How do you care for your shirts?

[bigj93702]

I wear almost exclusively Polo Ralph Lauren Oxford dress shirts and PRL "Andrew" Pants. Also have some Burberry clothes. (I used to think these two brands were expensive until I signed up here).

I wear my shirts around 3-4 times before sending them off to the cleaners. I have never had any problems. Being a fat guy (I wear 4xlt) I have been loyal to PRL because other brands have indeed popped buttons, wrinkled, shrunk, etc. after the first cleaners visit. The ROI (return on investment) is not there for me to fool around with washing my own shirts.

 

[stubloom]

I'm with Manton on this but with one clarification: There's a huge difference between synthetic starch and natural starch.

Many cleaners love synthetic starch. It's cheap and it bonds well to every type of fabric, including polyester. Synthetic starch -- really a cheap glue -- bonds to your shirt's fibers and does not dissolve when it comes into contact with water in the washer wheel. Think multiple coats of paint.

By contrast, a natural starch (such as a wheat starch) will dissolve almost instantly in the wash cycle. So if you go from heavy starch (please don't say you prefer heavy starch!) to no starch you'll notice a dramatic difference in texture. With synthetic starch you see no difference until, probably, the 6th or 10th wash.

For more information on this subject, please read my blog post entitled "Why your light starched shirts feel stiff".......

http://ravefabricare.com/true-qualit...eel-stiff.aspx

Website: www.ravefabricare.com

Daily blog: www.truequalitycleaning.com

 

[JayJay]

Originally Posted by bigj93702

I wear my shirts around 3-4 times before sending them off to the cleaners. I have never had any problems. Being a fat guy (I wear 4xlt) I have been loyal to PRL because other brands have indeed popped buttons, wrinkled, shrunk, etc. after the first cleaners visit. The ROI (return on investment) is not there for me to fool around with washing my own shirts.
I'm surprised you can get by with laundering shirts after every 3rd or 4th wear, particularly given your size. I'm a thin guy who doesn't sweat much at all, and I wash my shirts after every wear.

 

[RSN125]

I send my good shirts to Stu Bloom at Rave. Shirts come back nicer than new. The guy knows what he is talking about.

And no, I have no affiliation with Rave.

 

[stubloom]

Thanks for the compliment RSN125. With the next batch of shirts you mail to us, please leave some cryptic clue so I know who you are !! Website: www.ravefabricare.com Daily blog: www.truequalitycleaning.com