Cleaning Your Baseball Cap

By: James Lilliefors author of Ball Cap Nation, Clerisy Press, 2009

There are many effective ways of restoring a shine to your cap, including hand-washing, washing it in the dishwasher, or on the delicate cycle in your washing machine. Some dry-cleaners will clean baseball caps. How a cap is cleaned depends on its material. First, look on the inside of the cap to determine what it's made of and see if there are any washing instructions. If not, here are some suggestions:

1. Cleaning the Headband
   Wet a washcloth with warm water, and apply a light spritz of Spray 'N Wash or similar product around the headband. Gently rub down the headband with the wash cloth, working out the sweat stains. Wash the band with clean water and let it dry.
2. Dirt, Lint, Dust
   Masking tape can be used to pull lint or animal hair from caps. Wrap the tape around your hand with the sticky side exposed and dab it on the cap. If there is a layer of dust or dirt covering the cap, spray with water and then rub a wash cloth gently over the surface of both the brim and the crown. Spray again lightly and evenly. Let dry in the sun.
3. Cleaning the Brim
   If there is a stain on the brim, hand wash with warm water and scrub at the stain with a wash cloth. If this doesn't work, try Woolite, Spray 'N Wash, or a similar product. After scrubbing, wash again with warm water. Hand-washing the brim is recommended for delicate caps.