May 17, 2021

The Oddjob Guide to Washing Your Baseball Caps

How To Clean Your Extra Large Baseball Cap

If you’ve found your way to this post, it’s safe to assume your baseball cap is looking particularly grimy. The bad news: you’ll have to wash it. The good news? You’re in the right place. We get it. We’ve been there. We’re here for you.

When you’ve finally found a baseball cap perfectly suited to your big head, there’s an impulse to never, ever take it off again. You wear it on runs, to the beach, and near firepits. Dirt, oil, and sweat build up, and things start to get a little funky. At a certain point, you can’t take it anymore and in a moment of frustration and desperation google “how to clean my baseball cap” and start seeing words like “dishwasher” and “dryer.”

We’re going to stop you right there. Here at Oddjob HQ, “How do I wash my giant hat?” Is one of the most common questions we get—and we have the answer. Cleaning your hat is slightly more involved than running the dishwasher. But properly washing your baseball caps is still super simple, costs close to nothing, and it means your hat will be able to protect your big, sexy head for years to come.

Best of all? It costs basically nothing (absolutely no fancy baseball hat cleaner required).

SHOP BIG HATS

How Often Should I Clean My Hat?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer here. For most baseball caps, the answer is around once a year. Wear it every day? A little more frequently. If it’s a lighter-colored cap, keep an eye out for stains, smudges, and discoloration. If it’s darker, go with your natural intuition (and maybe the occasional smell test). We trust you.

What Do I Need?

Before we get into the cleaning itself, you’ll have to lock down a few things:

A mild detergent: Step away from the dish soap and harsh cleansers and reach for a gentler laundry detergent. Not sure where to begin? Look for labels that say “sensitive skin,” “fragrance-free,” or “delicate” and you’ll be on the right track.
Hat-stuffing stuff: You’ll need material to reshape your hat after it’s been cleaned. Think packing tissue paper or clean socks. Make sure you have enough to fill your big hat all the way up and avoid anything printed with ink or dye to avoid color bleeding.
A sink with a stopper: If this isn’t available, a very clean, very large pot will do.

How Do I Clean My Big Hat?

Step One: Run a cold bath

Fill your basin of choice with cool water. There’s a lot of fierce debate over the correct temperature in baseball hat-washing circles, but we’re firmly siding with the color-saving powers of cool water.

Step Two: Just add soap

Pour in a small, small amount, and then gently agitate the water until it starts to create suds.

Step Three: Let it be

Dunk your cap in the water and let it soak, submerged, for five to ten minutes.

Step Four: Get massaging

After you’ve let your hat soak for a bit, it’s time for the most intimate part of the process. Take your hat in your hands and gently (emphasis on gently) massage it, spending extra time on any stained or discolored areas, dipping it periodically back in the water for more suds or water.

Step Five: Rinse thoroughly

This one’s self-explanatory, but we’ll explain it anyway: rinse your baseball cap thoroughly. With water. Clean water. From the faucet.

Step Six: Shape up

Hunt for a sunny spot, either outside or through a window. Grab your stuffing material of choice, and use it to shape your hat from the inside back to its perfect, oversized proportions.

Step Seven: Let dry

All that’s left to do? Admire your handiwork, and wait for your hat to dry so you can be reunited again. We know this step is hard—thank you for your patience.

What Should I 100% Not Do?

Put your hat in the dishwasher

Whatever you do, do not put your hat in the dishwasher. Whoever started this trend is a monster. The hot, agitated water can bend the brim, cause the color to fade or streak, and ruin the shape.

Put your hat in the washing machine

By the same token, stay far, far away from the washing machine (too rough and imprecise). We can almost guarantee you will not like what comes out of the other end.

Put your hat in the dryer

It can be very tempting to speed up the drying process by tossing it on a quick dry cycle. But by doing this you risk committing the ultimate big hat sin: shrinking your big hat! Its bigness is the whole point.

While this process can be a little time-consuming, taking good care of your hats now will allow them to take care of your big head for years and years to come. Just think of it as a meditative bonding experience for you and your favorite hat.

Want Hats to Wash?

Whether you are ready for your first ever big baseball hat or simply looking for a second hat to wear while your first hat is drying casually in the sun—Oddjob has you covered. We offer a solid lineup of baseball caps in different styles and colors to keep your larger head happy. Here’s how we recommend rounding out your big baseball cap collection…

The Dad Hat