![\"Dirty](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2016\/09\/dirty-hats.jpg\")
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After a couple years of heavy use, my filthy baseball caps have been known to simply find their way to the trash rather than be washed. I’d tried the folk-lore-ish top-rack-of-the-dishwasher route, but it had never yielded great results for me. The hats came out misshapen, seemingly discolored, and only partially cleaned.<\/p>\n
But I did some digging, and discovered a far better, and gentler, methodology for cleaning the ol’ ballcap that will refresh it, brighten it, and add years to its life. And best of all, it’s largely hands-off.<\/p>\n
Luckily for you readers, I had a few very gross hats to do some testing on. Let’s dive in.<\/p>\n
1. Fill a clean sink or bucket with warm water.<\/strong> Err on the side of cool versus hot.<\/p>\n 2. As it’s filling, add a tablespoon of laundry detergent or OxiClean.<\/strong> Dish soap can do in a pinch, but detergent, or a dedicated stain-fighting treatment like OxiClean, is stronger and works harder at getting the stains out of the hat’s fibers.<\/p>\n Shampooing the bill of the ballcap.<\/p><\/div>\n 3. Spot-clean the hat first, as needed.<\/strong> If there are areas that are especially problematic, spot-clean them with a dab of cleaning product right on the hat. After first dipping the hat in the water of your bucket or sink, use a toothbrush or other small scrubber to rub the cleaner into the fabric. I saw a tip to use shampoo on sweat stains; I tried it on one of my caps and the results were pretty spectacular. The bill was clean of sweat stains, while the back (where I didn’t use any shampoo), remained pretty gross after cleaning:<\/p>\n One note here: Be especially careful around threaded stitching. If you’re too vigorous, the stitching can become misplaced, and the artwork marred.<\/p>\n 4. Let the hat soak for up to a couple hours.<\/strong> After you’ve spot-washed, let the hat soak in the soapy water-filled bucket or sink you’ve filled for up to a couple hours, though I found that even just 20-30 minutes will get the job done. About halfway through soaking, take a look at the cap and see how the stains are looking. Although the wetted fabric will hide some staining, they’ll still show through if they’re bad. Using your small scrubber, again spot wash those persistent problem areas, and again, be careful around stitched patterns and logos.<\/p>\n 5. Rinse all the soap off with warm water.<\/strong> Give the hat a good rinse before letting it dry.<\/p>\n 6. Pat down with a towel to get rid of excess moisture.<\/strong> The hat will obviously be very wet when you remove it from the water; let some of the excess drip off, then pat dry with a towel as much as you can while retaining the shape of the hat, and being gentle with logos. Your goal here is simply to remove the excess so that it can dry on a counter without dripping water all over.<\/p>\n No towel underneath = wet countertop.<\/p><\/div>\n 7. Always air dry on some sort of container.<\/strong> You want to find a way to dry the hat so it’s not just crumpled on the counter. Find a coffee jar, a canister, a balled-up towel, or perhaps any mannequin heads you have lying around to set it on. This will ensure the hat’s shape stays true and doesn’t crinkle up. Throw a towel under the container too; no matter how much patting you do, I’ve found there will always be some drippage. If you want to speed things up, use a small fan to blow air over it, or a hair dryer on the low setting.<\/p>\n![\"Shampooing](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2016\/09\/shampooing.jpg\")
![\"Dirty](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2016\/09\/dirty-hat.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Hat](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2016\/09\/hat-in-sink.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Hat](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2016\/09\/hat-drying.jpg\")
Tips for Cleaning Wool Hats<\/h2>\n
![\"Washed](\"https:\/\/content.artofmanliness.com\/uploads\/2016\/09\/clean-hats.jpg\")