How to Decorate Trucker Caps at Home

The tale of the trucker hat reaches back to the ’70s when it was used as an advertising tool worn by truckers and farmers, rather than to make a fashion statement like it does now. Gen Z especially loves Y2K-inspired trucker caps, originally made popular by pop culture darlings like Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton. With the 2000s fashion-comeback going strong, we don’t expect trucker hats to head back to the farm any time soon.

Give your buyers what they want with the huge popular trucker hat style. Everyone can sport this retro cap with ease – and you can customize or personalize these hats for yourself or your customers. 

Just in case you’re not totally sure about the difference between baseball caps and trucker hats, here it is: A baseball cap has five or six panels of cotton stitched together. Trucker hats have a front panel made from cotton, plastic or nylon, and a back panel made of mesh. Some trucker caps have foam sewn inside the cap to give the front panel more structure and lift.

People love trucker hats for a couple reasons. First, they’re super-breathable thanks to their mesh back panel, more so than baseball caps. Second, their large front panel offers a significant amount of room for a logo, mascot, initials or additional messages, making them a favorite promo style for companies and organizations. Trucker styles are generally similar to each other, with a large front panel, structured crown and curved visor.

Here are four reasons why you want to make a few caps for yourself and add them to your t-shirt shop.

As we’ve said, trucker caps offer lots of real estate for a logo, message, mascot, monogram, band graphics and more. Start with the basics by adding your business name and logo to the front of a trendy trucker cap and wear it out and about (and post photos of yourself sporting it on social media). When business owners see how much information you can fit on the front of a trucker cap, they’ll be reaching out in no time!

Research shows that just one logoed cap can get an average of 3,400 pairs of eyes on the brand messaging during the hat’s lifetime. That means if your client spends $7 on a customized trucker cap, they’re paying just 2/10s of a cent per person who sees their logo. No other advertising medium comes close to being that budget-friendly!

We can all use another hat – and trucker caps usually have an adjustable snap-back closure that work for most people’s hat size. If a business owner or event host wants to give out an easy one-size-fits-all item that will get worn, you’re looking at them with trucker caps. Plus, trucker caps are lightweight and portable, so it’s easy to give them out and for people to take them home.

That large front panel is perfect for a logo, memento of a special event, a statement and so much more. These caps are easy for you to customize quickly and sell to your clients.

Ready to try decorating your brand-new trucker cap styles from Clothing Shop Online (CSO)? The great news is that you’ve got a lot of options! We recommend checking out online tutorials to learn more about any new techniques.

Heat transfer vinyl, or HTV, is a special type of vinyl material you can use to customize or personalize your trucker cap or other garments, like t-shirts and hoodies. HTV vinyl has two different sides: The first side is the vinyl itself and the second is a heat-activated adhesive backing. The adhesive allows you to permanently transfer the vinyl to an item using a heat source like a heat press or an iron. The key to permanently adhering the vinyl to a garment is using the right time, temperature and pressure. 

One of the things we love about heat transfer vinyl is that there are so many types of colors, patterns and finishes to choose from, even glitter or glow-in-the-dark HTV. You can even layer HTV to create multicolor custom and personalized designs. The result? Head-turning, high-quality custom trucker caps that last.

If you’re starting out with HTV at home, you’ll need a few items to try out this technique: a vector image or template for your HTV design, your vinyl type, a vinyl cutter and weeding tool, heat-resistant tape to hold down the design, barrier Teflon paper, a towel (to place inside the hat) and a heat source like a Cricut EasyPress Mini to apply the HTV design to your hat. Use HTV to add a logo, monogram, a mascot or other eye-catching image to your hat front.

The hat’s (and fabric) the limit with this option! Whether you choose a floral fabric, or one that’s abstract, geometric, tie dye and beyond, you can customize your hat to reflect your mood or brand. All you need is your trucker cap, fabric, needle and thread, pins to hold the fabric in place on the hat, and a template to cut your fabric to fit the cap. This method is a great way to quickly personalize or customize a hat order for a special event, trip, team and more. 

Even if you don’t have an embroidery machine at home that stitches hats, you can easily hand embroider a hat with a few basic supplies: your hat, backing, scissors, embroidery needles, hoop, threads and design pattern. This method takes longer than others, so it might be better for one-off designs for you or your clients. Like the other methods, the sky’s the limit with embroidery. You can embroider a logo, initials, a design or a message on the large front of a trucker cap.

That’s our code word for rhinestones, crystals, beads and other shiny elements you can affix to your hat. There are two ways to do this: The first is to purchase a stock or custom bling heat transfer and place it on the hat with heat. A more DIY method is to attach individual rhinestones and beads to your hat front with an application tool and glue. (Let your hat dry overnight if you choose the hand-applied technique.) Whichever method you choose, ladies and girls will love to wear these eye-catching, on-trend hats with a touch of shiny glam. Like the other imprinting methods we’ve covered, you can use this one for a logo, letters or a design to get more eyes on your message.

We love some iron-on patches, which you can also adhere to your trucker cap in a few easy steps. Cotton hat fronts work great for applying a patch with heat, whereas nylon or plastic might get damaged. In that case, attach the patch by sewing or glue. Just like other heat transfers, you can choose a custom or stock design to apply. Consider the placement as well. While center-front is the optimal spot to get your message seen and remembered, you can do off-center, or left or right to achieve a more retail look. Add more than one patch if you’d like, for a more unique presentation.

Screen printing on baseball caps in general can be tough, but a trucker hat gives you more flexibility. It’s best to use a screen-printing machine to print a hat. Watch this video on printing hats by Ryan Moore, a screen-printing pro, to learn how to do it, if you have access to this equipment. Otherwise, we recommend sticking to one of the other five methods we’ve covered that you can easily do at home.

With our affordable collection of stylish trucker caps in different colors, fabrics and fits, you can add a lot of personality to your wardrobe or the pieces you’re decorating to sell. Shop CSO’s trucker cap styles for men, women and youth. They’re great for decorating with graphic or text-based designs and wearing everywhere. After all, your new cap is your blank canvas for your creativity and self-expression!