The dangers of wearing "wrinkle free" shirts

[clarinetplayer]

I just read this article in today's NY Times that states that the chemicals in wrinkle free shirts can cause skin irritation and other problems. Yikes!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/yo...11wrinkle.html

 

[Cary Grant]

Yup. Conversely, chemicals used to make cottons "softer" can also have this effect on some.

 

[cmacey]

Originally Posted by clarinetplayer

I just read this article in today's NY Times that states that the chemicals in wrinkle free shirts can cause skin irritation and other problems. Yikes!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/11/yo...11wrinkle.html

Life is rife with risk; embrace the living of it!

 

[JayJay]

Interesting. I've recently started wearing BB's non-iron shirts, but I wear a t-shirt under them, which I used to not do. I didn't like the feel of the shirts against my body sans t-shirt, the articles assertions may be an explanation for why I didn't.

 

[westinghouse]

Amusing. I opened this thread actually thinking wrinkle free shirts were dangerous.

 

[IBJanky]

That's why I prefer to walk around sans clothing nowadays.

myke

 

[pocketprotector]

An alarmist article written by a female journalist for a liberal newspaper?? Say it isn't so!! I didn't read the whole thing, but let me guess: she quotes an "expert", then clamors for the government to do something about it. Our freedoms are only a little bit suppressed, but don't worry, the UN assures us it's really for everybody's benefit. Just be a good comrade and pull out that solar-powered iron. Better yet, go naked, as The Universe wills us to do.

 

[Harold falcon]

This article really is garbage. A "small percentage" of people are allergic to these chemicals, but then it warns of impeding health effects for those of us who aren't allergic to them but never indicates how much is too much, or even if there has ever been an illness linked to the wearing of "wrinkle free" shirts in the non-allergic population.

“Given all of the things we buy new that can release formaldehyde in our house, all of those things contribute,” said Urvashi Rangan, director of technical policy at Consumers Union, who noted that the Environmental Protection Agency was currently developing formaldehyde emissions regulations for pressed-wood products. “Over all, minimizing your exposure is a good idea.”

Why? Tell me why it would be a good idea. You can't just say something stupid like that without something to back it up. Is Rangan even a doctor? A "director of technical policy" doesn't sound like a doctor, and if he (she?) were I'm sure he'd demand to be called one. And thanks for identifying those clothing manufacturers that had these chemicals present, so, you know, we could decide not to purchase them if we wanted to. Instead, the author broadly identifies an entire industry in order to scare us and doesn't give us any real information that could possibly be of use to the reader. Seriously, aside from scare value, that article is completely and utterly useless to anyone who reads it. This article was poorly written, poorly researched, and poorly presented. Everything about it is fail. This is why nobody takes journalism seriously anymore. EDIT - And to be clear, I never buy wrinkle free because they look and feel like ****.

 

[Shirtmaven]

Originally Posted by pocketprotector

An alarmist article written by a female journalist for a liberal newspaper?? Say it isn't so!! I didn't read the whole thing, but let me guess: she quotes an "expert", then clamors for the government to do something about it. Our freedoms are only a little bit suppressed, but don't worry, the UN assures us it's really for everybody's benefit. Just be a good comrade and pull out that solar-powered iron. Better yet, go naked, as The Universe wills us to do.

I bet you love your wrinkle free clothing.
wrinkle free looks like crap and feels worse.
customers walk in my shop.
I can tell from 10feet away that they are wearing a wrinkle free shirt.
nasty stuff.

 

[CunningSmeagol]

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman

EDIT - And to be clear, I never buy wrinkle free because they look and feel like ****.

This is because of the chemicals in them. I'm glad you are limiting your exposure.

 

[CunningSmeagol]

"Wrinkle-free isn't free."

 

[Hackett]

Originally Posted by CunningSmeagol

"Wrinkle-free isn't free."

 

[Cary Grant]

Originally Posted by harvey_birdman

This article really is garbage. A "small percentage" of people are allergic to these chemicals, but then it warns of impeding health effects for those of us who aren't allergic to them but never indicates how much is too much, or even if there has ever been an illness linked to the wearing of "wrinkle free" shirts in the non-allergic population.




Small percentage have serious sides, sure... but tell that to my coworker who had a SIGNIFICANT reaction down to a blistering rash... he had no reason to think that a shirt would cause such trouble.

 

[nmprisons]

Originally Posted by pocketprotector

An alarmist article written by a female journalist for a liberal newspaper?? Say it isn't so!! I didn't read the whole thing, but let me guess: she quotes an "expert", then clamors for the government to do something about it. Our freedoms are only a little bit suppressed, but don't worry, the UN assures us it's really for everybody's benefit. Just be a good comrade and pull out that solar-powered iron. Better yet, go naked, as The Universe wills us to do.

I read a similar article on Fox.com explaining that the chemicals were put there by Obama as part of a secret muslim plot to ensure the creation of a one world currency and take our guns. Go post your blather on some other message board.

 

[Made in California]

Thank goodness there's somebody out there that's not afraid to talk about this. A good friend in high school died from wearing "wrinkle-free" shirts, now he truly is free. Perhaps there is a cruel double entendre in all of this: if you wear wrinkle-free you'll never get old enough to get wrinkles thus these awful chemicals are keeping your shirts and your skin free from wrinkles. We must put a stop to this...