While wearing hats of all different kinds are fun and sometimes a necessity during bright, sunny weather, washing them is an activity most people dread as their hats lose shape after washing or are left with unsightly water marks. Here is how to wash a hat without ruining it.
Hat washing doesn’t have to be a boring or scary activity. You can wash your hats and still retain their original shape. Follow our guidelines to keep your hats clean and looking like new.
How to Wash Your Hats without Wrecking Them
Select the dirty hats you desire to wash and check for stains. If you find that one of your hats has stretched out a little too much and your hat is now flopping all over your head, know that you can shrink a hat, too.
For general washing, follow this simple recipe.
If the hat is very dirty, spray some vinegar on the tough stains and allow it to sit for a couple of minutes. You can make a vinegar spray by mixing equal parts of vinegar and water in a spray bottle. If there are no extreme stains on your hat, you should skip this step.
Place your dirty hat in the first rack of the dishwasher and wash using a full cycle and some dishwasher detergent. You can even use your own DIY dish soap if you have some on hand. Wash more than one hat at a time depending on the size of each hat.
Substitute dishwasher detergent for vinegar if you do not fancy using dishwasher detergent. At the end of the wash cycle, remove the hats from the dishwasher and leave them out to air dry.
Your hats will retain their shape after being washed. Some hats get stained with sweat, and it is best to get rid of such stains by using baking soda and vinegar.
How to Remove Sweat Stains from the Brim of a Hat
Sprinkle baking soda ton the affected parts. Spray on some vinegar solution. Using an old toothbrush, scrub until the stains are faded completely. Wash as normal.
How to Wash Your Baseball Cap
Washing baseball caps can be rather tricky since most cheaper caps are marked as for “hand-wash only.” In general, baseball caps can be washed by hand or in a washing machine.
Check the cap’s label first. To protect your caps and prevent them from getting ruined, you should hand wash them once in a while.
Fill a plugged in a sink with cool water and add few scoops of detergent to make the water soapy. If there are stains on your cap, consider getting rid of the stain using a pretreatment solution or vinegar solution.
Allow the “pretreatment” to sit for a couple of minutes. Submerge the baseball cap in the soapy water solution in the sink.
Using a piece of cloth, sponge, or old toothbrush, gently scrub your cap to get rid of any dirt. After a thorough scrub, drain the sink of the soapy water and rinse the cap under cool tap water till all the soap residue runs out.
Towel dry the cap and place some old towels in it while it dries. This will help it in retaining its shape. Air dry your cap or place it directly in front of a floor fan to dry. Your cap is ready to wear.
How to Wash Woolen Hats
Because of their material and texture, woolen hats require a special washing process to prevent them from getting damaged. Although they keep us warm on chilly days, these kinds of hats must be handled with care due to their delicate nature.
Fill up a bowl with lukewarm water. Hot water causes wool to shrink so the best way to avoid this is to use lukewarm water. If you do not have a laundry bowl, make use of the sink.
Add laundry detergent to the water and submerge the wool hat in it. There are special detergents designed for woolen materials so use one of those.
For tough stains, leave the hat in the cleaning solution for a few minutes. This will soften the stain and make it easy to come off when washing.
After washing, bring out the wool hat and rinse with cool water. Hang it out to dry in a sunny place.
Clean Loose Dirt off Your Hat
The best way to get rid of loose dirt on your hat is by regularly brushing it with a soft shoe brush. If you do not have a short brush, a horsehair brush or any brush with soft bristles will work just fine.
How to Clean Dust off Your Hat
Occasionally, dust can accumulate on your hat especially when you do not wear it for a long time. To get rid of dust on your hat, clean it with a damp cloth. This will get rid of the dust and also save you time in washing.
Geting Rid of Hairs on a Hat
Got a hat covered in hair or fuzz? Wrap sticky tape around your fingers and move it across the hat.
This will get rid of any hair on your hat. Remember to wrap the tape with the sticky part out.
Taking Care of Your Hats
Are you taking care of your hats? Do you toss them around the house at any chance you get or treat them like every other fashion item you own? Taking care of your hats will reduce the number of times you wash your hat and will make it last longer.
