Reducing hat size

[Luis]

OOps, Luis! I was thinking on the other end of the size chart. Well, the one HUGE advantage you have is that there were many more guys your size a couple of generations ago. So, I do agree, padding will create LOADS more options for you. The "shim stock" material (my own term) can be felt, cork, or the age-old standard, which is also useful to future generations trying to establish the age of the hat, newspaper. I don't know how many times one of us has received a vintage hat, turned down the sweatband, and found folded up newspaper from decades ago. Pad the back first. If more is needed, the front second, then lastly the sides. I personally think it's best not to use any adhesive or adhesive-backed products for this. Properly placed on the backside of the sweat, they will be there forever. Good luck!!

Thank you sir for your advice! I guess 1cm is not too uncommon to gain with some padding.

 

[Michael R.]

I'm with Charlie @hatsRme , I wouldn't use the adhesive . You can use anything , newspaper , tissue , a bandana , but if you use weather stripping with the sticky back thats not covered , just use tissue over the sticky part . I've found tissue in old vintage Hats myself , folded up or rolled , to pad it up . No sticky residue if you or anyone else doesn't need it or less in the future . Several Hats of mine are padded , some will eventually shrink I'm sure . Have Fun @Luis , just figure out what works best on placement . Mine are usually the sides (I'm LO) with an occasional back needing more .

 

[Luis]

Definitely placing inside of sweatband, nothing with adhesives. Felt strips work great as it molds in a way. I'll try out the newspaper method when i get my other hat. What about replacing with a thicker sweatband? Do they make those? Probably not right.

 

[Michael R.]

I got some Frost King (brand) Rubber Foam 3/4" wide X 5/16" thick self adhesive weather seal , it has a backing , so it won't stick unless you remove the backing . If you could find wider it would be even better , but it works . Its like what I've received with orders , or many other Hat Shops send with a New Hat for sizing . Use more or less depending on what you need . Its thicker , and holds up .

 

[RJR]

I got some Frost King (brand) Rubber Foam 3/4" wide X 5/16" thick self adhesive weather seal , it has a backing , so it won't stick unless you remove the backing . If you could find wider it would be even better , but it works . Its like what I've received with orders , or many other Hat Shops send with a New Hat for sizing . Use more or less depending on what you need . Its thicker , and holds up .

+1

 

[Benzadmiral]

In 1997 I purchased an NOS (?) Crofut & Knapp fedora at Meyer's. I thought I was experienced in getting the right size (7), but it always seemed a little loose to me, and I slid some padding under the sweatband. Then for some years I didn't bother with hats much. (Hard to believe that anybody at FL would do that, huh?) In 2010, after being here a while, I took the hat out of the box. The sweatband has shaped itself so that now the hat fits me quite well -- despite the marked size being 7 1/4!

Not that I recommend the "waiting 13 years" method, but it worked for me. . . . (Indoors the hat is as green as the ribbon and brim binding; in this pic it looks more tan-colored.)

 

[RJR]

In 1997 I purchased an NOS (?) Crofut & Knapp fedora at Meyer's. I thought I was experienced in getting the right size (7), but it always seemed a little loose to me, and I slid some padding under the sweatband. Then for some years I didn't bother with hats much. (Hard to believe that anybody at FL would do that, huh?) In 2010, after being here a while, I took the hat out of the box. The sweatband has shaped itself so that now the hat fits me quite well -- despite the marked size being 7 1/4!

Not that I recommend the "waiting 13 years" method, but it worked for me. . . . (Indoors the hat is as green as the ribbon and brim binding; in this pic it looks more tan-colored.)

View attachment 67709

Where there's a need........

 

[konadog]

My new Optimo Dearborn is about a 1/4 - 1/2 size too big for me, which is somewhat odd because it's the same size as my other Optimos that fit me well. I'm trying the Akubra recommended tissues behind the sweatband approach. If that doesn't work within a few weeks I will take the hat back to Optimo. They say they can send it back into manufacturing and take it in a little bit.

 

[Yahoody]

This won't work if you need to re-block a hat from a 7.5 down to a 7 size. I wear something between a 7 3/8 and a 7 1/2 and a long...long oval. Easy to stick a nice hat stretcher into a good hat that is round shaped and get a hat too big and too much of a long oval to wear if you get in a hurry.

Had that happen recently. It was a new hat and now too big. I could either try to fix it or get rid of it. I decided to fix it. Just had to figure out how without rebuilding the hat.

Here is what I did to take a full sized 7 5/8 size hat back down to a something much closer to a long oval 7 3/8.

I took a long piece of Cordura shoe lace (which is flat) and wrapped my hat at the hat band (ribbon) twice around and used single half hitch to secure it. I then made sure the lace was flat on the hat and sprayed the hat fully around at the crown/brim meeting point lightly with some rubbing alcohol and cinched the "free" end of the dbl wrapped lace up tight. Really tight.

Left it over night on the kitchen counter and then this morning while it was still a little damp I set it in the sun outside to fully dry. By noon the hat was a little dented at the base of the crown and likely a 7 1/4 if not smaller. Little tough to get on and it left a cherry red mark around my forehead. Gave me a nice head ache trying to stretch it back out to fit snuggly in the proper long oval shape, the way I prefer. A little red mark on my forehead is how tight I want my hats to start. It'll stretch out over time.

The hat I was working on is a fairly stiff western hat, so it may not work on every hat. But was just the ticket on this hat to make it usable for me. Good luck!

 

[MichaelRhB]

I have just folded the appropriate width and thickness of a paper towel and inserted it into the hat band on the inside. I have one hat I've been wearing for years with this fix. It was bought as a gift about one size too large. This took care of it for me.

 

[Yahoody]

As it gets said around here.."That is one way to do it."

Something under the sweat band is the most common and easiest way to make a hat smaller. Likely the best answer for most fedora wearers.

I've seen paper towels cut, toilet paper, simple note book paper, foam bands, thin leather and just about anything else you can think of. If that works for you, great! Have at it. I have no interest in having a improperly fitting hat.

Anything stuffed under the sweat band might well work fine but reminds me of a kid trying to make a grown-up's hat fit. Anything under the sweat is in fact making the actual hat size bigger if there is pressure on the sweat/hat, not smaller. Works obviously, but backwards to what you really want to do.

Sometimes aint nothing stuffed in the hat gonna help. YMMV

 

[GP Henry]

Akubra Boomerang shrinking project has started. The hat was my father's, he has been trying to give it to me for a while. It is a 61, I am a 59/60 LO. Paper towels under the band and hat on my head for a couple hours a day for the time being. I will let you know how it works out.

 

[Yahoody]

GP, one of the few hats I have experience with outside full on Westerns is Akubra. Paper towels or anything under the sweat band simply makes the hat bigger, not smaller when you wear them. It may fit with the addition of an a thicker liner, but the hat can actually be made smaller with little effort. The Akubra's are high quality felt and a wonderful leather sweat. Both will shrink. A little moisture and some late season sun will shrink your hat. May be not two sizes but you can easily get one size down in a Akubra. Too seems possible from here I know this from wearing Akubras in soaking rains and letting them dry too quickly .

 

[GP Henry]

Thank you for the reply Yahoo. Paper towels removed, and hat still on my head. A nice bowl of soup for lunch has added a little sweat on my brow.