# Shrinking a wool baseball cap?



## JeffFromMtl (Apr 20, 2011)

So guys, I have a bit of a dilemma. I normally wear size 7 caps (yeah, small head, I know), but I just received 3 caps (Montreal Expos, Brooklyn Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles) yesterday, that I ordered online. They're all size 7, but they're GIGANTIC on my head. I've already returned them, but have since spoken to people who have suggested that I could shrink them. If that's the case, I might pick them up again, cuz they're super sweet-looking.

Being the cooperstown collection from New Era, they're made of wool instead of polyester like the rest of the New Era 59Fifty's, so I'm assuming they were made large so that they could shrink, and still fit. They aren't available in a size smaller, and if they were, they might shrink down to being too small for me if they get wet or I sweat in them...

My problem is, there's no way I'd be sweating in the these caps because they're so huge that I simply can't wear them without looking like a douchebag (I can fit my ears inside the band ). My only option would be to douse them in water and let them shrink to my size by putting them on my head and blow-drying them, or letting them drip dry on my head. I've never done this before, and the caps aren't cheap, so I don't want to spend money on them, have them not fit, then ruin them so they're in no condition for a return or exchange. Does anyone have any experience with wool caps? Should I even bother with the damn things, or are chances of the shrinking process ruining the hats too high?

I am now one of the lame-asses who posts a thread about clothing on a guitar forum


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## TXDeathMetal (Apr 20, 2011)

Since they are wool I was going to suggest the hot water soak/blow dryer method, a lot of people do this with the wool New Era hats and it seems to work quite well, IIRC is that it even says to do this on the New Era site somewhere.


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## JeffFromMtl (Apr 20, 2011)

^ hmmm, so if it's something people commonly do, chances are, the hats shouldn't end up all deformed-like. Maybe I'll just grab one of 'em for now, and if it works out, I'll grab the other two and do the same with them. Thanks, man!


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## mountainjam (Apr 20, 2011)

Fuck new era fitted, every hat fits diff. The poor little kids they have sowing these things in indonesia have horrible quality control. I moved on to top of the world flex fit, which fit perfectly


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## TXDeathMetal (Apr 20, 2011)

One thing to note is that you may only want to just soak the crown of the hat and not the bill as I'm sure you don't want the bill to shrink, but also by getting it wet is that it also makes it easier to bend/curve if you don't prefer the more flat bill style like they come. As far as the fit of New Era goes is that they do have some inconsistencies from hat to hat, for example my size is 7 1/2 but I can also wear a 7 3/8.


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## Randy (Apr 20, 2011)

Grow yourself a bigger cranium, nignog.


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## JeffFromMtl (Apr 20, 2011)

TXDeathMetal said:


> One thing to note is that you may only want to just soak the crown of the hat and not the bill as I'm sure you don't want the bill to shrink, but also by getting it wet is that it also makes it easier to bend/curve if you don't prefer the more flat bill style like they come. As far as the fit of New Era goes is that they do have some inconsistencies from hat to hat, for example my size is 7 1/2 but I can also wear a 7 3/8.



Yeah, I've heard that getting the bill wet could also cause mold and mildew over time  so I'm going to try to avoid that. I've noticed slight discrepancies in size in New Era hats in the past. The Authentic collection, which most of my caps are, are made of polyester and seem to be more consistent in size, but I've still come across size 7's too small and size 7's too big for my head.



Randy said:


> Grow yourself a bigger cranium, nignog.



I've been working on it for 23 years, not much progress


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## mountainjam (Apr 20, 2011)

i vary from 7 1/2 to 7 5/8. but what really gets me about new era is the variation in crown hight. some of my new eras have mega tall ultra gangter crowns, which look like something easy e and ice cube wore in the early 90s, and some of them are lower and normal, they way they should be.


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## josh pelican (Apr 20, 2011)

TXDeathMetal said:


> Since they are wool I was going to suggest the hot water soak/blow dryer method, a lot of people do this with the wool New Era hats and it seems to work quite well, IIRC is that it even says to do this on the New Era site somewhere.



This guy's got it.

Another method I've heard is just putting it on your head after hopping out of the shower. 



mountainjam said:


> i vary from 7 1/2 to 7 5/8. but what really gets me about new era is the variation in crown hight. some of my new eras have mega tall ultra gangter crowns, which look like something easy e and ice cube wore in the early 90s, and some of them are lower and normal, they way they should be.



This doesn't make any sense... The Easy E/Dr. Dre way IS how they should look. Fucking white people.


