I bought two of these, one w/ brim, one w/o brim, both were super loose and floppy, so I stuck them in hot water and agitated them, and that put them in their place. Now they hold shape. Pictured is the brimmed hat before and after intentionally shrinking. No longer floppy and loose, and when you hold it up to light a lot less light is visible through the knit, so I imagine it will hold heat better now. I emulsified lanolin into some Eucalan detergent and had that in the hot water while I agitated the hats (squeezing, pushing, swishing them around), then after they were visibly shrunken and starting to get a little felted I put them into the washer on spin for just a minute or so to get most of the water out, then I put them into the dryer on high heat and stood next to it, checking them every 5 minutes and putting them on my head. After 10 or 15 minutes, checking a couple times, they were mostly dry, and had better shape, and a tighter knit, I laid them over a line to finish drying.I know everything I did to these hats is pretty much counter intuitive to how wool is supposed to be treated, but these hats needed it, and they seem better for it. Considering the inexpensive cost, and ease of fitting them, I think it's worth it to buy these hats over expensive name brand wool hats that may have better fit and style out of the box.
Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]