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Carefully Shrinking Your Ruth Walker, Feltmaker Hat
1. Put the hat into a zippered mesh lingerie bag, then into the washing machine. Fill to second lowest level with cold water. Do not agitate, do not add detergent.
2. SOAK hat in water for at least 20 minutes. Make sure the whole hat is thoroughly soaked. (Wool takes a while to actually absorb water.)
3. Set cycle at the shortest time on the GENTLE cycle. Let it go through this ‘wash;’ don’t bother with the ‘rinse.’
4. Reshape the hat to its original general shape. This will be pretty easy because the wool has a "memory" for the way it was originally blocked and dried.
5. Microwave for 1 minute and continue to re-block hat, stretching as needed.
6. See if the shrinkage is sufficient. (There will be a little shrinkage as it dries.) If it has not shrunk enough, repeat gentle agitation step. However, do not attempt to shortcut by agitating harder, longer, or at a warmer temperature, because felt can suddenly go from not shrunk to too small, and it can be quite difficult to re-stretch it to a proper size. Cold water, gentle cycle, and patience are your watchwords.
7. If you have gone a bit too far, do not be afraid to vigorously stretch the felt in whatever direction you need it to go – it’s not going to fall apart. If you need to stretch it, get it steamy by putting the damp hat into the microwave oven for 1 minute. It is easiest to stretch when it is hot and steamy.
8. Carefully re-shape the hat and let it dry.
This will work!
And contact me with any questions.
©2000-2004 Ruth Walker, Feltmaker
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