The wardrobe life of your shirts depends on how well you wash and take care of them. It’s not enough to have a couple of shirts draping about with little or no attention being paid to how they are taken care of. In this piece we will discuss two general methods that can be applied in washing your shirts and also tips on shirt care and stain problems
- Wash and Iron at the Dry-cleaners: this method is what most folks usually opt for. It is relatively cheap and saves you a lot of time and stress. At most dry-cleaners, this is what the process looks like:
- They wash your shirts by hand or using a washing machine using water and detergent
- They remove most of the water in the shirt with a spin cycle or just squeeze and dry, or if you asked for the shirts to be starched this is where they apply that.
- Once the shirts are almost dry, they iron with an industrial shirt press that simultaneously irons the shirt and removes all the moisture.
This method is obviously convenient for you and relatively cheap, on the other hand; most drycleaners are too hard on the shirts, you find out some shirt buttons are shattered due their slamming of the iron press over the front of the shirt. Also you may also find out that some collars may not be properly handled which may require additional ironing from you for optimal outlook.
- Wash the shirt yourself: many people may not want to go for this option as it is a bit time consuming, this method gives you all the control on how your shirts are washed. These are steps you can follow for good results:
- Sort all your shirts by colour, separate the bright coloured ones from the ones you think will shed colour on the others.
- Once you are done sorting, unbutton the shirts including the cuffs and collars, and remove any detachable collar bones.
- Carefully look out for stains and treat them by spot cleaning with baking soda or vinegar or even detergent depending on how serious it is.
- If you use a washing machine, set it up, wash using a delicate cycle. Whites and bright coloured shirts can be washed using hot water; dark coloured shirt that can fade easily should be washed strictly with cold water.
- Please use mild detergents, stay off detergents that include chlorine. After rinsing, hang the shirts to air dry (we’d prefer air drying over using your machine to dry the shirts as the former proves more effective in producing optimal appearance after ironing). Steer off sharp hangers as they might distort the shoulders of the shirt or leave a mark.
- And finally, ironing your shirts.
While this method takes a lot of time, you are certain all stains have been treated; your buttons and collar bones and stays are also intact.
CAN I USE STARCH ON MY SHIRTS? You are advised not to starch your shirts so often. As a Nigerian man you’d want your shirts to be as crisp and sharp as a double edged sword but in the long run starching your shirts ruin the fabric. Steam ironing your shirts alone will do just fine.
HOW CAN I REMOVE A STAIN ON MY WHITE SHIRT? So let’s assume you spill some sauce or wine on your white shirt, fear not. Make sure to swipe or remove any large pieces of the stain so they don’t spread to other parts of the shirt. Next up, treat the stain with water or a stain remover solvent – could be baking soda, vinegar or a mild detergent. The sooner the better, rinse affected area and repeat process if necessary. If the stains still refuse to go off, consult a dry-cleaner that specializes (very important) in stain removals.
