How do I ... Re-shape a wool felt hat?

[Madame Olive Yew]

Hey ya'll,
Bought a really good quality 100% Wool felt hat from one of the junk shops in town. The previous owner did not store it correctly & it has lost it's brim shape. I have heard of using steam to re-shape a hat but I don't know how to go about it. Any suggestions??

[Madame Olive Yew]

Nevermind I found this:
http://www.hatshapers.com/Hat_Care.htm


But If anyone else has any good ideas......
feel free to share.

(I didn't erase the original post beacuse someone else might find it useful. )

Joy

[Lazy K]

Put some water in a tea pot. Just a small amount of water, you want steam, your not making tea but make sure you don't run dry.Shape the hat the way you want it, Hold your hat in the stream of steam.Remove from steam, still holding the shape and let the hat cool.What are you trying to do? When I'm trying to flatten a brim I get it all steamy and then put it on a flat surface and then place boards on the brim and let it dry.
It's really very easy. Just keep your fingers out of the steam. Ouch!
If you let us know exactly what shape you are trying to get we might be able to give you more specific instructions.

[Lazy K]

OK, Nevermind my answer :gg :gg :gg

[Kid Sopris]

Ladies, Ladies, Ladies.....How many times do y'all got to be reminded. Y'all don't start any project without making arrangements for the proper cocktails. Now hat form'n requires a good sippin whiskey! Jack Daniels on the rock's sounds good!:chug :lool Or maybe you ladies would prefer a good Liqueur.:rofl

[Lizzie Marie]

I would take it to a local cowboy store that sells hats or look for someone who cleans them and let them do it.....they do it quite often and know what they are doing.......just my thoughts

[Lazy K]

Oh, did I leave out the sippin' whisky? What was I thinkin'?

[Nellie's Mom]

Wait till Nellie gets back from Arizona and just for fun :lool :lool , ask her how they did it out on the New Mexico ranch where she worked a few years back. She uses the computer at work so won't see your request until Monday. Nellie's Mom

[Madame Olive Yew]

Kid,
What a cowincidence. I just bought a bottle of Crown Royal Reserve. I am sip in it as we speack. Made a couple of steaks fer dinnnner. It's agoood nite/ Boy this cRown is ggood stuffffffff. Drinks all around!

[Lady Fleur]

I have a inexpensive clothing steamer with a wand i can shoot it with!!
To reblock or reshape a hat fill it with the form you want it to be and steam it and allow to dry overnight!! I can post photo's of the process??I have un blocked hat bodies and it is sooo much easier to reshape than start a new hat...

[Lady Fleur]

I hoope that makes some sense as i am under the influence of a head ache
and got car sick this morning on the way to brunch at 7 am... Hmm NOT the norm for me.. lol. who knows what this means?

[Coffee Em]

What a cowincidence. I just bought a bottle of Crown Royal Reserve. I am sip in it as we speack. Made a couple of steaks fer dinnnner. It's agoood nite/ Boy this cRown is ggood stuffffffff. Drinks all around!

What was that sound? Did anybody else hear that? Oh, oops--I think it was FJ slidin' under the table! :rofl :rofl :rofl

[Madame Olive Yew]

[quote]What was that sound? Did anybody else hear that? Oh, oops--I think it was FJ slidin' under the table![quote]

Yeah Em that was bout it. :faint :rofl Didn't get much of anything done last night. I'm gonna try steaming the hat first then celebrating my success. Not have a cocktail first. :lool :lool

[Tatted Lady]

Not to hijack this thread, but did Fleur say she had morning sickness;or, was sick this morning!!!!:faint

Is it what i think it might be????????:tap

[Kitty Phann]

Not to hijack this thread, but did Fleur say she had morning sickness;or, was sick this morning!!!!:faint

Is it what i think it might be????????:tap



You know I was thinking the same thing????? Oh Fleur, are you telling us something?

[Yankee Belle]

Well, great minds think alike. Fluer, what gives???? Inguiring minds want to know, will there be the pitter patter of tiny little feet?:faint :waiting

[Ida Hands]

Oh, Fleur! Another Alley Kitten or Tom Kitten? COOL!

[Kid Sopris]

That brings up another issue. In the May 1948 American Medical Journal, and I quote here: "Doctors and researchers from John Hopkins Hospital have determined that the leading cause of the rising birth rate is due to Alcohol"!:faint

"Hey there's something ...screwy going on around here (http://www.the-ocean.com/looney/sounds/screwy.wav)!":rofl

All these problems due to a little hat form'n!:lool

Well Lady Fleur, y'all got something to say or do I send one of the ladies out with a rope?:waiting

[Lady Fleur]

Too soon to know:rofl :gg ...

But we will be working on it in the new year !!!!
I made woodstock promise to wait till after convention.. or i won't fit in my convention dresses...

[Nellie Blue]

So, there's 3 choices:

1) If it's a really special hat, take it to a professional.

2) Do it yourself #1: Take a pan of water with a little salt and place it on the stove. Next make a tin foil funnel and place it on the pot so that steam can only escape thru a hold in the top of the funnel and point the steam hole on your hat. When the felt is warm and slightly moist gently and slowly bend the hat where you want it to be (do not force...it can break the felt)...when you get the shape you want, hold it in place until cool.

3) Do it yourself for an authentic old cowboy look? Dunk it in a horse trough and put it on your head to dry. We did this at the stables I worked at for years and at the ranch I lived on in New Mexico. It washes the salt of sweat off of the felt, cools you off, and allows you to change the shape.

[Madame Olive Yew]

Wow Thank you every one. Great advice!! It is not a special hat to me. I picked it up for a whole $1.00. But it is/was a well made hat, of good quality wool felt. I am not too worried about ruining it. It will be used fer shootin' in after all. And wouldn't cha know it, I drag the durn thing home & Joe plops it on his head, It fits him better than me, & looks better on him!! :faint So I guess I will have to give it up to him. Course is was a men's hat to begin with. And it kinda mullifies him cause I have about 15 hats hanging all over the bedroom at this moment. (Hey would you pass up good looking hats at less than $6.00 each? Some as low as $0.50??? ) Next project will to be start decorating them!!

[Lazy K]

Only 15 hats? Slacker!

[Madame Olive Yew]

Oh but I just started collecting in the past month. I have acquired 13 of those 15 in about 2-3 weeks. Besides I have to sneak them in now, so the DH doesn't realize the collection is growing. When He does notice, I just tell him that they must be breeding on thier own. :rofl

[Yankee Belle]

FJ, I love that, the hats breeding on their own.:rofl

[Lazy K]

:rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl I have a shed down at the foot of our property that you can't see from the house. I unload all my new goodies in the shed and my hubbie is none the wiser. When I go down to get some fabric I juat say " This old fabric? I've had it for years!"