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For those who wash their own dress shirts - Do you mix with other clothes?

post #1 of 22
9/20/11 at 7:42am
Thread Starter 
For those out there who wash their own dress shirts, do you always wash them with just dress shirts, or will you throw in other clothes as well? Such as underoos, socks, under shirts, bath towels, etc. Why or why not?
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post #2 of 22
9/20/11 at 7:51am
I tend to do my dress shirts by themselves, primarily because I'm going to iron them afterwards and keeping the laundry batch size small and focused makes it easier. Also, since my dress shirts are the most expensive things I launder, the fewer other items in the batch the less chance there is that something wayward will be introduced (like a pen left in a pants pocket, etc.)

As an aside, I also toss my dress shirts in the dryer on super-low until just damp, including a couple of already dry, soft bath towels with them to reduce tumbling damage and shorten the drying time. I know that's a no-no for a lot of people, but it has worked well for me so far.
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post #3 of 22
9/20/11 at 7:52am
Most of my shirts are white they go in with the white undershirts.
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post #4 of 22
9/20/11 at 7:54am
Most of my dress shirts are cotton so it's really no big deal. I usually dry them with mixed clothing as well. Setting the heat to medium works out pretty well.
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post #5 of 22
9/20/11 at 7:55am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicola View Post

Most of my shirts are white they go in with the white undershirts.

This is good to know, I predominately wear white shirts and I have been wanting to throw in white undershirts as well, but I have been afraid. My white undershirts tend to get yellowy, or grey over time, while my dress shirts don't really. I don't want this effect to somehow bleed on my dress shirts.
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post #6 of 22
9/20/11 at 7:59am
Don't think it will PB.

If you want to remove perspiration stains, this article recommends you use salt.
Quote:
Laundry

Attack wine spills.
If a tipsy guest tips wine on your cotton or linen tablecloth, blot up as much as possible and immediately cover the wine with a pile of salt, which will help pull the remaining wine away form the fiber. After dinner, soak the tablecloth in cold water for 30 minutes before laundering. (Also works on clothing.)

Quell oversudsing.
Since, of course, we are all very careful in how much detergent we use in our laundry, we never have too many suds. But if someone overfills ... you can eliminate excess suds with a sprinkle of salt.

Dry clothes in the winter.
Use salt in the final laundry rinse to prevent clothes from freezing if you use an outdoor clothes line in the winter.

Brighten colors.
Wash colored curtains or washable fiber rugs in a saltwater solution to brighten the colors. Brighten faded rugs and carpets by rubbing them briskly with a cloth that has been dipped in a strong saltwater solution and wrung out.

Remove perspiration stains.
Add four tablespoons of salt to one quart of hot water and sponge the fabric with the solution until stains fade.

Remove blood stains.
Soak the stained cloth in cold saltwater, then launder in warm, soapy water and boil after the wash. (Use only on cotton, linen, or other natural fibers that can take high heat.)

Tackle mildew or rust stains.
Moisten stained spots with a mixture of lemon juice and salt, then spread the item in the sun for bleaching -- then rinse and dry.

Clean a gunky iron bottom.
Sprinkle a little salt on a piece of paper and run the hot iron over it to remove rough, sticky spots.

Set color.
Salt is used commonly in the textile industry, but works at home too. If a dye isn't colorfast, soak the garment for an hour in 1/2 gallon of water to which you've added 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup salt, then rinse. If rinse water has any color in it, repeat. Use only on single-colored fabric or madras. If the item is multicolored, dry-clean it to avoid running all of the colors together.

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/46-smart-uses-for-salt-2270681
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post #7 of 22
9/20/11 at 8:03am
Thread Starter 
Hmm, interesting. I wonder if I could just pour salt directly into the washer to help the colors?
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post #8 of 22
9/20/11 at 8:09am
You'd have to know how much water your washer uses per load. It sounds like it could work, and the possibility of ruining your laundry seems low. Still...who wants to risk f'n up their clothes for an experiment?
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post #9 of 22
9/20/11 at 8:17am
My dress shirts are usually washed separately and sorted by color: one load of white shirts and one load of blue shirts. If there are a few items of other whites or colors then I sometimes will throw them in. I never wash towels or other lint-ridden items with my shirts.
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post #10 of 22
9/20/11 at 8:31am
Thread Starter 
I know Alex K. recommends throwing in some towels to a load of dress shirts to keep the arms from getting tangled. It can't be that bad then.
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post #11 of 22
9/20/11 at 9:28am
I do my shirts in a load by themselves. I have enough to last a few weeks and they are all shades of blue, so I do not have to worry about whites and colors. I also turn them inside out to help protect the MOP buttons.
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post #12 of 22
9/20/11 at 9:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by patrickBOOTH View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicola View Post

Most of my shirts are white they go in with the white undershirts.

