Hardening Crushable Hats?

[Retro Spectator]

I have a crushable hat that I really do not care that much about, so I soaked it with warm water. It got a bit stiffer, but it did not do that much. Is there a way to stiffen a crushable hat?

 

[gtdean48]

Most crushers are wool felt, at least all of mine have been.
Wool in warm water = shrinkage
I only use room temp or cold water on wool hats.

Is your crusher wool?

 

[Retro Spectator]

Yep. It's wool. It actually has a flat brim, I was wondering if I can also make it more curled?

 

[FrankMc]

I do not believe you can, you may damage it. They are what they are, if you want to have a different shape and brim, get another hat.

 

[gtdean48]

To shape my crushers, I soak in cold water, usually right out of the tap, then over exaggerate the shape & let it dry slowly.

 

[RJR]

Agree with gtd.

 

[Edward]

Furfelt can be reshaped, but with wool, in my experience, you're more or less stuck with the shape it arrived in. Not quite clear in why you'd want to stiffen it, though (as distinct from reshaping)?

 

[Feraud]

Shellac may help in this situation. Isn't it what's used to stiffen fedoras in the first place? Someone please correct me if I'm wrong!

Some dilute shellac sprayed on the fedora should do the job. Personally I'd experiment on a throwaway before fooling with something vintage and/or expensive.

 

[moehawk]

I've used shellac to stiffen woolies and to reshape them. I found, though, that using enough shellac to change the shape of a woolie usually ends up with a hat stiff enough to hammer nails with...