I love wearing ball caps, and I'm married to a golfer, so let's just say, we have a lot of hats. We have them in every color imaginable, especially white! In the past, I've tried bleaching them, and that doesn't work. It doesn't remove stains and usually discolors any other part of the cap that isn't white. This week, I decided to try something new and wow...it worked like a charm. This works great with white hats and with a simple change up, it works great with colorful hats too.
Let's take a look at the before...I'm sure if you own hats, it's a familiar sight!
This is my pile of hats that I decided to experiment with. As you can see, I have a thing for hats with the state of Kentucky on them...to be honest, I didn't really know I owned that many. The one on the far left is not as dirty as the other ones, but I already got makeup all over it, so I decided to throw it in anyway.
The hat in the middle is my very favorite, and I can't find a new one just like it anywhere. I wear it on our daily walks, to do yard work in, when I'm painting and it has a ton of stains...it's pretty gross.
What you will need:
1 cup of hydrogen peroxide
1 tablespoon of dish liquid
OxiClean White Revive for white hats.
For white hats, start by filling your sink or a washtub with warm water, then add one scoop of OxiClean White Revive if you are washing white ball caps.
For colorful hats, fill your sink with cold water and skip this step. You should test on a small inner part of the hat first to make sure the color isn't going to fade.
Now add 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide. Yep...just regular old 3% hydrogen peroxide that you find at the pharmacy or in the first aid section of most stores.
Next add 1 tablespoon of dish liquid and stir the water around to combine all of the ingredients.
Put your hats in the water and cleaning mixture, making sure to submerge them completely. Let the hats sit in the mixture for 10-15 minutes.
Pull each hat out and use a dish brush to gently scrub any stains, dirt or makeup until they disappear. Give the whole hat a gentle scrub to remove any dirt.
Rinse each hat with warm water and shake to remove some of the water.
Dry them in the sun if possible. I like to place each hat on an upside down bowl to help reshape them. If you don't have a sunny spot to dry them, you can place them on a towel somewhere inside to dry.
As you can see, I have a little helper, Nash ;)
Let them dry and bask in their glory y'all! There may be a couple of spots that just aren't fixable, but for the most part, your hats will look like new again. My Kentucky hat with all of the stains even came clean and my husband couldn't believe that I got rid of all of the sweat stains on his golf hats! So, time to grab those hats and get them all clean!
Julie Worsham says
Do you know if this will work on a rust stain (ball marker) on the bill of the cap??
Jessica says
It should! My husband had one and it removed it. If it is really on there good, it may not completely remove it, but it should fade the rust spot quite a bit. Good luck, let me know if it works on the rust! ~Jess
Ellen says
the ball cap I am trying to clean says do not wash or bleach. any suggestions??
Jessica says
There is no bleach involved, so hopefully this method will work for you! xoxo
Texas -G- says
Jessica, what about a dark bill with rust?
Jessica says
I would try scrubbing the bill with dish liquid (something strong like Dawn works best). Or you could wash it in the washing machine, then let it air dry. Hope this helps!
Kimberlee B. says
Hi Jessica! I have a couple ball caps that are white with colored bills? The white part does have colored embroidery and they are super sweaty dirty/stained from my son wearing them through college. But they are super special to him and I want to try and clean them. I appreciate your advice and help. :)
Ivory says
OMG, I don't know how you do it, but you always come up with great ideas from cleaning to cleansers. Thank you so much for all you give to us.
Anne Kepple says
Hi Jess, I haven't tried cleaning my ball caps yet but will once I buy my oxi clean white revive. I wear ball caps to the beach everyday so they do become dirty fast..white especially. I just signed up for your mailing list..looking forward to getting all your great tips. ~Anne
Jessica says
You are going to love it...I live in my white hats and it's a true life saver! Thanks so much for the sweet word, Anne!
Elise Rucci says
For some stubborn stains I use an old electric toothbrush on the stain after soaking.