A hard plastic cap, to wash your soft one inside
A baseball cap that goes through a wash loose comes out folded. The crown flattens against the drum wall, the bill takes a set in whatever position it landed, and you spend the next hour propping it over a bowl trying to talk it back into shape.
This is a rigid plastic frame in the shape of a cap. Your cap goes inside it, the frame clips shut, and the frame keeps the crown domed and the bill curved while the machine does the rest. The sides are open ribs rather than solid walls, so water and detergent get straight through to the fabric.
Then you leave the cap in the frame to dry, and it dries in the shape you want it to be.
Read the set size carefully - it counts pieces, not cages
Every set is made of pairs: one rigid cage and one zip-close mesh wash bag. The bag is the outer layer - the caged cap goes inside it so nothing snags on the drum.
So the number in the option is the total number of pieces, and it is twice the number of caps you can wash at once:
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1 cap - 1 cage + 1 mesh bag
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2 caps - 2 cages + 2 mesh bags
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3 caps - 3 cages + 3 mesh bags
Pick the one that matches how many caps you actually want to put through in a single load. If you only ever wash one cap at a time, the smallest set is the whole product.
What one set looks like
The cage is the part that does the work. The mesh bag is what keeps the cage and the cap from knocking around against the drum, and it is also the easiest way to hang the whole thing up to dry afterwards.
How to use it
1. Open the frame, seat the cap on the crown so the bill sits in the bill tray, and clip it shut.
2. Put the caged cap into the mesh bag and close the zip.
3. Run it on a cold, gentle cycle with the rest of a light load.
4. Take it out, leave the cap in the frame, and let it air dry.
Step four is the one people skip. The frame is doing as much work while the cap dries as it did while it was wet - a cap pulled out damp and left on a shelf will simply dry into whatever shape the shelf gave it.
Which machines, and where we would stop
The supplier lists it for a washing machine and for a dishwasher, and every photograph they publish of it in a washing machine is a front-loader. That is what we will say it is for.
Top-loaders with a centre agitator: we have no documentation either way, so we are not claiming it. A rigid frame and a spinning agitator post are not an obvious pairing, and if that is your machine, that is a risk you would be taking rather than one we are telling you is fine.
In the dishwasher: the frame is PET and PE plastic, and both soften with heat. Put it on the top rack and skip the heated drying cycle. That is our advice rather than a manufacturer instruction, but it costs nothing and a warped frame is not much use to anyone.
One size, and what that means
There is one size of frame, and the supplier calls it standard. It is built around an adult baseball cap - the frame measures 13.39 x 9.06 x 5.12 in (34 x 23 x 13 cm) and the mesh bag 13.78 x 9.06 in (35 x 23 cm).
We are not going to tell you it fits children's caps. A smaller cap will sit loosely on an adult-sized frame, and a loose cap is not being held in shape. If you are buying for a child's cap, measure it against those figures first.
Specifications
What it isA rigid two-part plastic frame shaped like a baseball cap, plus a zip-close mesh wash bag
Frame size13.39 x 9.06 x 5.12 in (34 x 23 x 13 cm)
Mesh bag size13.78 x 9.06 in (35 x 23 cm)
SizesOne standard size, built around an adult cap
ColoursBlack or white - pick above
MaterialPET and PE plastic (supplier stated); mesh bag is a synthetic honeycomb mesh with a zip
ClosureThe crown and bill tray clip together with moulded latch tabs
MachinesWashing machine (front-loaders in all supplier photography) and dishwasher
Dishwasher noteTop rack, no heated dry - our advice, given the plastics
ReusableYes - nothing wears out, and it stores flat-ish in a drawer or a case
What you get
Cages and mesh bags in matching pairs, in the colour and set size you choose above. Nothing else is in the box - no detergent, no brush and no cap.