Sewn-in collar stays...

[BlvdDandy]

Should I worry about sending shirts with sewn-in collar stays to the dry cleaners? I send shirts to the "dry cleaners" to have them washed, ironed and folded, but should I do something different for this type of shirt (like actually having them dry cleaned)? Will the collar get messed up if they get washed? Thanks...

 

[mkk]

I wouldn't worry too much about the washing. I'd worry more about the ironing. On a few shirts with sewn-in collar stays I've seen on the collar leaf a shiny outline/impression of where the collar stays are fixed. Based on what happened years ago when my father washed and ironed his shirts without first removing the removable collar stays(the stays came out mangled) I'd be a little concerned about the state of the fixed stays after cleaning.

 

[Kent Wang]

Ditto on the ironing. I presume this is a dress shirt? If so, that seems like a foolish mistake on the part of the shirtmaker. The only sewn-in collar stays I have are in vintage western shirts that I only wash and don't iron. Those turn out just fine.

 

[Shirtmaven]

Unless you are doing your own shirt laundry, I would avoid shirts with sewn-in collar stays. The laundries are all quite harsh and will leave an impression of the stay on your collar. Once it is there, it is not going to disapear. Carl www.cego.com

 

[Horace]

I have a few New & Lingwood shirts that have sewn in stays -- I sent them to a expensive cleaner ($6 per shirt) and they were fine -- indeed I didn't even notice that the stays were sewn-in until I started doing shirts myself.