How to clean a hat without losing its shape

Step by step: how to clean a hat without losing its shape

1. 1

   Check the label and the brim

   Read the care label and look for a fitted, structured crown or wool. Tap the brim: a hollow, papery sound suggests a cardboard insert, common in caps made before the early 1980s, and that hat should only be spot cleaned. Modern caps usually have plastic brims that tolerate water.

2. 2

   Test for colorfastness

   Dab a little detergent and water on the inside of the sweatband or under the brim with a white cloth. If color comes off on the cloth, spot clean the hat gently and skip soaking.

3. 3

   Pretreat the sweatband

   Wet the sweatband and scrub it with a soft brush and a drop of detergent, or a paste of baking soda and water for yellow sweat lines. Work along the band, not across it, so you do not fray the stitching. Let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes.

4. 4

   Soak in cool soapy water

   Fill a sink with cool water and stir in about a tablespoon of bleach-free detergent. Submerge the cap and let it soak for 15 minutes for light dirt, or up to a few hours for heavy sweat stains, checking it halfway.

5. 5

   Scrub any remaining marks

   Lift the hat out and brush any remaining marks with the soft brush, using light pressure on embroidery and logos. Squeeze suds through the crown rather than wringing or folding it.

6. 6

   Rinse until the water runs clear

   Rinse under cool running water until no suds come out of the sweatband. Leftover detergent dries stiff and can leave a ring.

7. 7

   Blot and shape

   Press the hat between two towels to soak up water; do not twist it. Push the crown back into shape with your hands and set the brim flat or curved the way you like it.

8. 8

   Dry on a form, away from heat

   Set the hat over an upside-down bowl, a coffee can or a rolled towel, in an airy spot out of direct sun. Leave it for about 24 hours. Never use a dryer, radiator or hair dryer: heat shrinks cotton and warps brims.

How to clean each type of hat

The best way to clean a hat depends on how it is built. Washable caps can be soaked; structured fitted caps, wool and vintage hats should be spot cleaned. New Era’s cap care guide recommends spot cleaning structured fitted caps like the 59FIFTY with a cloth, cool water and mild detergent, and limits machine washing to unstructured cotton or polyester caps with plastic visors.

How to get sweat stains out of a hat

Pretreat the band, soak, then brush. Nike’s hat stain guide suggests soaking in cool or warm water with a couple of drops of detergent or a tablespoon of stain removal powder, avoiding detergents with bleach or bleach alternatives so the color holds, and rubbing shampoo into the inner band to break up body oil.

• For heavy yellow lines, brush in a baking soda paste and leave it for 10 to 15 minutes before soaking.
• For makeup on the band, a drop of dish soap or shampoo on a toothbrush works better than detergent alone.
• To slow new stains, Nike suggests sprinkling a little baking soda inside the band before you wear the hat.

Can you wash a hat in the washing machine or dishwasher?

The washing machine is fine for unstructured caps with plastic brims; the dishwasher is a gamble. To wash baseball caps in the machine, Nike’s cap washing guide says to use a pillowcase or mesh bag, bleach-free detergent, and a cold, gentle cycle, then air dry.

Nike also describes a top-rack dishwasher method with a light, cool cycle and no heated dry. New Era’s guide leaves the dishwasher out and calls hand washing the safest full clean, and dishwasher detergent is harsher than laundry soap. Hand washing takes a few more minutes and is much easier on the hat. Whatever you do, keep caps out of the dryer: both brands warn that heat can shrink a hat and ruin its shape.

Washing a batch of team caps is a good job for a spring clean-out; our washing machine guide covers keeping the drum fresh afterward.

Mistakes to avoid

• Soaking a vintage cap with a cardboard brim, which turns the brim to mush.
• Putting any hat in the clothes dryer.
• Using bleach or detergent with bleach on colored or wool caps.
• Wringing or folding a wet cap, which creases the crown and brim.
• Drying a cap flat on its crown, so it dries dented.
• Scrubbing hard on embroidery, which frays the stitching.