Care tips - cleaning and stains


What is the best method for cleaning business and dress shirts?

A gentle hand wash in cold water will give you the best results. Hang to dry to prevent excessive shrinking and hand iron. It is possible to get good results from commercial laundries but this might decrease the longevity of your shirt. Dry cleaning is not recommended by most experts as the chemicals used can be too harsh for fine cotton shirts.

Don’t wear dress shirts more than twice before washing. One wear per wash is ideal.

For a more thorough home laundering routine 

If you want to take extra special care of your shirts, follow these instructions:

Wet collar, cuffs and underarm area and scrub stains or dirt rings gently with a fingernail brush, using a laundry soap such as Fels Naptha. Check the rest of the shirt for marks or stains and do the same.

Roll up the shirt (wet and soapy) and place it in a plastic bag overnight.

Machine wash the next day. Use a gentle cycle and hot or warm water for whites. Colours are best in cold water, use warm water if they are very stained. Gentle cycle also.

Do not use bleach or fabric softener on your dress shirts. If you don’t have many to wash, a few white towels in the machine will reduce the risk of sleeves getting stretched or tangled.

Line dry shirts on a white plastic hanger or tumble dry on a cool setting until slighting damp.

Ironing your shirts

Your shirt should be damp all over. Use the ‘cotton’ setting. And have a bottle of mist water spray on hand rather than using the ‘burst’ steam on the iron.

Start with cuffs – pull them tight and iron inside and out. Then pull sleeves firmly from the shoulder and iron each side. Do a heavy, even double iron on the inside of the back panel, shoulder yokes and front panels. Finish with the collar pulled tight and iron heavily on both sides. Do not iron buttons as they can break or scratch your iron.

Tips for emergency stain removal

Sometimes a food spill or minor cut can stain your crisp white shirt. Keep an emergency stain treatment such as a Tide pen or Shout wipe in your briefcase or desk drawer. Follow the instructions carefully and they shold be very effective at making that stain invisible.

For stubborn stains at home

A commercial product such as Oxyclean will give you good results. Other laundry afficionados recommend hydrogen peroxide, especially for blood stains. Just put a drop on the stain, rinse and repeat. This is safe for coloured as well as whites as it does not act as a bleach.

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