What makes a 100% cotton shirt, Non-Iron?

It's a chemical coating. It can wash off, too. This is why various non-iron retailers might brag about how many washes you can get before your non-iron shirt is just another coarse must-iron shirt.

 

My understanding is it is Teflon or something very similar. It does wash off over time, the same way a non-stick pan eventually loses its non-stick-ness.

 

it is a chemical treatment that is actualy "baked" onto the fabric. for shirts the fabric is normally treated at the mill and this chemical is "cured". you can also treat a finished garment, press it (to get creases in sleeves etc) then baked it.

the chemistry cross links the fibers altering the structure...what ever shape the fibers are in at the time curing is the memory the fiber has so it returns to this shape.

It does wear off...as the fibers are bent etc eventually the cross link is broken and effectiveness is deminished.

same process applies to cotton pants

 

In the better shirts, the threads are treated before they are spun.
In the worse shirts, the garment is treated as a whole.

If the whole garment is treated those will usually wash off within a year give or take a little, and the other ones are much more resilient and may take a few years.

 

I've got several Eton shirts. The non-iron feature is fine even in my oldest ones from 2001 (in fact, the non-iron has held up better than the cuffs or collars, but they've been through many many launderings).

All things being equal, I'd choose my regular cotton shirts but for travelling, the Etons are great.

 

Ahk thanks alot guys.

Also, how long has this "technology" been around?

As I recall, it has been around since the early 90's. Savane was an early developer - at least of the whole cloth/garment variety. At the time, there were problems with the garments growing instead of shrinking after several washes. I am sure the technology has advanced well beyond that now.

 

And too, it makes 100% cotton look like 60/40.​

 

I am unsure how different manufactuers do it but here's my guess...

I have a Club room non-iron that I feel like was treated as cloth and then made into a shirt. Anywhere there should be a tight crease, there is an open roll (pocket top, pleats, etc). This is kind of annoying...

I have a BB non-iron that does not do this. The pleats (especially those pain in the ass BB sleeve pleats) all hold their tight crease, as does the top of the pocket and the side of the placket. If I had to guess, I would attribute this to a process involving: make shirt, press shirt, bake in non-iron.

 

I have a Hugo Boss Easy Iron shirt. What does that mean?
I hope it's not also a chemical treatment.

 

My understanding is it is Teflon or something very similar. It does wash off over time, the same way a non-stick pan eventually loses its non-stick-ness.

Is that why john gotti finally got sent to prison after like the tenth try?
Badda bing
Wu-tang!

 

Formaldehyde is used in the process of making non-iron shirts.
Google formaldehyde. http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/pgms/workno...aldehyde2.html

Pretty troubling if you ask me.

Good link, thanks for that.

If its of any difference. Nordstrom is beginning the slow transition away from their 'smartcare' treated blah shirts. It is going to be about a year or so to fully transition away, but they are citing eco-consciousness. I had no idea about the information in the above link.

 

I have a Hugo Boss Easy Iron shirt. What does that mean? I hope it's not also a chemical treatment.
Nope. I believe those easy iron shirts are just a relatively easy to iron fabric cotton (being on the thicke and heartier side), as opposed to finer, thinner fabrics which wrinkle more and are a bit of a nuisance to iron. ---- On a related note, I don't think I've ever fully understood how non-iron shirts worked. I always threw my Eton shirts in the dryer, but they would come out twisted and crumpled and would DEFINETLEY require ironing. Are you supposed to hang them flat to dry to take advantage of the non-iron properties?