What Not To Do With Your Shirts

What Not To Do With Your Shirts

Today, we are talking about shirts. From choice of deodorant, to how some manufacturers can incorrectly assemble your clothing. What can happen to shirts, what not to do to your shirts to prevent some of these issues, and more. Please read below:

Perspiration & Antiperspirant Damage

Perspiration, if it is allowed to stay in the shirt, will eventually stain and weaken the fabrics. This allows the weakened area to be removed during the washing process. Aluminum chlorides that are found in many antiperspirants will also weaken your shirt’s fibers under the arm. Controlled use of antiperspirants and frequent washings after use will minimize this type of damage.

Fleeting Dyes

The color in a garment should withstand its recommended care procedure, found on its label. If the dyes in a multicolored shirt are not colorfast water, then bleeding will occur. Then the dye will migrate into the adjacent areas during the washing process, and can even cause a overall lightening of color in the fabric.

Wear Life Expectancy

Determining how long a shirt should last is difficult due to the variances in frequency of wear. However, shirts overall have about a 2 year wear life expectancy. The number of launderings is a much better way to measure. For example, the average shirt should have a wear life of 35-50 washings. Obviously, this will vary depending on the amount of abrasion and strain that the fabric in the shirt goes through, the type of fabric, and the laundering procedure. So do not wear most shirts for over 2 years!

Shrinkage

Most of your dress shirts are difficult to shrink. However, if you do have shrinkage, it is likely due to poorly stabilized materials from the manufacturer. Make sure to purchase good quality clothing to avoid shrinkage issues.

Buttons

Buttons can sometimes crack when you iron, or press your shirts. This is usually due to an inherent problem in the actual button, or the way the button was applied to the shirt. The majority of shirt buttons are made from a polyester resin. The strength of the buttons depend on the amount of polyester in the resin from the manufacturer.

Buttons sometimes do not meet certain requirements, and as a result, they are graded. Typically when buttons are graded, they look for these key criteria: color, visual inclusions, chips, cracks, uniformity, and size. A poor-quality button’s inherent problem may lead to breakage.

The way a button is applied to a garment can also contribute to breakage. Too much pressure applied to the button when attached, incorrect width of the swing of the needle, or the use of too much sewing thread could cause stress and hairline fractures.

Don’t forget, if you ever need your shirts professionally handled, bring them in to Duffy’s! Here are our hours. You can also like our page on Facebook!