cleaning formal shirt

[Lensmaster]

I have a very nice 100% cotton formal shirt with turndown collar and pleats. It is in desperate need of cleaning, especially the collar. It has a tag saying it can be machine washed. I want some opinions if it is a good idea to machine wash the shirt or should I always dry clean it. Dry cleaning runs into money. And will dry cleaning get the collar clean?

 

[Feraud]

Machine washing this shirt should not be a problem. You might try pre-treating the collar if it appears to be an issue.

 

[John in Covina]

Using a pretreatment of laundry detergent or something like Shout can help with
"RING AROUND THE COLLAR -RING AROUND THE COLLAR!"

Plus, in the old fashioned way, you can get Naptha-Fels soap, wet the grungy areas, rub the soap on the grung and work in. You can also then carefully use one of the fingernail brushes or old clean tooth brush to scrub those areas. Rinse repeat.

Actually if you take a shirt like that to "the Cleaners" they launder the shirt, I have not heard of them dry cleaning machine washable shirts. You can ask them to pay special attention to the ring around the collar when you drop it off.

 

[Tomasso]

Give it a nice long soak in Oxy-Clean.

BTW, dry cleaning white shirts is not recommended as it can lead to yellowing/graying.

 

[Geesie]

I take my formal shirts to the cleaners for the simple reason that I cannot get the pleats as nice as they can. I figure the $3 once a month isn't going to break me.

 

[Bugsy]

I agree completely with Geesie. Take your formal shirts to a good laundry. If nothing else, should something happen they have to make it right. If you screw up..................

 

[Feraud]

It's hard to screw up washing a white shirt.

 

[cufflinkmaniac]

It's hard to screw up washing a white shirt.

Not for me. When I get my black tie shirt, it will definitely go to the laundry!

 

[Geesie]

It's hard to screw up washing a white shirt.

Not true. If you bleach the wrong white shirts, they'll yellow.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Not true. If you bleach the wrong white shirts, they'll yellow.

Exactly - it'll come through from the interfacing in the collar & placket BUT a soak in Oxyclean usually fixes that. We had something get into a white load with bleach accidentally. We had the cleaner trying everything on it (an unusual tux shirt, 20 yrs or so old) to get rid of the yellowing. Nothing worked, and I tried every idea on the Internet to no avail. I'd kept it just in case I was ever feeling flush with cash to have a tailor use it as a pattern to replicate it.

When Oxyclean came out, I tried it on several things and was amazed it got out a variety of stains that nothing else did (food or wine stains on tablecloth in particular). I figured "what the heck" and let the shirt soak and it came out perfect.

 

[Lensmaster]

Thanks for all the tips.

 

[Feraud]

As has been suggested, Oxyclean should do the trick.

 

[Bourbon Guy]

You're getting way ahead of yourself, if you have not yet found a good laundry. Once you have found a good laundry/dry cleaner, you just dump all your stuff there, they know what to do with it, find the stains, and it comes back looking new. You should not have to think about it, any more than you should be thinking about how to alter your suits at home, unless that is your hobby.

You may ruin some clothes finding the right place. Just clothes. But once you have found the right one, they go into your book in ink, just like your mechanic, doctor, dentist, gunsmith, and liquor store.

 

[Tomasso]

Once you have found a good laundry/dry cleaner, you just dump all your stuff there, they know what to do with it, find the stains, and it comes back looking new.

Barry Regent?


They're the best in Chicago, maybe even America, yet they've seemed to have ruined most of my clothes. :rage:

 

[Bourbon Guy]

Barry Regent?


They're the best in Chicago, maybe even America, yet they've seemed to have ruined most of my clothes. :rage:

No. Just a neighborhood shop, but he has gotten out stains that other shops said were not possible to remove, 30 years ago when I had just found him. Even catches the stuff I leave in my pockets and tapes it to the package.

 

[John in Covina]

Regular dress shirts I will wash a few times but about every fourth wash time I take it in to the laundry service for a top notch launder and press.

My formal shirts I tend to bring to the Laundry more often.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Give it a nice long soak in Oxy-Clean.

BTW, dry cleaning white shirts is not recommended as it can lead to yellowing/graying.

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap
Exactly. And no "regular" chlorine bleach - some of the interfacing in collars & placket go yellow from it...and then you're back to a nice long soak in Oxy-clean.

EDIT - Hmmmm, I knew this thread seemed a little familiar - hence my double-post. Ah well...

 

[Geesie]

Is oxy-clean color safe or is it a "gets whites whiter, gets colors whiter" thing?

 

[Nick D]

Exactly - it'll come through from the interfacing in the collar & placket BUT a soak in Oxyclean usually fixes that. We had something get into a white load with bleach accidentally. We had the cleaner trying everything on it (an unusual tux shirt, 20 yrs or so old) to get rid of the yellowing. Nothing worked, and I tried every idea on the Internet to no avail. I'd kept it just in case I was ever feeling flush with cash to have a tailor use it as a pattern to replicate it.

When Oxyclean came out, I tried it on several things and was amazed it got out a variety of stains that nothing else did (food or wine stains on tablecloth in particular). I figured "what the heck" and let the shirt soak and it came out perfect.

I laundered some of my regular white shirts a couple weeks ago, and three came out of the machine with yellow blotches on the front and back. I was very suprised, because I had not done anything I hadn't done over a dozen times already. I tried washing again, hainging in the sun, Napisan, soaking in Oxyclean, and washing again with Oxyclean. One came clean. One of the other two will become a pattern for making up my own shirts. The other I may take to the cleaners to see if they can fix it. [huh]