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This is how to make that baseball cap look brand new again.

If you're here, your baseball cap probably means something to you.

Maybe you wear to represent your favorite team, city, deli or defunct jazz radio station. Perhaps you've stashed it away since your youth, when you were the starting pitcher on your Little League team. Or, could it be a coveted trucker from a streetwear brand like Kapital, which set you back $170?

Either way, you've held onto it. It's just a little dirty. It happens ...

Resist the urge, however, to throw it in the wash with the rest of your clothing. An intense wash cycle could ruin the brim, permanently reshape the cap itself or break the hardware on the back of it (if it's adjustable).

There are better ways to wash an old baseball cap: soaking in soap and water; gently handwashing it with a brush; or running it through a cycle in the dishwasher (yes, you read that right).

In order to pick which cleaning method is right for you, assess how dirty your hat is.

Are there visible sweat stains? Did you spill something on it? Is it just dusty? Does it smell?

If there are deep, long-standing stains, you may need two of three methods. Soaking a cap first, for example, can loosen these sort of stains, making it easier for you to scrub them out with a soft bristle brush or a wadded cotton towel.

Regardless of which method you choose, remember this: When a standard baseball cap gets wet, it becomes malleable. Don't bend the bill the wrong way or stretch the cap's panels. It's easy to irreversibly damage a damp cap.

Is there a single stain on your bill? A spot on one of its six panels? Try soaking it. This is the gentlest way to clean your cap, and, as such, it's best reserved for those that are almost clean.

Dirty caps you could still get away with wearing are best treated by hand. Hand-washing will remove stuck-on sticky stuff, lift stubborn stains and calm discoloration at large. For dirtier caps, though, it's important to be consistent. If there are stains all over, clean all over. You don't want it to look like you stopped short.

Yes, you can put your hat in the dishwasher. Unlike your typical washing machine, which violently tosses clothes around in circles, a dishwasher can dislodge stubborn dirt and stains without much movement to the hat itself.

However, if you really love your hat, you'll proceed with the utmost caution. Even top-of-the-line dishwashers can inflict irreversible damage to a structured baseball cap. So only use this method for the grimiest of caps.