There are two basic concerns people have about washing baseball caps:

1. The shape of the cap and brim will be wrecked.
2. The cap itself will shrink or be damaged by washing.

  Let's address concern number one. Most hats today use plastic inside to form the brim and not cardboard. The plastic can withstand a wash with no deformation.

  Concern number two is a little more complicated. Some baseball caps are made of wool. Wool can shrink in water and/or heat situations. Most people don't wear wool baseball caps. Most caps today are cotton or polyester, both of which can stand up to a washing.

  There are many inventions out there to help people wash their baseball caps. There are little plastic hat cages. There are chemical cleaners that look like underarm deodorant. There are suggestions to wash your cap in the dish washer. If you gotta clean your cap, these sure beat tossing this favored extension of your head into the churning waters of your wife's washing machine. I don't know how anything survives that, and I sure wouldn't throw my baseball cap that means so much to me into it.

  Here are my guidelines for baseball cap washing:

1. If the baseball cap has been made in the last ten years, and it's made of polyester or cotton, you can try simply tossing it in to the clothes washer with the rest of your clothes. After the wash, take it out and let it air dry. Viola! A clean baseball cap. A bit beat-up and now shapeless with a bill that has a wierd slant to it, but nevertheless, clean.
2. If you have concerns over the fragility of the baseball cap, get some Woolite, and wash the baseball cap in the kitchen sink with lukewarm water. Don't soak the cap in the water; just use enough Woolite & water to get the grime off. Let it air dry and you are good to go. This kinda crosses the line in Grandma's work from a couple of generations ago, but they say it still works. (Do they even still sell Woolite?)

  If these too methods still seem to harsh to you, I suggest that you may be the kind of person that needs the last option, which is for guys only. Hear that, ladies?

  No discussion of baseball cap washing would be complete without mentioning the fourth option, not washing the baseball cap. The idea of washing a baseball hat is not usually brought up by a man. It is usually his wife/girlfriend that brings up the idea. Women are all hung up on the cleaning thing. Personally, I think they get a little too worked up over the cleaning thing. They also get all worked up over the whole linens thing and want them clean all the time too, but that's another topic. You can resist the significant other on baseball hat washing if you want. You just need to be ready for them to roll their eyes at you for a while.

  There's nothing wrong with a dirty baseball hat if you are OK with it. If you want a clean baseball cap, then wash it. If you don't want clean baseball caps, then don't wash them. Don't let others make this decision for you.

  Now if you are a woman, and are reading this, you may think, "Ha! I'll wash it while he's not wearing it and he'll never know!" but you are wrong. We may not notice you got a haircut or that the room got painted or that the kids are running with scissors, but we will notice if our baseball caps get washed. If you do it anyway, you may find some piece of your fancy silk clothes that accidentally got washed in the whites load with bleach and hot water. So keep your hands off your man's baseball caps.