Hats made of fur and wool, leather and suede react to changes in temperature and humidity, various manifestations of bad weather and are sensitive to improper storage and improper use. If the hat is crumpled or folded carelessly and put away in a closet for a long time, or stored in a hot or warm room without sufficient air, the product will deform, shrink and lose its previous shape.
A hat made of wool or fur may shrink after washing in hot water, severe frost, rain or wet snow. In addition, it may simply become small, for example, for a child who is growing quickly.
If the hat shrinks or becomes small, you can stretch the material. However, this must be done carefully and in compliance with the recommendations, otherwise the appearance of the product may deteriorate irrevocably. Let's look at how to stretch a hat at home.
How to stretch a wool hat
A wool hat can be washed at a temperature of 20-30 degrees. In this case, the water during washing and rinsing should be approximately the same. With large temperature changes and when washed in water hotter than 30 degrees, woolen items become deformed and shrink. And in cold water with temperatures below 20 degrees, the wool becomes hard and “wooden”.
If there is slight slight shrinkage, the knitted hat can be stretched by steaming. Lay the item on an ironing board, cover with damp gauze or cotton cloth and steam with an iron at a distance of 10-15 centimeters from the material, while stretching the cap in the desired directions. When the cap begins to stretch, put it on your head so that it takes and fixes the desired shape. Walk like this for a few minutes.
Soak the woolen hat in cool water for ten minutes, then put it on a three-liter jar, the neck of which is also pre-moistened with cool water. Secure the hat with pins or clothespins to prevent it from coming off or coming off. Leave in a cool and dark place until completely dry.
You can wash a wool hat using 30% hydrogen peroxide or table vinegar. To do this, add a tablespoon of vinegar or three tablespoons of peroxide to cool water. Rinse the product in the resulting mixture and squeeze lightly. Pull the cap onto the jar or onto a special stand. Secure and leave in a dark, cool place until completely dry.
For woolen and knitted items, it is important to use a suitable washing mode with a temperature of 20-30 degrees without spinning and appropriate washing powders, gels or shampoos. Wool should be washed and stored separately from items made from other fabrics. The products should be dried away from the radiator and sunlight, preferably horizontally, laid out on a terry towel or sheet.
If you follow the recommendations, a wool hat will not shrink after washing and will retain its shape and presentable appearance for a long time. Read more about how to wash, dry and store woolen items here. And next we will look at how to stretch a fur hat.
Professional stretching
If the product is expensive and severely shrunk, then it is best to turn to professionals. Leather and fur workshops have devices that can stretch products. Specialists treat the material with softening compounds and slowly stretch the headgear, pulling it onto the block of the required size. They make sure that there are no tears in the skin and that the hat does not lose its shape.
What should women do if their favorite fur hat, which cost her a lot, suddenly changes in size? Of course, you can trust the professionals and take the product to the nearest workshop. There it will be treated with a special compound, placed on a block, and after a couple of days the headdress will be suitable for wear again.
But here's the problem. There is no atelier in your city that specializes in fur products, or the list of available ones does not inspire confidence among customers. Dont be upset. You can increase the size of a fur hat at home without special tools or skills.
Stretching a fur hat
Fur is a capricious and delicate material that is recommended to be cleaned only by dry cleaning or dry cleaning. To stretch such hats, which are based on mink, angora, sheepskin or other natural fur, you can use steam.
To stretch a fur hat, heat water in a saucepan, kettle or other container to a boil and hold the hat over the steam until it warms up and becomes damp. Then the product is immediately pulled onto a jar or a special stand for the hat. Place the product in a dark and cool place and leave for two to four days. When the hat is completely dry, it will stretch.
It is better to wear a mink hat and hats made of other natural materials only on a cold, frosty, dry day. Remember that fur does not like sudden changes in temperature, direct sunlight and strong humidity. A fur winter hat cannot be washed or washed, especially in hot water!
The outside of the product should be cleaned with a dry sponge or soft brush. You should also regularly clean the lining using wet wipes or soapy water. If possible, remove the lining and wash separately.
If the white fur begins to turn yellow, you can clean the surface with hydrogen peroxide. Potato starch, semolina and sawdust are also used to clean fur products. For more information on how to clean natural fur, read the article “How to clean a mink coat.”
The fur hat should be dried and stored away from direct sunlight, electrical appliances and batteries. The headdress is stored in a cool and dark place, placed on a jar or a special stand, or stuffed inside the product with newspapers. In this case, the hat does not need to be packed so that the fur has access to fresh air and “breathes”. During long-term storage, be sure to place moth repellent nearby and periodically take the hat out to air.
But a headdress can be made not only from wool or fur. Lightweight products are made from knitwear, and winter or demi-season caps are often made from leather and suede. Let's find out what to do if a hat made of a different material shrinks.
Self stretching
Not every locality has people who know how to work professionally with leather. For this reason, it is important to know how to stretch a fur hat yourself using auxiliary means:
- select a pan, large jar or other round, hard object of the size to which you need to stretch the headdress;
- boil water in a kettle and hold the cap over the steam so that it warms up and becomes damp (steamed);
- Pull the headdress over the prepared pan and place it in a cool place to dry.
Do not dry a mink or any other fur hat near hot appliances. Let it dry slowly at a temperature of +20°...+25°, do not remove until it is completely dry. It will stretch perfectly in 2-3 days. In the same way, increase the circumference of hats with earflaps. In the army, a stack of hardcover books of a suitable format is used as a blank.
