POLL: HOW Do You WASH Your DRESS SHIRTS?

[Marc Chevalier]

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Please help! We're making and selling a line of 1930s-style, 100% cotton dress shirts, and we need to know your preferred method of cleaning your own cotton dress shirts. How do you tend to do it?

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

I just machine wash them at 30 ° C (sorry, don't know the fahrenheit thingy) and line dry them. No tumble dry.

 

[nihil]

Machine wash at 40° C, line dry. Perhaps I should go down to 30° C...but it's so convenient to wash my hand towels at the same time, and they demand 40° C ^_^

 

[SteveAS]

Blasphemous reply: I take non-vintage dress shirts to the cleaner.

 

[Chasseur]

Any nice dress shirt I spend money on (ie $50 or more) I hand wash and line dry.

 

[Rudie]

I let the shirts soak in cold water with a mild detergent for at least twelve hours. Then I machine wash them cold and line dry them. Since doing this my shirts get much cleaner than before (no oxgall soap and scrubbing at the cuffs or collar needed anymore) and they last much, much longer. Cold water is so much better for the longevity of a shirt!

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Nice tip, Rudie. I found out some fabrics are more likely to stay dirty at the collar even after washing. This might work. What is a "mild detergent"? Will the liquid stuff for wool do the job?

 

[jamespowers]

Blasphemous reply: I take non-vintage dress shirts to the cleaner.

Not exactly. I do the same thing. Heavy starch.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I only own vintage shirts. Cotton ones go in the washing machine (tumble type only, NEVER the dreadful American central agitator type) in a "delicates" net. Wool ones hand washed. All are line dried.

bk

 

[Travis Lee Johnston]

It depends, but I take them out to have laundered. As well as do them myself. Been doing them myself more these days to save $$$.

Anyway, when I do them I wash them in warm water 'gentle cycle' or 'handwashable' cycle and hang them to dry on a hanger. The shoulder nipples iron out easily. Cool iron them all regardless of color. I starch the collars and cuffs occasionally.

I own mostly white and bright colored shirts btw.

 

[Undertow]

Machine wash warm, line dry.

(I like Baron's idea of a delicate's bag. I'll need to try that some time!)

 

[Rudie]

Flo, Perwoll or something similar works well. I prefer the liquid detergents for shirts. If some of the washing powder remains in the fabric it turns brown when ironed. Doesn't seem to happen with the liquid stuff.

 

[dhermann1]

I own mostly middling quality cotton dress shirts, for work. I take them to the local laundry lady. Lately they come back with the laundry tag staples right into the fabric of the shirt, not stapled to itself like it used to be. This thread is making me remember that I am a thoroughly competent shirt ironer. And maybe I could save a few pennies doing them myself.

 

[jamespowers]

I own mostly middling quality cotton dress shirts, for work. I take them to the local laundry lady. Lately they come back with the laundry tag staples right into the fabric of the shirt, not stapled to itself like it used to be. This thread is making me remember that I am a thoroughly competent shirt ironer. And maybe I could save a few pennies doing them myself.

Just tell her to knock that off.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Answered "I wash mine in a washing machine, or by hand with a cleaning agent and water," but it really depends on cloth, construction, and my perceived value of the item.

Cheap white cotton dress shirts I buy for work, which are basically as disposable as an undershirt, I wash in the machine. In my experience, no amount of gentle handling will extend their life. Nicer dress shirts, I usually have professionally laundered, though. Especially if they have "exotic" details like non-fused cotton collars/cuffs.

 

[Rudie]

If you don't use the services of a very expensive highly specialized cleaner like ravefabricare I believe professional laundering tends to shorten the life of your shirts rather than extend it.

 

[1961MJS]

Blasphemous reply: I take non-vintage dress shirts to the cleaner.

Hi Me too, I don't wear vintage shirts though.

Later

 

[SteveAS]

If you don't use the services of a very expensive highly specialized cleaner like ravefabricare I believe professional laundering tends to shorten the life of your shirts rather than extend it.

Even though I use a commercial laundry, I agree. But I hate ironing too much to do it regularly myself.

 

[Travis Lee Johnston]

words of advice:

Dump your aluminum based antiperspirants to save your dress and undershirts. Besides some of the posseble health concerns, when they mix with your sweat you get those yellow blotches under the sleeves. Those can be very difficult or imposseble to remove once your shirt has been laundered.

 

[Rudie]

Sound advice TLR! As soon as I learned this I dropped the mineral deodorants. No more nasty yellow blotches that no amount of cleaning in the world can remove.