Hemp Hats and Beanies: Canvas Caps, Knit Beanies and How to Fit Them
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Here is the piece of hemp care advice that surprises everyone: you should wash a hemp beanie warm and dry it on high heat.
Every other hemp garment wants cold water and low heat. A beanie is the exception, on purpose — heat tightens the knit back up, which is how you restore the fit after it has stretched out on your head. It is the one item in the range where shrinkage is the feature.
That is a good illustration of why this category is worth understanding. Fifteen items sounds simple, but a structured snapback, a packable camper cap and a slouchy knit beanie are three different products made three different ways.
Caps are woven. Beanies are knit.
That single split explains most of what follows.
Caps are cut from hemp canvas — a dense plain weave with no stretch. Canvas holds a brim flat, takes a snapback closure, and resists sun and abrasion. It does not conform to your head; the sizing hardware does that.
Beanies are knit from the same 55% hemp / 45% organic cotton jersey blend used throughout the clothing range. Knit stretches, conforms, and recovers — which is exactly what a hat with no closure needs to do.
Two cap fabrics, and the difference matters
Not all the caps are the same cloth, and the spec is worth reading before you buy.
| Fabric | What it is | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| 100% hemp canvas | Pure hemp, nothing else | Fully biodegradable, stiffest hand, breaks in over time |
| 45% hemp / 40% organic cotton / 15% recycled RPET | Hemp-cotton with recycled polyester | Softer immediately, more shape retention, not fully biodegradable |
RPET is polyester made from recycled plastic bottles. Its job in a cap is structural — it keeps panels from going soft and losing the crown shape after a season of being crushed in a bag.
Which you want depends on what you are optimizing for. If the reason you are buying hemp is that you want a hat that eventually returns to the earth, take the 100% canvas. If you want the cap to still look sharp in year three, the RPET blend holds its shape better. Neither is the wrong answer — but "hemp hat" on its own does not tell you which one you are getting, so check the composition.
The four cap constructions
Flat-brim snapback
Structured front panels, flat brim, adjustable snapback closure. This is the one that holds its shape whether you are wearing it or not, and it is what most people picture when they picture a cap. Adjustable, so one size genuinely does fit most.
Trucker
Same structured front, but with a recycled mesh back. The mesh is the whole point — it dumps heat, which makes this the summer and outdoor-work option. If you sweat in a hat, buy this one.
Dad cap
Unstructured front panels. No stiffener, so the crown sits low and follows your head instead of standing up off it. You can wear the brim flat or bend it, and because there is nothing rigid inside, it packs flat into a pocket or a bag.
Camper cap
Five-panel construction, low profile, also unstructured. The five-panel is a slightly different crown geometry — flatter across the top, less volume — and like the dad cap it packs down to nothing.
A detail worth knowing about both unstructured styles: they are floatable. Hemp canvas with no plastic stiffener and no metal buckle will sit on the surface of water rather than sinking. If you are on a boat, a river or a lake, that is not a gimmick — it is the difference between retrieving your hat and watching it go.
Beanie fits
The beanies come in two fits, and the names are not decorative.
- Skully — snug and low-profile. Hugs the skull, covers the ears slightly on an average head. This is the close-fitting one.
- Standard / long — bigger and slouchier, with a dual fit. Fold the cuff short for a classic look, or wear it unfolded for length and slouch.
There are also spike versions of both, with gunmetal spikes across the front and the same skull-hugging fit. Those come in a single colorway rather than the four or five the plain beanies offer.
Alongside the domestic range there are European-made hemp beanies in short and long cuts, at $29.99 and $34.99, in four and five colorways.
Why hemp for a hat specifically
Three properties matter more in headwear than anywhere else on your body:
- UV resistance. A hat takes more direct sunlight than any other garment you own. Hemp fiber degrades more slowly under UV than most natural fibers, which is why the canvas does not go chalky and brittle after two summers.
- Damp. A hat gets sweaty and then gets thrown in a bag. Hemp resists mildew and mold better than cotton, so it comes out of the bag smelling like a hat rather than like a gym.
- Breathability. Hemp is absorbent and its fiber structure is porous, so a canvas cap moves heat instead of trapping it against your scalp.
Care — and this is where it gets unusual
- Beanies: wash warm, dry on high heat. The heat tightens the knit and restores the fit. This is the opposite of the rule for every other hemp item, and it is deliberate.
- Canvas caps: do not machine wash. Spot clean with cool water and a soft brush, and let the cap air dry on something that holds its shape. A washing machine will beat the crown out of a structured cap and a dryer will warp the brim.
- Never put a cap in the dishwasher. The internet has been recommending this for twenty years. Detergent and 150-degree water will strip the dye and cook the brim.
- Let any hat dry fully before storing it. Hemp handles damp better than cotton — that is not the same as being immune to it.
What it costs
Hats and beanies run from about $30 to $99, with a median around $35. Caps cluster tightly at $34.99, plain beanies at $39.99, spike beanies at $49.99, and the European-made beanies come in slightly under at $29.99 to $34.99.
That is a narrow band by hemp standards, which makes this one of the easier categories to try the material in without committing much.
Where to start
If you want a hat you will actually wear year-round, buy a dad cap or a camper cap. Unstructured, packable, floatable, and forgiving about head shape in a way a structured snapback is not.
If you want the material at its purest, take a 100% hemp canvas trucker — pure hemp up front, mesh where the heat is, and it will outlast the cotton cap it replaces by years.
For cold weather, start with the skully if you want it snug and the long beanie if you want the option of both. And remember the heat rule when it stretches out.
Browse the full range in Hemp Hats & Beanies — 15 pieces across snapbacks, truckers, dad caps, camper caps and knit beanies. Everything ships direct from the brand that made it, and composition is listed on the product page.
Related: Hemp Accessories and Bags for belts, wallets and canvas bags, Men's Hemp Clothing and Women's Hemp Clothing for the apparel side.