It often happens that after a season the hat becomes small, tight, or does not fit on the head at all. Of course, buying a new thing is not a problem today. The market is overflowing with different models made from all kinds of materials. But is there a guarantee that you won’t have to buy a new hat for the next season? And it’s very difficult to part with your favorite thing. How to stretch a hat so that it can still please the owner is the story in this article.
Why does the hat shrink and how to avoid it
What is the reason for the changes, and what recommendations will help preserve your favorite product:
- Use boiling water when washing. In such a situation, high temperature will contribute to the narrowing of tissue fibers. Therefore, wool hats are washed in water up to 30° C.
- The item deteriorates due to machine washing, even if the required temperature conditions are observed. This is an indication that hats are usually washed by hand.
- Wrong choice of detergent. The active chemical compounds contained in the usual powder destroy the structure of fragile tissues. Therefore, you should opt for liquid preparations for gentle washing.
- An abnormal drying temperature can disrupt the molecular structure of the fibers of the product. Therefore, it is best to dry the product in a natural environment. Batteries and other heating devices are excluded.
- Changes in humidity and temperature conditions harm the headdress. Keeping a hat after winter wear in a room with dry air or in a closet without proper control until the next season causes it to become deformed, decrease in size, and lose its shape. Therefore, storage and ventilation conditions must be observed. When purchasing, you must obtain the seller's recommendations on operating rules.
We also recommend reading: Caring for a leather jacket, how to wash a leather jacket
But if it happens that your favorite item has decreased in size, stretching a hat at home is quite possible, you just need to choose the appropriate method and take precautions.
Reasons for shrinkage
Wool thread is similar in structure to human hair and requires careful handling.
The reason that a woolen item has stretched may be the following care errors:
- Wrong means. The components of powders and detergents destroy the organic structure of the threads and make them rigid. You need to wash wool items with special gels, separately from other clothes.
- Incorrect temperature. Hot water is also bad for wool fibers. It should be washed at a temperature of no more than 30°C. If the machine has a separate “Wool” mode, then the automation itself will select the desired temperature.
- Poor quality yarn. There is a high probability that a sweater made from cheap yarn will stretch and lose shape faster than a higher quality item. But the cost of the product will not protect it from deformation; even expensive products shrink if not properly cared for.
If this has happened, the situation needs to be corrected. Proven “grandmother’s” methods will help with this.
Fur hat
Steam is used to stretch hats made of capricious and delicate fabrics (mink, sheepskin, angora or other natural product).
Steam softening
Actions are performed according to the following algorithm:
- Heat water in a saucepan or kettle to 100° C.
- Impregnate the cap with steam. This will take five minutes.
- Pull the wet object onto the balloon or blank for the cap.
- Place the entire structure in an unlit place for 2–4 days.
Fur hats are also stored in a bottle in the dark. Or they fill the inside of the cap with paper or newspapers. No packaging required.
You can stretch a fur hat at home using another method.
Heating
The hat is heated with boiling water. To do this, place it in a spray bottle and spray the product well from the inside. Then the cap is pulled onto a balloon or blank and dried under natural conditions. If the stretching is unsuccessful, the procedure is repeated.
How to make a leather or fur product one size smaller?
It is not easy to make a fur hat or leather cap smaller. These materials do not shrink. To change the size of a headdress made of natural fur, you need to use the following methods:
- Suturing. To do this, you need to rip the lining of the hat, then the fur trim and the seams on the back of the product. Cut off the parts that determine the size of the product. Sew them again.
- Sewn in an additional layer of insulation. First you need to make such a part to the required dimensions. Then tear apart the lining of the headgear, install the insulation on the old insulating cap and sew up the lining.
A leather cap is more difficult to fit. These types of hats usually have a piece that allows you to adjust their size. If this does not help, you need to try to shrink the item. To do this, spray a water-repellent spray over the entire surface, and then soak the product in warm water. The cap should be air dried under natural conditions.
Leather hat
Leather and suede hats and caps stretch very poorly, but using steam softening, which is described above, you can achieve success. You can slightly modify the method if you first rinse the leather hat in water adding 2 tbsp. l. vinegar and 3 tbsp. l. 30% peroxide. And after a gentle push-up, pull the item onto the container or saucepan. Then dry at a constant temperature in the living room.
Do not forget to read the manufacturer's recommendations before the procedure.
Reasons why a hat may stretch
Like any woolen item, a hat can stretch and take on a shapeless, sloppy appearance.
The reasons why this may happen are:
- automatic washing. The knitting of hats is usually weaker than other woolen items and this can cause both shrinkage and stretching of the product. It is advisable to hand wash such items;
- time factor. After some time of wear, the garment may well wear down one or even two sizes;
- improper storage. Some people, after the winter period, in order to maintain the desired shape, pull the hat onto a jar or mannequin, which over time will cause stretching.
