If you want to keep your cap looking as fresh as possible, keep reading for tips on how to wash a New Era baseball hat.
Baseball hats are subject to dirt, sweat, and oils that will quickly make your nice cap a dirty mess. Unfortunately, improper cleaning of your favorite baseball cap can lead to faded colors, misshaped brims, and frayed fabric.
New Era 59Fifty hats debuted in 1954 and have been the official cap of MLB since 1992. The popularity of 59Fifty baseball caps has led them to become collectibles, making proper care and cleaning of them especially important.
There are three ways to wash a baseball cap: in the washing machine, in the dishwasher, and handwashing.
Washing machines and dishwashers are easy to use but can cause problems with shrinkage, fading, and misshapen hats. The safest method for how to wash a New Era baseball hat is hand washing.
How to Wash a Baseball Cap by Hand
1. Clean Container and Brush
Pick up a clean container and clean brush that you only use for cleaning hats.
A clean toothbrush will work, or New Era sells a cap cleaning brush.
2. Cold to Lukewarm Water
Fill the bucket or container with cold to lukewarm water. Hot water will cause shrinkage, so it is better to keep the water on the cooler side versus hot.
3. Detergent of Your Choice
While you’re filling up your clean bucket, add the detergent of your choice. A tablespoon of laundry detergent, dish soap, or shampoo will work.
Never use anything with bleach, it will cause the colors to fade. A dedicated stain-fighting detergent like Oxiclean will work for removing stains and shampoo works great for removing dirt and oils.
4. Spot-clean
Use the brush to scrub the dirty areas of the hat with the detergent. Be careful around stitched and embroidered areas. Strong scrubbing can cause tears in the stitching, it is best to avoid these areas. Make sure to clean the inside of the hat, this area is often covered in sweat, dirt, and oil that can seep through the fabric to the outside.
5. Rinse and Repeat
Rinse the spot-cleaned areas under clean water, check for stains and repeat step 4 as many times as needed.
6. Soak In Soapy Water (Optional, not great for 59Fifty)
This is the best deep cleaning method if your hat has a lot of tough stains. If you have an older hat, with a cardboard brim, you do not want to soak it.
Soaking a cardboard brim hat will ruin the brim. Cardboard brimmed hats can only be spot cleaned.
If you choose to soak the hat, soak it for 30 minutes to a couple of hours. Begin checking the hat at the 30-minute mark to review the stains. If needed, scrub the problematic areas again with the brush.
7. Rinse Detergent
When you are satisfied that all the dirt and stains have been removed, rinse off all the detergent with clean water.
8. Towel Dry
Use a lint-free clean towel to get rid of extra moisture.
9. Air Dry
The hat needs to air dry. You want the hat to retain its shape while it is drying, so you will need a hat shaper or a head-shaped object to place the hat on for drying.
10. Starch Spray (Optional)
When setting a baseball cap up to dry, it can be sprayed with starch spray for firmness and fabric protector to help fight stains in the future. A starch spray is especially helpful for wool hats that are prone to losing their shape.
11. Lint Roll
After the hat is completely dry, run a lint roller over the fabric areas to remove any lint or dust. A lint roller is also a great way to clean the hat after every wear.
To keep your newly cleaned hat as nice as possible, store it in a dust-free area where it has enough space to retain its shape.
That’s it, time to enjoy your freshly cleaned baseball cap for several more innings. Learn more from our baseball FAQs.
