Working in the yard, running, playing softball ... summertime activities can turn you into a sweaty, dirty mess. Not only you, but your baseball cap, as well.
So how do we clean it?
Some caps are made to be washed; other cheap versions are hardly worth the bother. Before you decide, eyeball your hat.
"A cap almost has to be constructed in a way that's conducive to washing," says Patrick Qualls, one of the owners of AmeriCap, a North Carolina hat manufacturer.
He says to look at the hat, check the material, examine how it is stitched, and look at the headband and the brim. If it's well made — good-quality material, sturdy stitching, a plastic brim (and most caps made in the past 10 years fit that description) — it will be obvious and you can begin cleaning. If it's a cheap hat with flimsy stitching and a cardboard visor, a good cleaning may spell its doom.
Here's some advice from Qualls and assorted online sources:
Degree of difficulty: Easy.
Materials: "Cotton you can wash," Qualls says. "Polyester, twill, any of them can be washed." AmeriCap uses a pre-shrunk twill, similar to what is used in khaki pants, he says. A hat may shrink a little when washed, he says, but not a significant amount. For wool hats, extra care is needed (we'll get to that later).
