How to Clean a New Era 59FIFTY Cap

 New Era 59FIFTY caps are the highest quality athletic caps on the market. They are manufactured by New Era, who has been in the hat business since 1920. For over 90 years, New Era has dedicated itself to building the perfect baseball cap, and that's why they are the "Official Cap of Major League Baseball."

New Era 59FIFTY caps are of such high quality, it's important to know how to take care of them so they last as long as possible.

Using preventative action and keeping your New Era 59FIFTY cap clean, is the first step to giving your cap a long life. When you aren't wearing your New Era cap, keep it in the closet or covered with a clean t-shirt or cloth to keep dust, lint, dirt or pet hair off.

Unfortunately, through hard play on the field, wearing your cap socially, or through normal wear and tear, your New Era 59FIFTY cap will get dirty.

New Era caps can often cost from $33.00 to $45.00, so here are some helpful solutions to safely clean your New Era 59FIFTY cap without compromising the shape, size, or color.

1) Dust and Lint: Dust and lint are the most common and easy type of dirt to remove from your New Era cap. Rolling pins with reverse tape that are used to remove lint from clothing work the best. Give yourself something firm and rounded that will fit inside the cap so you will have something solid to press against with the tape, and start rolling over the dust and lint. It's easiest and most efficient to use the rolling pin tape, but some good masking tape or duct tape would be a good alternative.

When trying to clean a white or light colored cap this way, double check your rolling pin or the edges of your tape to make sure they are clean. It's any easy mistake to make that will make your cap dirtier than when you started if your tape or rolling pin are dirty.

2) Fingerprint Stains: Fingerprint stains are another common problem that need to be cleaned. Fingerprint stains are most common on light colored New Era caps on the bill, where people grab with their fingers to take their cap on and off.

Some steps of preventative action would be to push your New Era cap off your head from underneath the bill and try not to grab the outside of the cap when taking it off. Also, always make sure your hands are clean before putting your cap on, or taking it off.

For when your cap creator does get dirty, you want to start with the most mild soap or cleaning detergent you have available and dilute it with warm water, to help protect the color of your New Era cap. Wet a washcloth in the cleaning solution you've made, and lightly scrub the dirty area of your cap. Repeat as necessary.

For white caps, you can use warmer/hot water and a more concentrated soap solution to get out deep fingerprint and dirt stains.

3) Sweat Stains: Sweat stains are another common problem with New Era 59FIFTY caps, especially, if you are active when you wear them. Unfortunately, for sweat stains, they are mostly around the whole cap, so spot cleaning isn't going to work as well. It's best to handwash sweaty caps in warm soapy water and to lightly scrub the sweat stains with a soft cloth. If you submerge the whole cap in water, the shape might be slightly affected. If you're gentle with the cap and use minimal water, the shape shouldn't be affected very much.

An alternative to handwashing your New Era cap to get the sweat stains out would be to put it on the top shelf of the dishwasher. If this is a cap worn for athletic purposes, this method is perfect. The shape will be slightly rounder at the top but it won't matter because it's going to get dirty again the next time it goes on the field anyway.

*** Before you soak your hat in warm soapy water, you will want to look at the material of your New Era 5950 cap. Most New Era 59FIFTY caps are made out of 100% wool or a wool/cotton blend. Wool and cotton shrink after you get them wet and they dry out. If your cap is made with wool and/or cotton and is already a tight fit, you might not want to try this method.