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Can You Put a Hat in the Dryer? (Helpful Tips!)

You will barely find any house which doesn’t have a dryer. People do all sorts of activities to keep the dryer safe. But you may have heard people putting a hat in the dryer when they forget that safety. 

You might be tempted to mimic others and put a hat in your dryer. However, is it actually suitable for the dryer, or is it the other way? Think before you leap always.

Can you put a hat in the dryer?

You can’t put a hat in the dryer. It is not safe for the hat. That’s because putting the hat on the dryer can deform and damage the cap. Instead, there are other safe ways (such as natural air) of drying a hat. Additionally, putting a hat in the dryer is detrimental to both the hat and dryer.

Is it safe to put a hat in the dryer?

It is not safe to put a hat in the dryer because it can adversely affect the cap you are placing. There are various types of hats. Depending on each type, the effect of the dryer on the hat will be different.

Below are the names of various hats and the dryer’s effect on them:

Fitted hat:

The fitted hat is a hat that is fixed in size. Since these hats have no scope for resizing usually, they come in exact shapes that fit your head. While you put it in the dryer, it will reshape—making it unusable for you.

Bucket hat:

Bucket hats are made of heavy-duty cotton fabric or heavy wool such as tweed. These heavy wools or fabric of the cap can become stringy if you put them in the dryer.

Trucker hat:

The trucker hats are the most unsafe ones. That’s because they have an extended brim attached to them, which is usually rigid. This stiff part can lose its stability after putting in the dryer.

Cotton hat:

The cotton hats are almost okay to put in the dryer. However, since they are soft, there is a chance that these hats might lose their strengths. As a result, it can also become unfit after putting in the dryer.

Baseball hat:

The baseball hats are more like bucket hats. They consist of stiff fibres too. The worst case is the threads can get stuck in the wall of the dryer. So, the dryer may not work.

If you put a hat in the dryer will it shrink?

If you place a hat in the dryer, it will shrink. Most of the time, it loses the strings and makes the whole thing worse. The shrinking effect can make the hat almost obsolete.

The temperature of the dryer has a significant effect on the hat. As you increase the temperature of the dryer, the size of the hat shrinks more. The low temperature of the dryer is also unfavourable for the hats, though to a lower extent.

You may not want to shrink fabrics or the size of the hat. Shrinking a hat can make you feel very uncomfortable. Also, your hat can become lusterless because of the dryer effect.

Dryers are not designed for hats. So, if you put them in these machines, the outcome will only be negative.

What happens if you put a hat in the dryer?

If I put a hat in the dryer, the consequences will be abysmal. While dryers are used for drying, they are not made for drying hats. You will get a better sense if you know the effect of putting a hat in the dryer.

The effects of putting a hat in the dryer are the following:

Turning lusterless:

This is the effect mostly observable in woollen or fabric hats, which are used in nearly every hat. The hats can lose their look and newness.

When you put the hat out of the dryer, it looks very stringy that you bought it ten years ago. Thus, the dryer can spoil your hat’s appearance, indirectly yours.

Losing its colour:

Unless your hat is colourless, a dryer can turn your hat pale. Especially when the high heat emits out of the dryer, it can melt the colours of the hat. And make them look like they are old.

Thus, the dryer can burn the colour of the hats. It is primarily visible in colourful hats because their colour changes drastically.

Changing in shape:

The dryer’s most visible change in hats is the shape of them. They become highly loose or tight depending on what string the hats are made of. For example, the nylon hats will become stretchy, whereas the cotton hats reduce in size.

Both shrinking and enlarging can make the hat uncomfortable for you. So, a dryer deforms the hats in the worst manner. Moreover, these changes are permanent.

How do you dry a hat fast? – Dry hat without dryer

You can dry a hat fast by using several methods. Now that you have come to the right point, it is essential to know what else you can use to dry. After all, you don’t want to wear a wet hat.

Here are some steps you can take to dry your hat fast:

Keep the hat in the natural air:

The first and only cost-free way of drying a hat is natural air. If you can get this in plenty in nature, why not use them to dry the hat? It is also the best possible way, which will result in no harm to the hat.

You should keep it until the hat comes to the stage of not soaking or dripping water.

Position a cloth to cover the hat:

Once the hat comes to the stage of being a little dry, you can use a hairdryer on them. However, take a moment! You should not expose the hat directly to the dryer. So, you should place a thin piece of cloth on the hat before applying the dryer.

Besides, the cloth has to be of white or no colour. Otherwise, its colour will leave stains on the hat.

Use a hairdryer from far:

Now, your hat is ready to get under the hairdryer. In this step, be careful about not bringing the hat too close to the hairdryer. Doing so can have similar effects as dryers on the hat. Turn the dryers at the highest speed to fasten the process of drying.

Though you may be eager to put the hat in the dryer for quickening this task, dryers can only make the caps worse in shape and colour.

How long does it take to put a hat in the dryer to remove ice?

It takes almost fifty minutes to put a hat in the dryer to remove ice. As you put the hat in the dryers, the hat induces the dryers to emit heated vapour, leading to removing the ice. This whole procedure takes an ample amount of time.

Though the hats quicken the ice melting process, the dryer takes time to convert the state of water and use the ice. Those three states are solid, liquid, and vapour. Since water has to go through all three procedures, it is essential to give the dryer enough time.

As soon as the dryer comes to its full swing, the ice is removed.

Can you dry a hat with a hairdryer?

You can dry a hat with a hairdryer. Even a hairdryer is less harmful to hats than a dryer. Hairdryers are easy to handle, so you can use them to fasten the drying process.

Drying a hat with a hairdryer is always a good idea. The hairdryer has less possibility of ruining the hat’s size and colour. Additionally, it is easily adjustable. So, if you feel that the hairdryer is too hot for the hat, you can decrease the heat.

Moreover, if you can place thin white clothing on the surface of the hat, the hairdryer will cause zero harm to the hat.

Can I put my hat in the washer?

You can put your hat in a washer for washing. However, you should keep the pile of cloth light so that it doesn’t reshape the hat. Also, make sure to use mild detergents and less warm water on the hat.

While putting a hat in the washer is fraught with danger, it will not deform your hat if you can maintain the above conditions.

In addition, faster cycles of washing machines can also ruin the hat, leaving the hat fibrous. So, reducing the cycles is also crucial while using a washer for hats.

How do you wash a hat without ruining it?

You can wash a hat without ruining it by keeping a couple of things in mind. Despite having to follow a couple of procedures, you can save your hat from the loss of running.

Firstly, don’t overload the washer with too many clothes. If you have so many clothes, put them sequentially, not all at once.

Secondly, make necessary adjustments to the washer. Lower the temperature of the washer because high temperatures impact the fabrics badly.

Thirdly, if you can reduce the number of cycles per minute of the washer, your hat will be entirely out of danger.

Final thoughts:

A dryer is not the proper device to dry a hat, regardless of what kind of hat is used. Hats can deteriorate in size, shape and colour if placed inside the dryer. Instead of dryers, hats can be air-dried or hairdryer dried. By not putting the hat in the dryer, save both the dryer and the hat.