Continuing with my Love to Clean series, today I’m going to be sharing a no-fuss way for how to wash a hat. This is a trick I learned many many moons ago from my mom. My dad has always loved to wear hats, and even as a little girl, I remember him wearing lots of hats. The only problem with always wearing a hat is that you end up with a lot of dirty hats, or a really dirty favorite hat!
Luckily there’s an easy trick for how to wash a hat, without ruining their shape.
How to wash hats, here’s what you need:
- Dishwasher
- Dishwasher detergent (this is the one I use)
- Vinegar (if you don’t want to us standard detergent)
If the hat(s) are really dirty, and stinky, pre-treat them by spraying them with vinegar. Let the vinegar soak for about 10 minutes. If there are really bad sweat stains on the brim, you can remove them by sprinkling the stain with baking soda, spraying it with vinegar and then lightly scrubbing it with a toothbrush.
After the hat has been pre-treated for stains (and stink), place the hat on the top rack of the dishwasher. I usually run the hats through a full cycle with a load of pre-rinsed dishes. However if you aren’t comfortable having dishes in the dishwasher too then you fill up the top rack with all your hats and run them all at once. Use regular dishwasher detergent in the load, it works great for washing your hats! Or if you’re not comfortable with that, you can use vinegar.
After the dishwasher has finished it’s cycle remove the hats and lay them on a flat surface to dry. It’s as simple as that! By pre-treating your hats and running them through the dishwasher your hats will be clean and smell fresh all over again!
Did you know this is one of my most popular posts!? To see more cleaning hacks that people love, click on the titles below:
- How to Clean Between the Oven Glass
- How to Get rid of HE Washing Machine Smell
- How to Wash Pillows in a Front Loading Washing Machine
- How to Clean Baked on Grease off Pots and Pans
- How to Clean Oven Glass so it looks Brand New
- How to get Nail Polish off Wood Floors
- How to Clean your Dyson
- How to Clean Cloudy Glass
- How to Wash a Baseball Cap
- DIY Homemade Laundry Detergent and WHY it works so well
To read other easy cleaning tips in the Love to Clean Series, click the links below.
- Tips for Washing Windows and Mirrors
- The Benefits of Vacuuming and More
- How to Clean the Kitchen Sink
- How to Clean Retainers
- How to clean cloudy glass
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Hi Anna,
I loved this tip and I need it! Thanks so much!
Ginny
Did you use dishwasher detergent in the detergent cup with the full cycle?
Yep.
Hi, I’m a farmwife and we have a small seed wheat company in SW Kansas so caps are a long part of my life. This works well, but when you dry them, think about doing it over a small bowl or something shaped like the hat. That will keep the shape better. There are three different styles to these hats. There are short billed and fairly straight. Med. and then very long shades the sun better. There are very tall in the hat part, med, and then very short. The fashions come and go in these too. The point is, if your forehead is lower or your ears taller on your head, go with the shorter rise caps. If you need some air up there or space for thick hair or have a tall forehead, go for the higher rise.
Just a thought or two.
You can also wash your hat in the regular washer on small load, it is the spin cycle that is more problematic, put it on delicate or permanent press. then ‘block’ your hat on a bowl, pot, or wadded up nylon net to dry it.
I just put them in the washing machine gentle cycle >_>