Your hat has shrunk, why?

the hat size can shrink Image credit: Pixabay

Have you noticed a change in the size of your hat even though it fit perfectly when you bought it? Here are some explanations to understand where this comes from and how to remedy it.

Understanding hat shrinkage

The change in size can come from different factors:

Exposure to heat that is too rapid and prolonged (for example: placing the headwear on a radiator or behind a car's rear window)
Perspiration during hot periods, such as summer, but also during winter when cold periods are significant. The head releases heat that can cause shrinkage of the inner grosgrain.

These two factors often cause a deformation of the headwear and can make it lose a size. If this happens to you, don't worry, enlarging your headwear is entirely possible. To do this, boil a pot of hot water to produce steam. Steam your headwear, then get a stretcher, this accessory is essential to enlarge your hat in order to restore its original size and adapt it to your head.

Hat stretcher, available on the Traclet website.

Using a stretcher effectively

To use your stretcher correctly, you must enlarge the hat quickly after steaming it. This helps to soften the felt and the grosgrain.

1. Place the stretcher against the inner area of the headwear (inner grosgrain) to push for enlargement.
2. Once you have positioned it correctly, use the screw and gently stretch it to avoid risking cracking the seams.
3. To prevent the size of your headwear from changing, leave it with the stretcher overnight.
4. You can repeat this process until you reach the desired size, knowing thatwith a stretcher you can gain 1 or even 1.5 cm.

For a more significant size increase, it's best to completely remove the grosgrain to avoid cutting the seams.

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