Knitted or wool hat
Knitted items can be washed at a water temperature of 20–30°. For rinsing, the temperature is maintained. It should be noted that if the water is colder than 20°, then the wool becomes coarser and becomes tougher, and if it is above 30°, the product decreases in size. For small shrinkage, the steaming method is used.
We also recommend reading: All about washing and cleaning a sweater: how to stretch a sweater, how to remove pills from a sweater
Ironing
In this case, use an iron and ironing board. The shrunken hat is placed on the table, covered with layers of gauze and steam is released onto the product, moving 10–15 cm away from it. The hat is also stretched in the desired direction to give it shape. To secure the shape, the headdress is placed on the head after ironing.
How else can you stretch a wool knitted hat?
Using a jar
Sometimes it is enough to moisten the neck of the bottle and the item itself with cool water. Pull it over the neck of the bottle. Secure with clothespins and wait to dry.
Towel instead of wringing
The essence of the method is that the knitted hat will stretch without damaging the fibers and weaving, but at the same time it will also be possible to get rid of moisture with a towel.
How to stretch a hat in this way. Algorithm of actions:
- Lay out a terry towel on the table.
- Place the cap stretched by hand on it.
- Roll the towel for 10 minutes. Moisture will be absorbed.
- Replace the towel with a dry one.
- Repeat the first steps again.
- The remaining moisture will evaporate after hanging the headdress on the rope.
- The hat will stretch due to its weight.
When hanging a product on a rope, clothespins are used to hold the edges of the item.
Softening fibers
This method is used in workshops to restore the elasticity of fibers. Stretching is done using certain compounds. At home, this option is possible in the presence of acetic acid or peroxide.
Wet a wool hat in an aqueous solution containing 1 tbsp. l. vinegar per 10 liters of water. And then pull it onto the balloon. After drying, the problem will be eliminated. Vinegar can also be replaced with peroxide.
A wool jacket that has shrunk - let's stretch it on the carpet
To reliably and safely stretch the jacket without losing its shape, we will use the “grandmother’s” method. It will require a solution of the following ingredients:
- 5 liters of cold water;
- 5 tablespoons of ammonia;
- 1 tablespoon of turpentine;
- 1 tablespoon cologne.
- Soak the affected product for an hour and a half in the solution.
- Rinse in clean water at the same temperature and squeeze a little.
- Baste the jacket to a piece of thick fabric. To do this, spread a cloth on the table - a tablecloth, a sheet folded in 4 layers, a terry towel. Lay the jacket on top of the fabric, stretch it with your hands and begin sewing it along the contour to the fabric below. Make stitches in 2 cm increments. While sewing, constantly adjust the position of the jacket.
- Stretch the fabric to which the jacket is sewn onto the frame (as indicated in the original recipe). In modern realities, you can do it simpler: lay out the fabric with the jacket on a cleaned rug and attach it to it with pins, pulling it tightly. To do this, you will need a helper to hold the fabric taut while you pin it to the carpet.
- Dry your jacket this way.
- this method is absolutely not suitable if there are small children or playful animals in the house;
- count and write down the number of pins used: you should collect the same number later.
Precautionary measures
- Follow the instructions when performing headgear stretching operations. Otherwise, the product may change color, fade, or become discolored.
- Be careful when stretching, especially for leather hats. If there is a strong tension on the blank, the material can be damaged.
- Try to stretch the product once. Re-processing may cause damage.
- When drying, beware of temperature changes and hot rays of the sun. The best option for natural wool is the temperature of living quarters, a horizontal plane, and the absence of electric heating devices.
- The best option for storing fur and leather hats is a dark, cool place where the hats are on stands, jars, or, in extreme cases, stuffed with paper or newspapers.
- Do not forget to familiarize yourself in advance with the storage and care conditions from the manufacturer of a particular product.
We also recommend reading: 8 ways: how to clean a mouton fur coat at home
Try in every possible way to avoid situations in which the cap sits down. This is especially true for products made from synthetic materials, since they cannot be stretched.
In special workshops, of course, they do not use either cylinders or cans. Here, in addition to specific solutions, there are electric blanks, thanks to which they increase the size of any cap made of any material. The cost of professional services is affordable to every citizen.
If you doubt that you will be able to cope on your own, it is better to immediately contact the workshop, thereby obtaining a high-quality result.
How to prevent woolen items from shrinking
As mentioned above, proper care from the very first day of purchase will help prevent shrinkage of items made from natural wool:
- Pay attention to the label. There is information on how to care for the product.
- Woolen clothes are dried exclusively horizontally. In a vertical position, they stretch out and lose their shape.
- Do not dry items made from natural wool on heating devices or use a hairdryer to dry them. Natural drying only.
- You need to put the sweater on the hanger when it is dry.
- If you don’t have wool powder or gel on hand when washing, use hair shampoo as a detergent.
- Iron woolen items only under gauze or cotton cloth. If the sweater is normal in size and there is no need to stretch it, then iron it already dry.
- Store things in a closet, on shelves, protecting them from moths.
