Question about Prada shirt care (dry clean? hand wash? pressing?)

So I have gotten about 6 wears out of each of two Prada shirts I picked up. They dont smell or have any stains or anything so they are not really dirty but they are wrinkly as hell.

The instructions on the care tag say:

COLD HAND WASH
WASH INSIDE OUT
do not bleach
cool iron
DO NOT TUMBLE DRY
PROFESSIONALLY DRYCLEAN: no trichloroethylene, reduce moisture, short cycle, no steam and low heat.

I had a few questions:

1. should i take these to be drycleaned or would I be better off 'cold hand washing' them myself? if so how do I do that?
2. They are very wrinkled! 'cool ironing' as the tag suggests doesnt do ****! They are 100% cotten would it be safe to amp the heat and steam up on the iron (even tjhough it says cool iron and the drycleaning instructions say low heat and no steam)?
3. would I better off getting them pressed? I have heard this really isnt great for shirts (as far as making them last)
4. and finally how often do you dry clean/press your shirts?

Thanks!!!

i machine cold wash mine.....just use the gentlest spin setting on your machine. Once dry, I steam them.

I usually wash them every use or every two uses.

put them in the washing machine at 30°C, hang dry, then iron them. A few tips :
You should not try to iron a dirty shirt, never.
A shirt is dirty after a day wear: never wear a shirt more than once.
Didn't your mother teach you anything???

!luc

Originally Posted by Luc-Emmanuel

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put them in the washing machine at 30°C, hang dry, then iron them. A few tips : You should not try to iron a dirty shirt, never. A shirt is dirty after a day wear: never wear a shirt more than once. Didn't your mother teach you anything??? !luc
I agree. I actually made a face when I read the part about ironing a shirt after wearing it 6 times. I wear mine once, then take them to the dry cleaners to have them laundered and hand ironed, no starch.

lot of people here are afraid of the "wash by hand" or "hand wash" on the label.

it is not that hard, actually very simple.

take it to a clean tub or wash basin, fill with cold water, put a little detergent in it, and just hand wash for about 5-6 minutes at a gentle agitation.

drain, and refill for a soak and rinse. hang dry or lay flat dry.

it is not that difficult trust me. i also hand wash my cashmere and wool sweaters with no ill effects whatsoever.

better than paying 5 dollars to a dry cleaners that will just return them crispier and jaded color than when you first brought it to them.

Clothes are tough, but you don't wanna know what cleaners do with your shirts. They do not handle them gently. Even if they dry clean it, it goes in a machine and spins for half an hour or longer.

Wash the shirt in your sink. Blot it with a towel so it doesn't drip. Hang it up.

I iron while still damp, after hand washing. That way you don't need any spray or steam. When you are done ironing, the shirt will be practically dry.

Originally Posted by Tarmac

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Clothes are tough, but you don't wanna know what cleaners do with your shirts. They do not handle them gently. Even if they dry clean it, it goes in a machine and spins for half an hour or longer.

Wash the shirt in your sink. Blot it with a towel so it doesn't drip. Hang it up.

I iron while still damp, after hand washing. That way you don't need any spray or steam. When you are done ironing, the shirt will be practically dry.

ahhh I didnt think of ironig while still damp, that way I wont have to jack the heat on the iron...

I am not afraid of hand washing them but if there was a better method I wanted to find out.. as far as wearing a dress shirt once and considering it dirty, I think that really depends on the person. My shorts are worn once or twice a week for about 8 hours a day, always with an undershirt, then hung back up when I get home. If it were not for wrinkles you could never tell which ones just came out of the washer and which had ben worn 5 times.

Originally Posted by pg600rr

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as far as wearing a dress shirt once and considering it dirty, I think that really depends on the person. My shorts are worn once or twice a week for about 8 hours a day, always with an undershirt, then hung back up when I get home. If it were not for wrinkles you could never tell which ones just came out of the washer and which had ben worn 5 times.
They won't last any longer if you don't wash them after each wearings, quite the contrary. And it has nothing to do with being clean, it's about removing skin residues in collar or cuffs, perspiration (even if it doesn't smell, it's still acidic and damages the cotton fibres), etc...
I just can't stand not putting a fresh clean shirt in the morning

!luc

Doing on tag, it must be the most right way~

Just the question I wanted to pose. Thank you very much, guys.

By the way, how do you clean an iron properly and generally what are the best irons to use for shirts?

On an unrelated topic, how does one clean/wash and iron wool pants? I dry clean mine but would rather avoid the expense and do it myself. I very rarely bring shirts to cleaners, because I'm unhappy with how they're pressed.

Thank you.

I have found Prada products to be overpriced crap that in general are not particularly well made.

Originally Posted by AscotMcPocketsquare

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I have found Prada products to be overpriced crap that in general are not particularly well made.
Yup. I'd pretreat it by returning it to the retailer.

Originally Posted by AscotMcPocketsquare

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I have found Prada products to be overpriced crap that in general are not particularly well made.

Originally Posted by intent

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Yup. I'd pretreat it by returning it to the retailer.

I currently own, or have owned in the past, shirts from Truzzi, Barba, Borelli, Etro, Finamore, Isaia, and these two were my first Prada purchases...to say that they are overpriced is one thing, what shirt at $450 a piece isnt overpriced??? even if its made by god. At $450 a pop I would say the quality is sub par, at $160 for Prada mainline shirts (NM private sale with extra 30% off) from the current collection I would say the quality is great!


Prada shirts fit me impeccibly (6'1" 185). Would I buy them again? on sale yes, full price no, at full price you can do much better.

Originally Posted by IB240996

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On an unrelated topic, how does one clean/wash and iron wool pants? I dry clean mine but would rather avoid the expense and do it myself.
You don't. Dry cleaning is your only option with wool. You can also steam to "refresh", but it will not remove dirty spots.
Either put your iron on wool mode (that means rather cold) and iron the wool with questionable results ; Or use a cotton cloth to apply on the wool, then apply the warm iron on the cloth to iron the wool if you want to be extra careful.

!luc

Thank you.

How does one steam, by the way? The only way I can think of is to use the steam in the iron.