"Jocking" a cap

[BCAC]

The alternative: is there any chance of ruining a CHEAP balmoral doing this? Although I would love to have a quality bonnet my budget fits best into the cheap regions of purchasing.

What's the worst that can happen? It will shrink? Only as far as your head size coz you're wearing it till it dries.

[English Bloke]

Sink, bucket, shower tray, 'owt will do. You can even tow it by the ribbons behind a rapidly paddled canoe. The only difference is you won't need to fill it with stones to stop it floating downstream and off to the Sea.

In a former life, and when tiny berets were the vogue, we used to use two washroom sinks, one filled kettle hot, the other filled cold-tap cold. We'd cut out the inner lining then dunk the butchered headwear in first hot, (mind your fingers) then cold, then repeat. The hat was then squeezed rather than wrung out... ie. don't twist it. It was then donned, shaped to suit and worn for several hours till dry (don't do it in the dead of winter). Like I say, the tinier the better was the way at the time.

This method used to cause maximum shrinkage, so much so that we'd often have to snip through the headband where it's hidden under the flap to get it to fit again.

I don't recommend you take these extreme measures with a Balmoral, you will ruin it, but the principle is the same.

Soak it in cold water only and squeeze don't wring. Then get it on your head and shape it while it's damp. Then don't take it off till it's completely dry. That'll do it. It'll work for a cheap hat as well.

Edit: I've still got my old beret somewhere. I occasionally throw it back on at remembrance services if I'm at home and not working.

[piperdbh]

The creek/burn is not the important part; the coldness of the water is the important part. Heat, moisture and agitation cause wool to shrink. Remove the heat, and you eliminate the shrinking. Replace the agitation with stretching, and the wool loses its memory of the shape that the factory built into it. The purpose is to make the bonnet look not-new, as having somethinh new is seen as being pretentious, or at least that's what Jock says.