This is good to know, I predominately wear white shirts and I have been wanting to throw in white undershirts as well, but I have been afraid. My white undershirts tend to get yellowy, or grey over time, while my dress shirts don't really. I don't want this effect to somehow bleed on my dress shirts.

Patrick, there is a product called 'Bluing' (blue-ing) that can be used (per package directions) that will take the yellow out of your whites. What it dows is to add a hint of blue to the white fabrics. It is remarkable stuff and once dry, your tired whites look white again,
Some reading on bluing : http://www.google.com/search?complete=0&hl=en&source=hp&biw=1280&bih=526&q=bluing&btnG=Google+Search

Others on here have recommended Oxy-Clean for their whites. I haven't used it myself as yet but many have praised it.

I hand wash my dress shirts in the kitchen sink. Tedious perhaps, but the shirt arms don't get pulled and twisted as they would in a mechanical washing machine. What I do is (if needed) pre-treat the armpit area, collar and cuffs before washing. I take a small amount of liquid Tide, and with a wet toothbrush I gently work the detergent into these areas, let sit for about 10-15 min, then toss in the wash. If hand-washing, I am mindful to rinse these areas more thoroughly after washing.
Let soak 10 min. then gently agitate the clothes by hand, each one in turn. Let soak another 10 min. Agitate again, working the areas that are the most soiled, then drain water. refill with new water, agitate. Drain, refill again, agitate, drain. I do this several times to remove the detergent. I use very little detergent! Dress shirts usually don't get very soiled to begin with so ease off the soap. ..Then let hang dry to about 85% then iron. If I use a machine I use only cold water. After the washer, I would hang until 85% dry then iron. If they dry completely, I have a spray bottle that I will mist the shirts as I iron, using filtered water.

Handwashing my dress shirts together, light colours with light colours, perhaps some underwear tossed in, sure. Women do it, so can we.
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post #13 of 22
9/20/11 at 9:38am
Thread Starter 
I don't like the idea of blueing at all, honestly. I also don't like scrubbing anything. The wear seems overly abusive. I think I am going to resort to the "Soak" feature on my washing machine. Pre-treat, soak, wash, hang dry. I will report back.

It sucks that the soak feature is for 2 hours. Who has this kind of time?
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post #14 of 22
9/20/11 at 10:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by patrickBOOTH View Post

It sucks that the soak feature is for 2 hours. Who has this kind of time?

This sort of begs the question that's in my mind whenever I read threads on laundry. If one follows all these recommendations, how much longer will the shirt last, or stay nice looking? I know that on this forum we take it as gospel that the commercial laundry will destroy your shirts, but how many more wears do we get out of a shirt by laundering them at home, hang drying, etc.?

I guess I'd be interested to hear some views on a hypothetical. If a given shirt would last 200 wearings/washings if taken to a commercial landry, how many wearings/washings would that shirt get if you:

Machine Wash/Tumble Dry
Marchine Wash/Hang Dry
Hand Wash/Hang Dry
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post #15 of 22
9/20/11 at 10:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by viator View Post


This sort of begs the question that's in my mind whenever I read threads on laundry. If one follows all these recommendations, how much longer will the shirt last, or stay nice looking? I know that on this forum we take it as gospel that the commercial laundry will destroy your shirts, but how many more wears do we get out of a shirt by laundering them at home, hang drying, etc.?

I guess I'd be interested to hear some views on a hypothetical. If a given shirt would last 200 wearings/washings if taken to a commercial landry, how many wearings/washings would that shirt get if you:

Machine Wash/Tumble Dry
Marchine Wash/Hang Dry
Hand Wash/Hang Dry

I remember iammatt saying he expects his shirts to last 15 years when he buys them. I'd imagine for that level of quality he is probably dry-clean-only, but he might have some insight for sport shirts.
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