How To Wash A Baseball Cap In The Dishwasher

Baseball caps get so grimy so quickly! Here is the best way to get all those caps clean in a snap! Learn how to wash a baseball cap in the dishwasher!

My husband wears baseball caps all the time, so they get pretty dirty pretty quickly. I’ve been looking around for the best way to wash a baseball cap, and it seems like there are a few good options, but my favorite in terms of ease and effectiveness is to wash baseball caps in the dishwasher! It works great, it’s easy to do, and it’s totally safe for pretty much all modern baseball caps!

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NOTE: If your baseball cap is made of wool, or if it has a cardboard brim, don’t wash it in the dishwasher. Wool hats, hats with cardboard brims, or any hat with special hand-stitching or sentimental value should be hand washed.

Want some other great cleaning and laundry tips?! Check these out!

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How to Wash a Baseball Cap in the Dishwasher

• Time spent doing stuff: 15 minutes
• Time spent waiting around: 45 minutes plus overnight to dry
• Total project time: 1 hour plus overnight

Supplies

• dishwasher
• dishwasher detergent (make sure it does NOT contain bleach and is NOT lemon-scented)
• laundry pre-treater such as Biz or OxiClean
• stiff bristle brush

NOTE: Many dishwasher detergents contain bleach, so be sure that you are using a detergent that doesn’t contain bleach. And lemon-scented detergent should be avoided as well; the acidity in the added lemon scent can be harmful to your hats.

Instructions

These are the two baseball caps before I washed them in the dishwasher. Not only were they covered in dirt and dust on the outside, but the inside was soaked in sweat and grime!

To get the best results when washing baseball caps in the dishwasher, you should pre-treat the sweatiest parts of the hat with a laundry pre-treater.

I made a simple paste using a little bit of Biz and warm water and gently scrubbed it into the sweatband and back of the hat using a stiff bristle brush. The Biz helps to break down the grease and oil from the sweat so that it can come fully clean in the dishwasher.

Set the pre-treated hats aside for 20-30 minutes to let the pre-treater work.

Empty your dishwasher (you don’t want to wash any dishes along with your hats!) and place the pre-treated hats in the top rack of the dishwasher. The heat and water are gentler on the top rack than the bottom, so it’s safer for your hats up there. If you want to, you can use a plastic cap rack like this one to help the hat keep it’s shape during washing, but it’s not necessary.

I just put the hats in the dishwasher by themselves, and I made sure to hook the back strap of the hat around one of the pegs in the rack to make sure the hats didn’t move around too much during washing.

Put dishwasher detergent into your dishwasher just like normal: use the normal amount and put it in the normal place.

Close your dishwasher and turn it on to the gentlest setting. If your dishwasher has an option for cold water, use that. If it has an option for a “light” or “delicate” cycle, use that. And if your dishwasher has the ability to do a no-heat or low-heat drying cycle, or skip the drying all together, do that. Basically you want the dishwasher to wash the hat, but not superheat it during washing or drying.

Once the dishwasher is done washing the baseball caps, pull them out and set them aside to dry.

I propped them up on the counter on top of a tumbler to help them keep their rounded shape a little bit. You can do the same with a small bowl or any other round thing that won’t make creases in the hat. You can also hang the hats to dry. If you prefer to hang them, clip them up by the strap at the back of the hat to help them keep their shape.

Once the hats are dry, you’re done! Now you have a totally clean, ready-to-wear baseball cap!

Even the sweat band on the inside of the hat is totally clean and sweat-free!

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