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shirt laundering question

jasonmarshalljazz

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Aug 27, 2007
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i have a new shirt from kuhlman co. and its white with black mini windowpane.

1. do i wash it with lights or dark?
2. will the collar and cuffs still shrink if i air dry them (as opposed to machine drying)?
3. how many launderings will it take to render complete shrinkage?, so i know whether the body need to be taken i or not.

thanx
 

bizzblar

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Nov 7, 2007
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Ill bump this and raise one more. When you send a shirt to the cleaners, how do they actually go about laundering (not dry cleaning) a shirt? After it comes from the washig machine is it immediately pressed, or is it put into a dryer first? I ask becuase I also want to know how much shrinkage to expect from shirts and "simulate" this process at home with some new ones.
 

Dewey

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don't send your shirts out for commercial laundry if you value them. white or black, no matter, use cold water cold rinse. throw in some towels to avoid a tiny load if you have a thrashing top-loading machine. i would do white with black windowpane with the whites, but it should not matter. after three wash and wearings, you should have the shrinkage you'll live with. but at any point, an unexpected trip through the dryer or a wash in hot water could shrink some more. the idea is never to buy a shirt and shrink it as much as possible. the commercial laundry services will do various things. usu. the pressing is done by machine. starch is applied to the shirt to keep the machine lubricated. i don't think you can simulate what they do at home. helpful threads http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=13086 http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=9049 http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=28914
 

JeffsWood

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It seems to me the shirt shrinkage can be somewhat reversed. Every now and then, my wife washes my shirts (I ask her not to, but she still does from time to time). My wife has no clue which are my shirts that get hung and which are my shirts that go in the dryer and she of course put my hang dry only shirts in the dryer. I find that they'll shrink a bit, but if I wash and hang them, the strech out again. But just don't ask about the time she washed and dried my Cashmere sweater!!!!!!!!
 

Dewey

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It's true cotton will stretch. You can regain some sleeve shrinkage & collar shrinkage by pulling when wet.
 

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