Cleaning A New Era Fitted Hat

After years of wearing my Yankees New Era fitted hat I finally decided to wash it.  The truth is I was just going to buy a new one because I wasn’t interested in washing my dirty hat.  But then I went online and looked at the prices for new hats and was convinced that paying $39.99 (Canadian retail) for a new hat wasn’t worth it when all I had to do was clean my hat.  Another reason I also passed on buying a new hat was because I couldn’t find one similar to the one I have, that’s made out of wool with a grey brim.  The majority of newer releases are made out of polyester, feature the same colour under brim as the hat, and are made in China (my hat was made in the USA).

I went online to find out how to clean my hat because I was a little cautious of just throwing it in the washing machine.  The best methods of cleaning a hat I found were either paying a lot of money for an official New Era hat cleaning kit, or just using a towel with some detergent and water.  Needless to say, I passed on getting the cleaning kit and used the towel method instead.  I also tried cleaning my hat with a tooth brush, masking tape, and a magic eraser.  However all these methods weren’t very effective because they either didn’t clean, were too rough and could damage the material, or took way to long.  I then felt that the only method left for me was using the washing machine.

I hesitated using it before because in the past it has ruined other hats and clothing.  This time I took precautions and placed my hat in a mesh bag to protect the brim, which worked perfectly.  After I washed my hat it came out looking like Kirstie Alley had sat on it, but that was only short lived because I placed a bag with a sweater inside of it and was able to restore the shape of the hat.  I then let it air dry for a couple of days, and when I looked at it again the outside looked flawless and new.  The inside was a different story because the headband was still yellow, and the Buckram threads were a little out of place.  Other than that the shape was as good as new, it smelled wonderful, and it didn’t shrink (since it had already shrunk from normal use).  I would recommend washing your New Era hat in a washing machine using cold water because it is very effective but should only be used as a last resort because it can damage some areas of the hat.

New Era:

www.neweracap.com

YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGvy9u-Gilg