Laundering Shirts

[UK2004]

My partner has taken over washing my shirts for a while, don't have anywhere local after moving from London that I trust to wash my shirts. She hasn't got the process running great yet. Do people just select cold or delicate wash, what detergents are people using? I have a variety of shirts with delicate shirtings and for years things have been washed and ironed well without sudden crazy shrinkage or button breaking like some of the services in London caused.

 

[JohnMRobie]

Machine wash cold. Hang dry until damp. (Or if you’re in a time crunch like I usually am, tumble dry low until damp). Press.

I use products from The Laundress. I pretreat by getting the collar and cuffs (and any unique stains if they pop up) damp and then using the stain bar and a soft toothbrush. Whites detergent for white shirts, classic detergent for my blues. https://www.thelaundress.com/collections/detergents-fabric-care

 

[TimothyF]

Delicate (read: expensive) shirtings that can't even be washed hot. I find there's more to life than pampering shirts. Machine wash, normal detergent, (very) low spin, hang dry. This is usually enough for sturdy fabrics that ironing is unnecessary.

 

[comrade]

I use the local shirt laundry. I have many high end shirts: T &A, H&K, Finamore,
Drakes, etc. Sometimes the collar is not perfect. Otherwise shirts are done well,
some of which are over 15 years old and still look good. I guess I am lucky, or
wear very forgiving shirts.

 

[fabricateurialist]

I use products from The Laundress. I pretreat by getting the collar and cuffs (and any unique stains if they pop up) damp and then using the stain bar and a soft toothbrush.

I second their products, they really do work well, and they are readily available in London, paired with a good detergent, you get 99% of staining out even if you can only wash it cold

as for shirts, I only give them to the dry cleaner for peculiar stains (jus on a tux shirt), otherwise, everything (except for silk blends) gets thrown into the washer according to the care label, from Zegna, Cucinelli, Finamore, Borrelli, Cordone, (Stenströms in the past) and a myriad of custom ones have all held up very well so far, some up to ten years

 

[ladislav.jancik]

I soak them in wash-basin full of cold/lukewarm water with any detergent for sensitive/baby skin added. Let them soaked for one or more hours and then rinse them in cold water. Hang dry. I press them when they are still damp or spray them with water to make them damp again before pressing.

 

[pablum]

Assuming they are cotton or linen, machine wash quick cycle, high spin, with warm water and a good quality detergent (pre-treat stains/problem areas). If they are white shirts, switch to hot water and add some sodium percarbonate.

I see many people suggest cold water, however in my experience cold water has never formed they same quantity and quality of suds (including cold-water detergents). In most machines when you select a water temperature, it only applies to the washing phase, the rinse phase is always done with cold water. Shrinkage has never been an issue.

Hang dry and iron when damp

 

[maxalex]

In the summer (sweat season) I soak shirts in a tub of water with a glug of ammonia, which helps release sweat odors and prevent underarm/collar stains. I scrub the underarms with a bar of Marseille soap and a soft brush, then leave it all overnight in that soapy-ammonia bath.

So far that’s all classic Grandma stuff. Now we have oxy powders and liquids to help, which I also use—powder in the wash and liquid to pre-treat really stubborn stains like on the fold of French cuffs. (Omino Bianco is the brand here in Italy.)

I wash white shirts HOT (60C) and colored shirts at 30C. Cold water doesn’t get men’s shirts clean, I don’t care what the detergent claims. It’s strictly for woolen knitwear that isn’t worn against the skin.

Almost no one has a dryer here, everything is line dried under the Tuscan sun, so to speak.

I do my own ironing, which is also how you can tell if the shirts are clean: If you smell sweat when steam ironing the underarms, it’s back to the soaking tub and the Marseille soap. I use spray starch only on linen shirts, which helps them wrinkle less quickly.

 

[joshuagb]

This is pretty much the holy book on this topic:

How to Properly Iron a Shirt | Shirt Laundering Taught by The Best

Deterioration in Laundry Care Rips the Fabric of Affluent America! by Alexander S. Kabbaz, Master Bespoke Shirtmaker From the caustic chemical concoctions currently called "Professional Laundry Detergent" to the super-heated steam-spewing slave-labor operated pressing machines, the entire thrust...

customshirt1.com

 

[smittycl]

WE have a reliable cleaners nearby so I just send my shirts in for laundering and pressing. Sometimes the light blue dress shirts show collar stains, especially in the sticky summers. The night before I send them in I'll scrub the collar stains with Laundress soap bar and also maybe use baking soda if the stain is bad. Let dry overnight then off to cleaners.

 

[lullemans72]

FWIW, I live in Japan, and the water here is usually always cold. I usually wash my shirts after every wear, but I always turn them inside out and ALWAYS use a washing net. I have yet to have any shirts that are showing signs of falling apart, even if I've owned some shirts for nearly 5 years, and I think the washing net has a lot to do with it.

For the dirt and grime around the collar, I usually use special detergents readily available in supermarkets which I apply to the dirty areas and leave for about 5 minutes before tossing in the washing machine. If I have any shirts that are excessively dirty around those areas, I will use Oxiclean which does what it does really well. I will put the shirt in question in a basin of hot water with a cap full of Oxiclean, leave it there for 30 minutes to an hour, and then wash as usual. It has been able to remove almost all of the collar and pit stains on my shirts which I'm really happy about. Also, I only wear non-iron shirts. Even with those, it's still advised that you give them a light bit of ironing to make them look nice and crisp, but I don't do that and my shirts still look almost wrinkle free.

Lastly, I've brought my shirts to the dry cleaner's in the past, but I found that the collars on some of my shirts have shrunk afterwards, making it more difficult for me to close the collar button. So I tend to stick to washing all my shirts like the above nowadays.

 

[Drinkwaters]

1. Pre-treat collars and cuffs. Blue Dawn with colored shirts and whites with Clear Dawn. Dawn was used in Gulf oil spill on water fowl to remove oils.
2. Separate colors from whites
3. Turn textured fabrics inside out.
4. Select gentle cycle / delicate
5. Select cold / detergents today break down in cold water, where powders of the past only dissolved in hot water. Bubbles surely not relevant!
6. Detergent with no additives and fragrance unless you want to smell like you just walked out of the Yankee Candle store.
7. Remove from machine and hang on plastic hangers
8. Straighten our as much you can especially front placard, collar and cuffs. Easier ironing.
9. Iron VERY damp, almost dry if necessary. I alway. iron dry and use Linit concentrated starch (dilute as preferred ) when firmness is needed
10. Repeat

 

[ghdvfddzgzdzg]

@Drinkwaters thank you for mentioning the detergent thing. people out here leaving huge detergent smell trails.

 

[TN001]

Similar to others here, I wash on cold, delicate cycle, no special detergent. I do unbutton the collars on buttondown shirts because I read that there’s less tension on the collar during the wash process (and it does produce a better post wash collar), but I can’t help wondering if these benefits are offset by the constant buttoning and unbuttoning.

 

[Enfusia]

I too use the Laundress, their wash & stain bar is amazing. I've found that it gets out most collar and armpit sweat stains with ease.

I then use a hot water (edit= for white shirts, cold for colored) gentle wash with a high spin finish and then hang dry on wide shouldered wooden cedar hangers that have no finish (varnish etc.). I've found my shirts dry better on them.

I a m a HUGE fan of Sea Island cotton. The Barbados stuff is great, but there was an Egyptian grower that was insane. Trouble is, since the pandemic I can't find any. I was told he's no longer growing that strain and level of cotton and has gone bulk cotton. Read - heavy sigh....
That stuff was amazing!