How to stretch your headwear

How to stretch a hat?

The hat stretcher

It serves to protect your headwear and keep it in good condition. Besides its primary function of stretching hats, it allows you to store your headwear while maintaining its size and preventing moisture absorption, which preserves the leather band or the fabric grosgrain.

It is perfect for straw hats or felt hats.

Using your Hat Stretcher

1. Place the hat stretcher inside your headwear with the flat parts facing outward and the conical parts inward.
   The two wooden parts of the stretcher should be positioned one at the front and one at the back, with the screw in the middle.
2. Place the two wooden parts inside the hat, at the level of the labels. They should be parallel to the crease, in the crown of the hat.
3. Expand the stretcher to obtain the desired size of your hat.
4. Tighten the handle to adjust the stretcher to the size of the headwear. The hat is ready for storage. It should always be placed on the crown to keep the brim in good condition.

To increase the size of your hat:

1. Repeat the previous steps.
2. Use a teapot or a saucepan, with the lid slightly ajar, and bring clean water to a boil. Then reduce the heat to produce a steady stream of steam.
3. While holding the hat stretcher by the handle, pass the steam directly and evenly over the outside of the band area.
4. Then, turn the screw to obtain the desired size while applying steam. Don't stretch the hat too much at once: 1/4 of the maximum size, for example: 7 to 7 1/4.
5. Let the hat cool and dry for 20 to 30 minutes before removing the stretcher from the hat.
6. Repeat until the hat is at the desired size.