First off there are many different methods to wash your fitted hat. There is no one size fits all washing method here. You will come across different blogs that suggest different ways such as hand washing it, placing your fitted hat in the washer alone or placing your fitted hat in the dishwasher. The fitted hats we are referring to in this article is strictly New Era 59Fifty fitted hats. I've tried placing a 59Fifty fitted hat in the washer in the past and it completely destroyed my fitted by messing up the form and shape of the crown. This is a personal experience, it may work out differently for you.

A Quick Story How I Discovered My Method To Washing My New Era 59FIFTY Fitted Hat

This is a very quick story that will explain how I discovered my method of cleaning my fitted hat. Living in New York, there's a large percentage of New Yorkers that do not check the weather. I do, but on this particular day I did not. It started pouring raining outside and I did not have an umbrella with me at the time. I was wearing a 59Fifty baseball cap and was on my way to my destination in Manhattan. As disgusting as this may sound I saw brownish water drops dripping from the brim of my hat. I knew my hat was dirty because I never washed it before. When I got home I balled up a towel and stuffed it inside my hat so it would keep its form. After it dried I noticed how incredibly clean my fitted looked.

The Method I Use to Wash My New Era Fitted Hat

After being caught outside in the rain wearing my fitted hat and watching the rain flush out the dirt that was on the hat, I attempted to recreate that experience in the shower and this method has worked for me ever since. This is the only method I use to wash my fitted hat (especially the crown and flat bill/brim of the hat). I have not perfected washing the sweat band of the hat.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Very simple steps, so simple that you really do not need a step-by-step instruction but here it is anyways.

1. Grab your fitted hat.
2. Turn on the shower.
3. Place your entire fitted hat under the shower. Rotate your fitted to make the water hits the entire crown of the fitted and the brim. Hold it under the shower and rub against the fabric for 2-3 minutes while rotating it every 30 seconds or so.
4. Flip the fitted hat over so the water can clean and flush out the dirt inside of your crown and rub the inside.
5. When the fitted has been under water for a while, you want to get a soapy wash cloth to hand wash the sweat band inside of the fitted (I haven't perfected cleaning this part of the hat, so take this step with a grain of salt. Others have said they've used a toothbrush. Choose the method that is best for you).
6. Turn the shower off.
7. Allow the fitted hat to air dry. You can either ball up a towel and stuff it inside the the fitted hat and and let it sit or you can press against the crown of the fitted to ensure it has that round crown. You can place the hat on a table or counter but I found the best way for it to air dry is by hanging it from an object like a wall or door hanger.

Alternatively you can wear the hat in the shower and receive the same cleaning, but you will have to take it off to get the dirt inside the hat. This method of washing your fitted or snapback hat is very similar to the dishwasher method if you think about how the water is interacting with the hat. However, this method to cleaning a fitted hat is unique to me.  Now I have heard people from the hat community claim that the dishwasher method doesn't work. I personally have never attempted it.

Update: 5/18/21

Recently I did the shower method to clean my fitted hat as I always have but I decided to experiment with cleaning it using a wash cloth (still no detergent). I chose poorly.  The wash cloth left bits of green fabric (green wash cloth) on the crown of my hat. I made a second attempt to clean my hat using the shower method to wash away the green fabric and to no avail it did not work. I may be able to get the bits of fabric off the crown of my fitted with a lint roller but it hasn't come to that point yet. So yes, DO NOT use a wash cloth on your fitteds, especially on dark colored fitteds. I would advise against it.  If anyone have a great method to clean the sweat band of a baseball cap I would love to hear about it in the comment section. I just feel like there may be a better way than using a wash cloth.

New Era Hat End Result