When increasing the size of your headdress at home, you need to know a sense of proportion. By stretching the leather more than required, it is unlikely to make it smaller, and there is a risk of tearing the lining, seams or fur. To prevent your headdress from dangling on your head or sliding down into your eyes, carefully select the size of the pad. To do this, measure its girth (circumference) with a centimeter and compare it with the girth of your head.
How to stretch a hat from other materials
- For a shrunken knitted hat, use the following method. Place the product on an ironing board, cover the top with damp gauze or cotton cloth and steam with an iron. At the same time, stretch the material in the desired directions. After the procedure, put the cap on your head and walk around until it dries;
- To stretch a leather cap or hat, hold the item over the steam of boiling water. When the material warms up and becomes slightly damp, put the headdress on a jar or a special stand. Leave to dry at room temperature. The same method is suitable for stretching suede hats with fur;
- Rinse a leather or suede headdress in cool water diluted with three tablespoons of hydrogen peroxide 30% or two tablespoons of vinegar. Then lightly squeeze the material and stretch it onto a blank, jar or stand. Leave to dry completely at room temperature.
In order for a leather or suede hat to retain its shape, color and attractive appearance for a long time, it is important to use and store the product correctly. Leather and suede hats can only be cleaned using dry methods without washing in water. Products should be dried away from batteries, direct sunlight and electrical appliances.
You need to store the hat on a blank or jar in a cool and dark place, or by filling the inside of the headdress with newspapers or paper. Leather items should only be stored flattened, otherwise creases and folds will remain on the material. And what to do if leather products are wrinkled, read the link.
Reasons for resizing
Having bought an expensive headdress, we expect to wear it for several years. Fur hats are very beautiful and warm; in cold climates it is difficult to live without them. In addition, natural material is highly valued, fur products are considered prestigious, they take a long time to choose and try on in front of the mirror.
Having bought a hat strictly according to size, you need to take proper care of it. If fur or leather gets wet, dry it at room temperature. Do not use a hot hair dryer or heater for drying. To ensure that the dimensions do not change, stuff newspaper into the middle or make a special blank.
If you store the hat in a too hot and dry room, it will dry out and decrease in size. High dryness in the closet can cause the leather to crack, become stiff, and the fur to become dull. Choose a cool, dark place for storage, periodically remove and inspect the product, make sure that there are no moths.
What can you do with shrunk socks and mittens?
Such a misfortune is doubly unpleasant if it happens in severe winter, and socks or mittens that have become smaller after washing are the only ones. To help the grief, you will need:
- vinegar;
- spray;
- many newspapers;
- any strong clips or clothespins.
- Soak things in water (you can add hair balm).
- Stretch them a little with your hands.
- Remove and squeeze without twisting.
- Spray wet items with vinegar from a spray bottle.
- Place more crumpled newspapers inside and secure the edges of the cuffs with clothespins to prevent the newspapers from falling out. You will have to change the paper sometimes, and the more often you can do this, the faster everything will dry. The smell of vinegar disappears quite quickly.
Woolen items are useful to wear for people suffering from rheumatism, osteochondrosis, orthopedic diseases and circulatory disorders.
Vinegar and crumpled newspapers will help restore the shape and size of mittens or socks made of wool.
Home workshop
To give your headdress the required size, it is enough to use steam and a five-liter jar of compote, for example, but in this case you should understand that the hat can only be stretched a couple of centimeters.
So, you need to determine in advance the item that will replace the block from the workshop. An excellent option would be not only a glass container for sealing food, but also any other round object that will allow you to give the dish the required shape. So, it could be a pan or a lampshade.
When you have decided on the shape, proceed to boiling water. How you get steam (whether it’s a kettle or a steamer) doesn’t matter. You just need to hold the fur product for 5 minutes over a steam bath and pull it onto the prepared block.
Next, be patient. Before you put on your expensive clothing again, you will have to thoroughly dry it for a couple of days. In this case, places of direct exposure to the sun's rays and proximity to heating devices should be avoided. Everyone knows that the sunny environment has a detrimental effect on the appearance of the product. But what happens to it under thermal influence?
Will dry cleaning help correct the situation?
A shrunk item can be dry-cleaned. Professionals are armed with specialized compounds that they use to treat wool to make it softer.
Drying is carried out on steam mannequins, which evenly expand the clothes to the desired size.
The cost of the work depends on its complexity. They can stretch a hat for 150-200 rubles, and a dress for 400-800 rubles. You need to check the price on the spot.
Caring for restored items
To ensure that things that have managed to return to shape do not shrink, they are carefully looked after. Improper washing or drying will deform the fibers again. Therefore, the following rules are observed:
- Wash such items only with your hands, using light, squeezing movements. Do not machine wash.
- For washing, use liquid or gel products labeled for woolen items.
- Moisture is removed by lightly squeezing the fabric. You cannot twist or wring out such clothes.
- Dry only in a horizontal position on a thick terry towel.
- Do not use additional devices to speed up drying.
- Iron with a low-heated iron using an ironing iron.
It is recommended to follow these rules for all items with wool fibers. But it is especially important to adhere to them if the item has previously been deformed.
To prevent possible shrinkage of a new woolen item, before the first wash, you need to read the information and tips on how to properly care for the product. They are usually indicated on a label sewn into the side seam.
