How To Wash A Baseball Cap Without Ruining It

Wondering how to wash your favourite baseball cap without ruining it? Here are my tried and tested eco-friendly tips to get stains out, so you can wear your cap again and again.

As the sun poked its head out of the clouds here in Scotland the other day, I looked out my youngest daughter’s baseball cap from storage. Only, when I pulled it out of the cupboard, the thing was filthy. Like, not just a little bit dirty – but absolutely caked in filth dirty. I really should have washed it before it went into the cupboard at the end of summer, but life happens!

How did it get so dirty? A summer of sunscreen, playing in dusty playparks, days at the beach, nights away at Beaver’s camps, and who knows what else that 7-year-olds get up to had left it encased in a yucky mix of sunscreen, sweat, dust, mud and sand.

Here it is in all its filthy glory:

There was no way I was putting that on her head – it looked like a health hazard! But how do you wash a baseball cap?

Chucking it in the washing machine isn’t an option. All that agitation can bend the brim, rendering it unwearable.

I’ve also heard some suggestions about popping dirty caps in the dishwasher to clean them. I don’t know about you but I don’t want that encrusted muck ending up on my plates. I’ve got two kids – I know EXACTLY what kind of germs my kids can bring home, and I don’t want that in my dishwasher! And hygiene aside, I’m really not convinced the dishwasher is an effective or energy-efficient method.

Instead, I turn to my favourite eco-friendly cleaning ingredients, to get those dirty sweaty stains out. Here’s how to do it!

How To Wash A Baseball Cap

Washing a dirt-encrusted hat is easier than you might think. And for the most part, it’s a pretty hands-off process. Apart from a few minutes of scrubbing, you can just sit back whilst the cleaning ingredients do their work. Always a win in my books!

Here’s a quick visual of the process so you can see what’s involved. After this photo, I’ll talk you through each and every step. A virtual hand-holding if you will.

You Will Need

Ready to get started? Here’s what you need:

• Washing up liquid – any eco brand will do.
• A scrubbing brush
• A container, such as a large bowl or bucket.
• Oxygen bleach – often known as sodium percarbonate. Here’s where to buy sodium percarbonate if you’re struggling to track it down.
• Laundry detergent – use liquid or powder. I don’t recommend using laundry pods or sheets as you can’t control the dose.

Method

• First, wet your hat, and apply a little washing-up liquid to any marks or stains. Next, give the cap a gentle scrub with the scrubbing brush. This is an important step, particularly if the stains are caused by sunscreen or mixed with sunscreen. This is because sunscreen is oil-based, and the grease-fighting power of washing-up liquid will help break down those oils.
• Once you’ve given the cap a good chh-chh-chh with the scrubbing brush, rinse it with cold water and pop it to the side for a second.
• Next, fill up your container with hot water from the tap. Don’t use boiling water – it could damage any plastic components in your baseball cap.
• Add two tablespoons of oxygen bleach and half a tablespoon of laundry detergent to the hot water, and mix it well to dissolve.
• Place your baseball cap in the solution, and leave it to soak for around three to four hours. The filth it draws out is disgusting but oddly satisfying!
• After a good soak, rinse the cap clean under cold running water, and hang it outside to dry in the sun. Sun is a brilliant natural bleach and should help take care of most lingering stains.

The Final Result

Ta-da! Here’s the baseball cap, all clean, and ready for another summer. It’s such an easy job and so satisfying! Let me know if you give it a go and if your water came out dirtier than mine!