Clean New Era Hats

New Eras aren't cheap. If you want to keep your New Era brim looking crisp, you can learn to take preventative measures to make sure it doesn't get too messed up in the first place, as well as some good methods to get them clean when they're looking funky.

Steps

Daily Cleaning and Maintenance

1. Decide how clean you want your hat. Most people want to keep their New Era hats looking fresh off the rack. If that's you, you'll need to use gentle cleaning methods and proper storage to keep it safe. If you don't really care how new your hat looks, but just want to keep it from looking sweat-soaked and gross, you can disregard a lot of the more particular details, and just wash it as you would other clothing items.
   • Don't soak new hats you want to keep looking fresh for as long as possible. Wait until it gets really soiled and already starts looking old.
   • If you're not trying to keep your hat looking brand new, just toss it in the water to soak. Better yet, just toss it in the washing machine. Easy and done.
2. Clean your hat gently after each use. Every time you take off a New Era cap, it's a good idea to clean it up gently to make sure dust doesn't accumulate. This is especially true if you've got a white one. It doesn't need to take more than a minute or two.
   • If you can't dust your hat every single time, try to do it at least once or twice a week. Dust can work its way into the fibers of the cap, staining it over time, which will result in the need for deeper cleaning methods.
3. Remove dust and lint with a lint roller. The best way to keep your hat looking fresh every day is to run a lint roller over it, to remove the dust and the grime of wearing it. These are usually only a few bucks at most clothes retailers.
   • Some lint rollers have sticky sheets on the outside, which you can peel off after they get too nasty and hairy. Others will have thick bristles that go one way, but not the other. These are the best lint rollers, because they'll last a longer time and won't leave sticky residue on your hat.
   • Some hat places will even furnish hat brushes, specifically for this purpose. If they're really expensive, opt for the lint roller, which is basically the same thing.
   • DIY lint roller: Use the sticky side of tape, then toss it.
4. Use wet wipes once a week. Plain wet naps or wet hand wipes are excellent for doing little spot treatments on your New Era cap to keep it from developing stains before they become worse. Use one wet wipe to thoroughly wipe out the inside and go over the outside of your hat, about once a week, or more if you wear it every day.
   • Focus especially on the end of the brim on the side of your hand that you use most often, and the inside where you sweat. Fingerprint stains will tend to form on the brim where you grip the hat to take it off, and sweat stains can penetrate the fabric and be really difficult to get out.
5. Store your hat properly. If you're just tossing your New Era on the dresser, or on the floor, it's going to pick up more dirt there than on your head. Plus, hat racks are dust traps, especially if you've got one right by the front door. If you want to be really protective of your New Eras, keep them in a box, with some tissue paper wrapped around them to keep them from getting too dusty. Fresh and clean every time, no cleaning required.
6. Wear a bandana or a do-rag underneath. If you sweat in your cap, you can keep the band from getting sweat-stained and requiring cleaning by creating a barrier underneath with a do-rag that fits tightly around you scalp, helping to hold your hair in place, keeping its oils from staining the hat, as well as keeping the sweat from penetrating the hat, at least as deeply.

Deep Cleaning

1. Tape plastic wrap over the sticker. If you want to keep your hat looking like its just from the store, you want to keep that sticker looking as clean as possible. Water will ruin it very quickly, making it peel and flake off. If you're trying to clean the hat up without messing up the sticker, a big of cling wrap from the kitchen will do the trick.
   • Cut a piece of plastic wrap big enough to cover the sticker by a few centimeters on each side, then tape it in place. Make sure the tape seals the plastic thoroughly.
2. Fill the sink with cold, soapy water. It's important to use cold water on a new hat, which keeps the dye from seeping out, though you can feel free to use hotter water on older hats that have been washed already.
   • If you want to find out if your cap will bleed if you toss it into the washing machine or the dishwasher, do a little spot treatment with a white cloth. Wet the cloth with hot water and blot at the colored area of the cap. Does any color come off? Keep washing it in cold. If not, you're safe.
3. Scrub stains gently with a soft toothbrush or a clean cloth. Probably the most effective way of gently but firmly getting into any stains–sweat, oil, or otherwise–is to use a brand new, soft-bristled toothbrush, wetted slightly in the cold water. Move the brush in tight circles, scrubbing away the stains gently.
4. Go over it once more with cold water. After you clean the cap with soap, re-wet the toothbrush with plain water and gently go over it again to try to keep working the stains out. If you prefer, you could also switch to a wet-wipe, or a cloth to cover more territory.
5. Air dry the cap. It's very important to set up the cap like you want it to look and let it air dry for about 24 hours before wearing it. If you've gotten the cap fairly damp, it can loose some of its shape, and start to look saggy and old, which is what you want to avoid. Set the clean cap up with the brim flat, and the top of the hat supported with
   • Consider getting a cap mold to help hold the shape of the hat. These are commonly available at hat stores and other clothing retailers, only cost a couple of bucks, and help you hold the shape of your hat long term, especially while drying. If you've got an adjustable cap, keep it adjusted to the size you wear.
   • While it might seem quicker, putting the hat into a clothes dryer will ruin the shape and crispness of the hat faster than anything else. The heat will soften the structure of the hat, making it much more pliable. Let hats air dry.
6. Consider washing the cap in the dishwasher. One of the easiest and quickest ways of washing any baseball cap is to put it into a cap mold, set your dishwasher to a cold setting, and run it through about a half cycle by itself. Remove the hat about halfway through the cycle and let it air dry.
   • Make sure your dishwasher is extremely clean if you try to do this, and only do this for older hats that won't bleed.

Using an Official Cleaning Kit

1. Consider getting an official New Era cleaning kit. New Era kits are sold with all the basic supplies you'll need to keep your hat looking clean and new. The kits typically retail for about the price of the hat, making them somewhat pricy, but include cleaning spray, shaping spray, a cleaning brush, and a pump-mold that you can use to maintain the shape of the hat when you're not wearing it.
   • The value of these kits is pretty debatable. If you have a big collection of hats you want to keep looking new, it might be worth it, but if you've just got a few, it's probably fine to just use the basic cleaning methods described above.
2. Store the hat on the pump-mold. The pump-mold can be altered to shape the size of the hat you're wearing. You can set the mold by placing your hat on top of it, and inflating it to the size you want to keep the hat. Squeeze the pressure-ball to inflate the pump. Once you get it to the right size, it'll work on all your hats.
3. Use the cleaning brush each time you wear the hat. After you remove the hat, place the hat on the pump-mold and spritz it with a gentle mist of cleaning spray, then gently comb the brim and cap of the hat with the cleaning brush to keep it looking nice.
4. Spray with shaping spray. After you clean the hat, apply shaping spray while the hat sits. 2-3 pumps of shaping spray is usually enough. This will allow the hat to stay firmly molded and looking fresh for as long as possible.
   • The cap freshener spray is available for much less money, if you want to opt for the most important part of the package. You can usually get it for abut ten bucks, or try an off-brand cap-cleaning spray for regular up-keep of your caps.

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Sources and Citations

• Videos provided by newcapsVEVO

See also

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• Make a Beer Box Top Hat
• Fix a Squashed Straw Hat
• Clean Straw Hats
• Clean Baseball Hats with a Dishwasher
• Shape a Beret

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