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## mountainjam (Apr 20, 2011)

josh pelican said:


> This doesn't make any sense... The Easy E/Dr. Dre way IS how they should look. Fucking white people.


how the Fuck do you figure that? New era fitted came out a long time before the hip hop scene started wearing them


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## josh pelican (Apr 20, 2011)

mountainjam said:


> how the Fuck do you figure that? New era fitted came out a long time before the hip hop scene started wearing them



I don't think you get jokes, dude.

I was trying to say the gangster way _is_ the way... but again, it didn't work.


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## mountainjam (Apr 20, 2011)

josh pelican said:


> I don't think you get jokes, dude.


if you would have put one of these , or something like that, i would have immediately got the joke. you seemed pretty serious.


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## josh pelican (Apr 20, 2011)

That's the point of a joke.


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## mountainjam (Apr 20, 2011)

josh pelican said:


> That's the point of a joke.


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## josh pelican (Apr 20, 2011)

Now you're talking.


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## JeffFromMtl (Apr 20, 2011)

Where'd you get that picture of me!?


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## josh pelican (Apr 20, 2011)

I posted it all over the internet.


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## MikeH (Apr 21, 2011)

That can't be you. His hat fits.


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## JeffFromMtl (Apr 21, 2011)

josh pelican said:


> I posted it all over the internet.



As long as you didn't show anyone the nudes I sent you, we're good.


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## Rook (Apr 21, 2011)

Anyone got any tricks on filling them out if they get squished?

I take a 7 3/4, a pretty rare thing around here, so I have to take pretty good care of my 59FIFTY, it's flattened a little over time, I smells like hair too.

How do folks keep 'em clean and the right shape?


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## caskettheclown (Apr 21, 2011)

Trade heads with me. I can't find a hat that fits me. I have a 2XL hat and its really tight on me...


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## Infinite Recursion (Apr 21, 2011)

What the hell happened to non-fitted hats?


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## JeffFromMtl (Apr 22, 2011)

Fun111 said:


> Anyone got any tricks on filling them out if they get squished?
> 
> I take a 7 3/4, a pretty rare thing around here, so I have to take pretty good care of my 59FIFTY, it's flattened a little over time, I smells like hair too.
> 
> How do folks keep 'em clean and the right shape?



The best thing to clean a cap with is probably acoustic foam because of how dense it is, it can comb out dirt without tearing any fibers. There are cleanings products out there, but I've never used any. I've also heard that in order to get the smell out, you could leave the cap in your freezer over-night to kill stanky bacteria. Let it thaw 15 mins before you wear it, and all should be good.

As for the shape problem, I know New Era has a product called the Re-cap kit. It comes with a cleaner and a shaper, which is basically some sort of starching substance in an aerosol can. Spray it on the hat, shape it over something or with your hands, and once it dries, the starch should help the cap keep its shape. Again, however, I've never used the product.



Infinite Recursion said:


> What the hell happened to non-fitted hats?



They still have them, I think they just kind of started getting phased out in favour of the cleaner, more stylish fitteds because that's what people tend to prefer. An adjustable cap just never looks as good or feels as comfortable as a properly-sized fitted, IMO.




Anyway, I picked up two of the caps today, and tried a steaming/blow-drying method on the Expos cap, which was a bit smaller, and doused the Orioles cap with warm water and blow-dried it. The Expos cap now fits great, and the Orioles cap is still a little bit big. I decided to roll up a thin piece of paper towel and stick it in the band of the Orioles cap and boom, problem solved. I was surprised how much difference such a small amount of material could make


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## mountainjam (Apr 22, 2011)

JeffFromMtl said:


> The best thing to clean a cap with is probably acoustic foam because of how dense it is, it can comb out dirt without tearing any fibers. There are cleanings products out there, but I've never used any. I've also heard that in order to get the smell out, you could leave the cap in your freezer over-night to kill stanky bacteria. Let it thaw 15 mins before you wear it, and all should be good.
> 
> As for the shape problem, I know New Era has a product called the Re-cap kit. It comes with a cleaner and a shaper, which is basically some sort of starching substance in an aerosol can. Spray it on the hat, shape it over something or with your hands, and once it dries, the starch should help the cap keep its shape. Again, however, I've never used the product.
> 
> ...


you keep the sticker on?


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## josh pelican (Apr 22, 2011)

Snap backs are where it's at. I've got a bitchin' Celtics hat with snap back.


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## JeffFromMtl (Apr 23, 2011)

mountainjam said:


> you keep the sticker on?



No sir, I do not. I never really understood why some people do.


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