Can You Wash a Hat in the Washing Machine?
You can wash a hat in the washing machine if it’s a modern polyester or performance cap with a plastic brim: put it in a cap cage, use cold water on the gentle cycle, and air dry it. Never put it in the dryer, and keep cotton, wool, fitted and vintage hats out of the washer entirely.
Even with the right hat, the machine is a gamble. Here’s how to wash a hat in the washing machine as safely as possible, what tends to go wrong, and why we’d still wash it by hand.
The quick answer
- Check the tag. Only polyester or synthetic caps with plastic brims are candidates.
- Pre-treat the sweatband with a little mild cleaner and a soft brush.
- Put the hat in a cap cage or cap washer frame.
- Wash on cold, gentle or delicate, with a small amount of mild detergent.
- Skip fabric softener and bleach.
- Take it out right away, reshape it, and air dry on a form. No dryer.
Can you put a hat in the washer? Depends on the hat
| Hat | Washer? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Polyester or performance cap | Maybe, in a cap cage | Synthetics handle water and don’t shrink much in cold |
| Cotton twill cap | Risky | Can shrink and fade, crown can lose shape |
| Wool or wool-blend fitted | No | Agitation shrinks and felts wool |
| Trucker with foam front | No | Foam creases and can peel |
| Vintage or cardboard brim | No | Brim turns soft and warps for good |
| Felt, straw, leather or suede | Never | Water ruins these materials |
If yours isn’t in the first row, skip ahead to the hand method, or check the guides for wool hats and fitted hats.
How to wash a hat in the washing machine, step by step
If you want to wash a baseball hat in the washer, this is the lowest-risk way we know.
1. Pre-treat the sweatband
The washer mostly rinses. It doesn’t scrub. Before the hat goes in, brush a little mild cleaner into the sweatband and any stain lines and let it sit a couple of minutes. Otherwise you’ll often pull out a damp hat with the same yellow line.
2. Use a cap cage
A cap cage is a plastic frame that clamps around the hat so it holds its shape in the drum. It’s the single biggest thing that keeps the brim from bending and the crown from collapsing. Without one, we wouldn’t try it.
3. Pick the load carefully
Wash it with a few light items in similar colors, like t-shirts or towels. Avoid jeans, zippers and anything heavy that can slam into the hat. Never wash a white hat with colors.
4. Cold, gentle, low spin
Set the washer to cold water and the gentle or delicate cycle. If you can lower the spin speed, do it. Spin is what bends brims. Use a small amount of mild liquid detergent, and leave out bleach and fabric softener.
5. Pull it out and reshape
Take the hat out as soon as the cycle ends. Press the crown back into shape and smooth the brim’s curve with your hands.
6. Air dry on a form
Put it over a rolled towel, ball or coffee can and let it dry with good airflow, out of direct sun. Machine-washed hats hold more water than hand-cleaned ones, so expect 8 to 24 hours.
Why never the dryer
The dryer is where most hats actually get ruined. Heat shrinks cotton and wool, softens the glue and plastic in brims, and tumbles the hat against the drum until the crown creases. Even polyester caps can warp. If you take one rule from this page, make it this one.
The real risks of machine washing
- Bent or broken brim. The spin cycle can fold it, even in a cage.
- Collapsed crown. Front panels lose their structure and dry with dents.
- Shrinking. Mostly cotton and wool, especially if the water isn’t truly cold.
- Fading and dye transfer. Dark caps fade, and colored items can tint light ones.
- Frayed embroidery. Agitation roughs up logos and stitching.
- Sweat stains left behind. The washer rarely gets the band truly clean without pre-treating.
Our pick: wash it by hand
Hand washing takes about ten minutes and avoids every risk above. Brush the hat dry, scrub it with a little mild cleaner on a soft brush, focus on the sweatband, wipe it down with a damp cloth, and air dry it on a form. The full walkthrough is in how to hand wash a hat.
Curious about the other popular shortcut? We cover it in can you wash a hat in the dishwasher. Spoiler: hand washing wins there too.
If the washer already got it
Brim bent: While it’s damp, shape it back over a can and let it dry in place. Plastic brims often recover. Crown dented: Stuff it firmly with a towel and let it dry fully. Shrunk: Usually permanent. Gently stretching a damp cap over a form can win back a little.
The easy way
Most people reach for the washer because hand washing sounds messy. Our foam cleaner doesn’t need a sink full of water. Brush it on, wipe it off, let it dry, and your hat never goes near a spin cycle.
FAQ
Can you put a hat in the washer without a cap cage?
You can, but the odds of a bent brim and crushed crown go way up. If you don’t have a cage, wash it by hand instead.
Will a hat shrink in the washing machine?
Cotton and wool can, especially in warm water. Polyester caps on a cold cycle usually hold their size. The dryer is the bigger shrinking risk.
Can you wash a fitted hat in the washing machine?
We wouldn’t. Fitteds are sized exactly, so even a little shrinking changes the fit. Clean them by hand and dry them on a form.
What setting should I use to wash a hat in the washer?
Cold water, gentle or delicate cycle, low spin, and a small amount of mild detergent. Then air dry.