does the non iron treatment eventually wear off?

[JO3B]

So, I found a shirt that fits me rather perfectly, but they only come treated with that non-ironing business.

any chance a couple of washes will wear that away? i'm not really interested in looking permanently crisp.

 

[grimslade]

Should last through several dozen--if you follow the care instructions.

 

[yo!]

Most modern/high quality non-iron treatments will not have this problem. When non-iron first came out they would weave the fabric and then treat it as a whole. Now-a-days they will treat the thread before it is woven which allows the fabric to keep its non-iron characteristics much longer.

In theory it has the possibility of 'washing out' but that is unlikely unless you wash your shirts every day.

 

[Grayland]

Lands End no-iron shirts are guaranteed for 25 washes. They just came out with a new version that is good for 50 washes, but only have a few versions of that shirt. I don't own any of the LE no-iron shirts, so I have no personal experience.

 

[JO3B]

ok well, i kinda DON'T want the treatment to stay so i guess question to follow is, is there any way to speed up the process?

 

[AlonzoMosely]

In my experience, the number of washings it will handle before losing the wrinkle resistance is understated. I have a Nordstrom non-iron that I have run through my washer on extra hot maybe a dozen times and have sent out to the cleaners maybe half a dozen to a dozen times, and I have made zero progress in converting it into a standard non-non-iron shirt. In fact, I think maybe what I will do now is throw it in EVERY time I do a load of wash and see what happens first: shirt falls apart or non-iron coating is removed

 

[otc]

As I understand it, isn't the coating more of an issue on the cheaper shirts?
I thought that higher end non-iron shirts had a lot to do with the weave of the fabric in addition to coating each thread individually instead of coating the woven fabric.

 

[highball]

Not to hijack this thread, but what are the disadvantages of most non-iron shirts? I have never owned any, but wouldn’t be opposed to it if I found a non-iron shirt in a fabric and fit that I liked. It seems like the consensus around here is that they should be avoided. Is it just that they stay unreasonably stiff or some such?

 

[Parker]

My couple BB non-irons are still stiff and crinkly after a few dozen washes. They don't seem any softer than when new. Also, I think the collar and cuffs are more susceptible to fraying with treated fabric with more washes.

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by AlonzoMosely

In my experience, the number of washings it will handle before losing the wrinkle resistance is understated. I have a Nordstrom non-iron that I have run through my washer on extra hot maybe a dozen times and have sent out to the cleaners maybe half a dozen to a dozen times, and I have made zero progress in converting it into a standard non-non-iron shirt. In fact, I think maybe what I will do now is throw it in EVERY time I do a load of wash and see what happens first: shirt falls apart or non-iron coating is removed
I agree with this. I own LE non-iron OCBDs that are probably 15 years old. Though I don't wear them much anymore, I probably wore them once every 2 weeks for the first decade of their lives and laundered them (and dried them on high) after every wearing. The fabric has softened considerably, but they still come out of the dryer without wrinkles.