your children together maybe?

So do not simply dispose of it in the rubbish!!

But this MONSTER of a hat may still shock some others you may meet while wearing it..... So be very circumspect in its use....

Sadly, though it was "most" kind of Lyn to mention my name to help you with your problems, my "hot humor" is always FAR TOO DRY to be of any use in reforming such a tiny "Hat".

So all I can say is "sorry, but I am unable to help you myself!!"

But I wish you a great day anyway!!

The problem is, that Andy is perhaps not as flat-headed as others in this forum.

Frying pan indeed...I say , if the hat fits, wear it !!

I find that Baseball caps are the most comfortable, I get through around 2 - 3 a year....have done for a long time, ever since I "discovered" them for me and my wife on a months Florida holiday in 1983....

The Akubra hat has a wide brim to keep the sun off the face and ears. The high UV levels burn the tops of ones ears to a crispy bacon state. I have had part of my ear removed because of this. I never deliberately sunbaked but still get the cancers. I would guess North Of Sixty may not have that problem, but then, frostbite could be a reality.

It's worth fitting the Akubra! IMHO

Jim

Maybe you could just wear it like it is and start a trend.....

I'm thinking maybe she did that on purpose....

If it is an everyday hat and made of felt I would roll the headband out of the way then spray the hat inside all the way around the hatband area about 3 inches up toward the crown with distilled water until it is wet through to the outside then pull it down over my head to the level desired and wear it outside until it dries. This will ensure the hat is a custom fit to your head.

If it is a special hat I would take it to a hat fitting shop and let them do it.

It is a special hat... I will post pictures of it tonight. Would love to find a pro to do it. Unfortunately, none where I live.

http://www.hatsinthebelfry.com/category/hat-cleaner-and-sizing.html

Try this link. I am sure you could mail the hat and get it taken care of if not, this shop offers a hat stretcher for $22.00 US.

This will ensure the hat is a custom fit to your head.

Or your head is a custom fit to the hat!!!

This is what Hollywood did to many, still damaged, actors!!!

BE WARNED!!!!!

Find a hat shop with a (hat blocker) they can steam it and bring it out a bit. Nice hats I had one for quite a few years. Got a lot of compliments.

I will have to check on-line and ship it. I will do so I think. Ya... they are very nice.

First you need a hat block - a domed block of wood, they come in various sizes to match your head size, it mounts on a larger oval block which supports the brim.

Once you have located a hat block in your size you saturate the felt hat and very slowly and gently ease it over the hat block to stretch it.

Don't hurry or get impatient or you may tear it.

Once you have it over the block all the way down to the brim block flatten the brim on the brim block and leave to dry.

A Milliner(hat maker) will be able to give you much more detailed advice, or perhaps better still, do it for you.....

Good luck

No access to those things here. Gonna send it to a pro.

That sounds like the best solution

If the hat's real important to you, have it done by professionals. Try these guys:

http://www.optimohatworks.com/

Thanks for the link.

Cut/unpick the stitches of the band inside. The band won't stretch.

Wet the hat (fill with water) and put it on.

Go out in the sun and sweat. Pull the hat down to stretch it as desired.

Repeat. When you have a nice crusty sweat stain around it consider the adjustment finished.

Repeat with every use.

May be to cold here to get a good sweat going. We have had a cooler than normal summer.

If it is Australian Outback Collection it is more than likely an Akubra hat made from Rabbit fur. Do search on web, Akruba stretching or similar plenty of information available. Bloody expensive headwear by the way.

GA from me Phil, and your are right.. it would be an Akruba, I also have one.

to the OP.....

You should have had instructions with it, find them and follow, failing that look online for the manufacturer, they will tell you how.

FYI: The hat is designed to hold water (it's an Ozzie thing) and be almost waterproof, so no amount of water will affect the hat.

I found my instructions see photo

Unfortunately... I never got the instructions, just the hat. I will be looking up the maker. Thanks...

Thanks... I will look them up.

Australian? It is probably an akubra made from rabbit fur. I may have spelt that wrong but they are still available

Try another semi-extinct profession, like a shoemaker. They will have stretching methods for leather shoes, which be adapted to solve your problem.

Got it! Visit a military barber...should be able to trim you down at least by one full size!

LOL... I have gotten a hair cut or two since that photo was taken. Our division secretary calls me "Grizz" by times.

Engineering solution: one could always shave off all the hair that is making the hat perceivably too big, perhaps?

I've worn out a few Akubra hats. If you see the care insructions earlier in the responses, you will see there is also an inner band that will need to be removed.

As we all too often suggest, "Seek professional advice!!" Stretching the dome succesfully will not solve your problem, as the brim will then have high and low peaks like a roller coaster. Some of their hats also had a stiff wire former in the outer edge of the rim that will also need adjustment.

Trying to stretch it on your own head will only give you headaches from the pressure on your skull! (Yes, I've tried to resize one that way.) That one was also a well intentioned present. With permission, it was re-gifted to another worthy recipient and i spent the money saved on one that did fit.

Usual farm service for these hats in outback would be 5 years or so of outside work. Well worth the investment.

BTW, Akubra has recently announced they will cease use of Australian rabbit fur in favour of imported fur (European I believe).

Ya... I will be talking to a pro about this. Tks...

I heard that it was Chinese rabbits.

I thought I had a solution for you, as I was thinking of the western provinces of Canada. Unfortunately, if you are in Nu. Canada, you've got a location problem. Anywhere there are rodeos and cowboys, (I'm remembering my days in Houston, Texas) and some still exist in Canada as well as the USA, you'll find a cowboy hat store that can do this. Unfortunately it is probably 1600Km to the nearest in your country. You're left with the suggestions of steaming and stretching over your head presented by others. Sounds like that could be a bit painful. (???) I've tried the water approach, and did not care for the outcome.

Good idea... tks.

I was going to say let some joeys fight over it, but since you're in Canada, it might have to be squirrels or your kids.

Up here... it would be a "Siksik" (Arctic Ground Squirrel).

Well, if you were north of 80 instead of just 60, you could consult a kayak maker or caribou tanner.

I can do both right here... Iqaluit is the capital of Nunavut, which is the political center of the Inuit homeland.

Click here

This book is a good read and the price is reasonable. It may help you.

http://www.amazon.com/Neck-Up-Illustrated-Guide-Hatmaking/dp/0941082008%3FSubscriptionId%3D0N1YGFKC9QHMHQ9QTDR2%26tag%3Daskville-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0941082008

Another option is to try any message boards for vintage clothiers for a solution or a pro to do it for you.

Hi!

It's all in using the correct terminology: "Hat Jack"

Go online and enter this into the search box and you will be pleased to see all the listed sources. Google Amazon Etc.

I have 2 of these. I have daytime and nighttime western hats I keep on jacks for immediate wearing.

Enjoy!

You could have this guy size it for you.

Hello Guru!

IF you were really serious about finding a Hat Stretcher... then I entered the exact information you desired in comment # 52 during the evening of 7/24/2015

The correct terminology for a hat stretcher is "Hat Rack"

Continuing.. By entering the subject "Hat Rack" into an online search box,,, you will be pleased to read of all the concerns that offer this item for sale... Google and Amazon, to name a couple.

It is the evening of the 27th of July and I, as yet, have not seen any mention of your acknowledging receipt of this information.

Cordially,

Midnight

I DO hope that you have not suddenly become sick or incapacitated!

Not sick or incapacitated... just busy. Thanks for your input.