HATS & GUITARS !'s video: Exactly HOW MUCH CAN I STRETCH A HAT After 25 Years Of Stretching I Can Tell You very little

www.jjhatcenter.com Website Okay, it’s not good to stretch a hat more than a fraction of a size, A third of a size is perfect, any more becomes problematic..of course it depends on how stiff the hat is, is the leather sweatband dehydrated or not.. There are variables But figure a third of a size..even a half of a size is tough,if you want to do it cleanly with no stretch marks. Never a whole size, it’s asked of me all the time..I can do it for you, but the results are not ideal. and definitely not more than that..you can attempt it, try it on, it’ll feel good for 30 seconds and then contract back to where u started. To stretch a hat, you need to overshoot the target point by 3-4x at least,it always contracts, shrinks back..but if you severely overstretch, some of it will hold.. but very little. Like 10-20% There are so many side effects too..broken leather sweatband, shallow crown,shortened brim,stretch marks,wavy brims..when I finally ,angle a hat enough to get your target size, the hat is so sobbed, it’s barely worth the effort. Just take the sweatband out. Why try to save a sweatband and ruin the looks of a hat? I say kill the sweatband and save the hat,with this method.. the hat doesn’t change. If a hat almost fits, but u need a little more length, u can stretch. it’ll work when you’re very close to the size, but trying to stretch a whole size or more..the results are not good. The old trick is giving the client the hat a second after it comes off the stretcher, it feels huge.. for a minute or two.. then, as it cools, and the fibers relax,it contracts back to its starting point. You need to wear it after it cools and wait a while after it’s off the stretcher..wait for it to settle. Then try it for a while, shop around for ten minutes..see if it HOLDS the stretch. That’s the hard part. Stretching is easy, stretching so that it HOLDS the stretch is a way different thing. Im doing it all day long, for two and a half decades.. and it’s not something I suggest. just buy your hats with some room. Don’t go tight and expect it to stretch..that works only with soft, soft travel hats..not with westerns or anything with a substantial leather sweatband. I’ve done them all,it’s practically like destroying the hat with horrible stretch marks, completely mishaping the brim,and usually tearing the leather sweatband, Plus,u wind up with a shallower crown and shorter brim when u do large stretches,(the felt has to,come from somewhere,felt isn’t elastic,it doesn’t actually stretch, it’s just redistribution of the felt. Try to avoid the stretch..the hat never looks the same..it makes a new looking hat look old and beat. Never buy a hat and take the smaller size when u are between two sizes, always pad down the larger one! Never!! Never say, “it’s just a little tight, it’ll stretch!” It dehydrates too, and there’s a thick nylon cord inside that leather band..that stays exactly the same,even if u stretch the leather, that’ll contract again.,like a ring of wire..it’s thick fishing line,actually. Stretching works in very small increments, like a third of a size..that can work cleanly if the stretcher knows what their doing. To stretch a hat a half size, you actually have to stretch it way past that point, like 3-4x more..the stretch is huge,because it contracts so much, That’s why 90% of stretches don’t work. When I do it, it works, but only for smaller jobs. Trying to stretch a whole size or more always ends with so much damage to the hat that it’s only worth it when there’s no other choice,and the hat just can’t get worn. I prefer removing the leather sweatband, which will give you an entire,size,but not much more.. It seems radical, and it is, but it ends with the hat looking great,and stretching ends with it looking bad..it’s a no brainer for me.