• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Elbow Tears on Dress Shirts

Joffrey

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jun 18, 2006
Messages
12,309
Reaction score
1,555
Lately, I have found some tears on some of my dress shirts. The damage are basically horizontal tears approximately wear my elbow rests when my arms are bent at work (typing or hands resting on table/chin). This has happened to two older shirts of mine (2-2.5 years old) and I found a small one on a more recent shirt of mine (~1.5 years old). Can someone confirm what this damage is? I'm thinking it's simply due to age. I wear the shirts quite often (once a week) but I think they are decent quality (Jcrew). Is there a neat way to fix this?

The folks that do clothing alterations for me put these ugly patches on the first two shirts that had this problem (which I will relegate to undersweater usage or toss out) so I would rather avoid this fate for the current shirt that has this problem. I am wondering how come a simple sewing of the tear wouldn't do?
 

grimslade

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
10,806
Reaction score
82
It's wear, and it's hard to fix, since the surrounding fabric may be compromised as well, and even in the best case you'd have to sew it back together.

The only real solution is to sand down your elbows, which are obviously too sharp.
 

imatlas

Saucy White Boy
Joined
May 27, 2008
Messages
24,699
Reaction score
28,399
Originally Posted by grimslade
The only real solution is to sand down your elbows, which are obviously too sharp.

+1
 

Joffrey

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jun 18, 2006
Messages
12,309
Reaction score
1,555
Originally Posted by grimslade
It's wear, and it's hard to fix, since the surrounding fabric may be compromised as well, and even in the best case you'd have to sew it back together.

The only real solution is to sand down your elbows, which are obviously too sharp.


Thanks! Do you have any brand recommendations on how or where to get my elbows sanded? And by how much? I did a search and couldn't find anything.
 

grimslade

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
10,806
Reaction score
82
Originally Posted by Jodum5
Thanks! Do you have any brand recommendations on how or where to get my elbows sanded? And by how much? I did a search and couldn't find anything.

I think 80 grit should be about right. The paper paper is cheaper, but plastic paper lasts longer and can be used wet.
 

82-Greg

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
224
Reaction score
1
Originally Posted by grimslade
I think 80 grit should be about right. The paper paper is cheaper, but plastic paper lasts longer and can be used wet.

Remember after using 80 grit, you have to step down in stages to a fine grit to get the nice smooth finish you're looking for.
 

grimslade

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
10,806
Reaction score
82
Originally Posted by 82-Greg
Remember after using 80 grit, you have to step down in stages to a fine grit to get the nice smooth finish you're looking for.

That's true, actually. If you don't finish with at least 220, your formerly sharp elbows will now be rough elbows, which will abrade your shirtings and defeat the purpose.
 

Cary Grant

Distinguished Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2008
Messages
9,657
Reaction score
430
While my esteemed colleagues have it generally correct, I think you'll get a better result by cold-grinding to remove the flesh layer and give a basic reshape to the bone first. Saves labor.

Then start with 80 grit to 220- WET SANDING to finish.
 

Joffrey

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jun 18, 2006
Messages
12,309
Reaction score
1,555
awesome! I'll post pics of my progress this weekend.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.5%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 60 38.7%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 11.0%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.4%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 18.1%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,174
Messages
10,579,196
Members
223,889
Latest member
CBDJointPlusGumy
Top