This topic wasn’t on my content calendar, I actually hadn’t thought much of it until last week. I was wearing a beanie doing some errands in the city (perhaps a good few hours), by the middle of the day I started to get an itch on my forehead (the same feeling when you wear an itchy sweater!). Once I was inside and got a chance to take off my beanie…it left me with a striped line of beanie on my head (I was lucky that I didn’t have any meetings afterward!) while the liner inside of my beanie had a tremendous makeup smudge. It’s incredibly annoying if you ask me! Ok. I don’t think I’m the only a woman in America who has this issue.
For a lot of people, beanies are the ultimate winter staple. You don’t only wear it to keep you warm, but it becomes a pop cult that will actually make you look trending and stylish. But the beanies are like the other hats or clothes that you wear, it needs a little maintenance and cleaning from time to time.
Today, I’m going to share all my handy tips related to beanies from:
- Stop a fuzzy beanie from shedding
- Fix an itchy beanie
- Prevent makeup from transferring to a (white) beanie
- How to wash a beanie without ruining it
- Remove the sweat odor
Ready to bookmark these tips the next time you’re in a beanie-induced panic? Keep scrolling to learn more.
Stop A Fuzzy Beanie From Shedding
- Place it in a sealed Ziploc bag.
- Store it in the freezer overnight.
Voila, no more fur!
Fix An Itchy Beanie
- Check the beanie label to understand the material and see if it’s suitable for handwashing. (If the label says “dry clean only,” take the hat to the dry cleaners and let them take care of your hat).
- Fill up a bucket or sink with cold water (hot water will shrink your favorite beanie)
- Add 1-2 cap full of hair conditioner and gently massage into the fibers. Do not try to stretch the beanie because that will lead to a permanent loss of shape. Let the conditioner sit on the fibers for about 15-30 minutes.
- Rinse and let it fully air dry.
- Optional: place your beanie in a sealed Ziploc bag and store it in the freezer overnight. In the morning, no more annoying itchy hat!
FYI: The conditioner softens the fibers, while freezing keeps the shorter fibers from sticking out, sort of like no more fur shedding.
Prevent Makeup From Transferring To A (White) Beanie
Women, we’ve all had to deal with infuriatingly makeup stains at some point in our lives. And we can all pretty much agree that it is absolutely worse every time you put your favorite beanie on. As someone who loves wearing a white beanie – this beanie hack is a life saver!
- When you do makeup, make sure you wear a primer and a setting spray. It’s not 100% foolproof but it’s kinda helps to minimize it.
- Let’s make your beanie stain-free by placing an adhesive padding or two (depending on the width of the surface that will touch with your hat) on the inside of your beanie.
This will also prevent an unwanted line from forming on your forehead as well, killing two birds with one stone! You can apply this hat tip to any type of hats for example, fedora, wide-brim, baseball cap and etc.
Watch the video here:
How to Wash A Beanie Without Ruining It
Beanies are like a sweater on your head. They should be washed as they are exposed to your sweat, makeup and other products you use on your hair. They can also cause breakouts, bacteria or infections on your forehead.
- Again, check the beanie label and follow instructions. If your beanies are made of synthetic fibers, wool, cotton blends, and pure cotton – you are lucky! You can throw your beanies in a machine (don’t throw any beanies with pom poms, embellishment and pins in machine). Extra tip: put your favorite beanies in a laundry bag for extra protection. Make sure to separate dark, light colored and white beanies and wash in cold water only.
- I personally prefer hand washing over machine on any of my beanies. Start with filling a large bowl or a sink with cold water.
- Add a tablespoon of mind laundry detergent in the water (you can add more detergent depending on the size of your bowl or sink). Stir the water until the detergent is mixed well.
- Submerge the hat in the soapy water and keep swirling and giving a gentle massage for about 5 minutes. Do not stretch or squeeze the hat too hard because that will lead to loss of shape. If your beanie still has a stubborn stain in some certain areas, massage it with the detergent thoroughly. You can also soak your beanie longer to remove the rest of the stubborn stains.
- Once your hat is cleaned, rinse with clean cold water a couple of times or until there is no more excess soapy water.
- Take the hat out of the water and squeeze gently to lose most of the water. Do not wring out the hat as it will destroy its elasticity and shape.
- Dab away the extra moisture with a clean white towel.
- Let your beanie fully air dry. Do not use any dryers.
For any beanies that comes with pom poms, crystals, pins that can’t be removed, you may want to consider spotted cleaning in the area that you need to clean like specific sweat, oil, makeup stains. I recently discovered a product called “micellar water.” It is soap free cleanser and makeup remover. To use, just apply the micellar water on a cotton ball and rub across the stains and let it dry. That’s it. Your hat will look like a brand new one again. For the best result, use it immediately on a fresh makeup smudge.
In summer, I also like to leave my beanies outside and let each side get at least a 30-minute cleaning with a UV light.
Remove Sweat Odor
This case is rare, but if it happens, just place a cloth filled baking powder inside the beanie overnight or a dried tea bag work as well.
Is there anything I’ve missed that you would like me to cover in the next blog post? Which hack in this post is your favorite that you can’t wait to try? Tell me in the comment below.
