......what is best a front loading or top loading washing machine?

Asking for a friend

Kitchen sink if only one baseball cap. I am not posh enough to have a utility room with a sink in it.

Dishwasher - top rack.

Put it in one of these and you can wash it in anything.

https://www.amazon.com/Pack-SimpleHo...sinessins05-20

But top loaders disturb the balance of the universe.

Buy a new cap.

Isn't it like getting a new car when the ashtray was full?

You don't wash a baseball cap. It should be grubby, faded, and sweat stained.

Does that stop it losing its shape?

It stops it from getting caught up in other laundry and the machine. Wash on a gentle cycle, low spin, take out when wet and dry it on your friend's head so it retains the correct shape.

Unless there is cardboard in the brim, in which case you're just out of luck. Hand wash and hope for the best.

There are bra wash bags, that mold the item, but I suspect this won't work for a hat unless you find a bra wash bag designed for a very substantial lady.

This is an excellent thread, btw. Far more significant that all the TIO nonsense.

Is there a difference between a baseball cap, NFL, NBA, NASCAR, soccer cap?

Yes, baseball caps should actually remain with all the accumulated dirt, the dirtier the better, and preferably you've thrown it to the ground and stamped on it a few times while watching a game. NBA caps should remain so clean that they still have the factory stickers and tags on them, NFL caps may be worn in the normal way to keep the sun off, and discarded when dirty or when your team moves to another city. Soccer caps are awarded when your play gets good enough for the national team, in which case somebody else does your laundry for you.

Anything else I can help with?

You missed the bit on NASCAR caps. Is that because they are only usually worn by Good Old Boys/Gals who were probably born in the South or could be considered normally worn by trailer park occupants?

I just don't know anything about cars. I would imagine that oil stains on the brim are de rigueur though.

Having said that, my Chicago-born and bred son was quite fond of Nascar, when smaller.

This is an English soccer cap if it helps. Very difficult to replace.

Then hand wash in cold water with something like Woolite. Dry flat.