Taking Care of Your Shirt
How to get the best from your shirt - The White Shirt Haberdasher
Washing instructions
Before washing, make sure you undo all the buttons. This will reduce the strain on the stitches holding the buttons in place.
It’s also important to remove the collar stays before washing. This will avoid uneven wear on the collar points. It also saves you from trying to find them in the drum after washing. (Collar stays should be removed before sending shirts to the dry cleaners).
When washing, make sure you turn all shirts inside out. This not only protects the mother of pearl buttons from chipping on the steel drum, but enables the soap powder to work directly on under-arm stains.
Wash in water at a temperature of 40°C to 60°C (104°F to 140°F), making sure you first read the washing instructions on the label.
We ask you to think climate and recommend a lower wash temp 30°C
After washing is completed, dry the shirt either on a line or in an
airing cupboard. This will prolong the life of the shirt. Do not tumble
dry as the steel drum tends to wear out the points on the collar and
cuffs.
Note:
All good quality cottons will shrink approximately 2 1/2" during the
first few washes. We take this into account by making our collars 1/2
inch larger and our sleeves 7/8 inch longer than their stated size.
IRONING
It’s best to iron a pure cotton shirt while it’s still slightly damp from the wash. This is far easier than using a spray to dampen it once it’s already dry. But if your shirt hasn’t dried out evenly, then a spray might still be required.
As a general rule, place the part of the shirt you’re about to iron on a flat ironing board, using a dry iron. We don’t recommend using a steam iron. Press the area to be ironed down until it’s dry and crease free. Make sure you set the temperature dial of the iron to ‘cotton’.
The usual order for ironing a shirt is: collar, cuffs, sleeves, shoulders, front panels leaving the back of the shirt to be ironed last. Once you’ve done that, go back to any parts of the shirt that have become creased during ironing, and go over these.
Collar should be damp on both sides. Begin by ironing the back of the collar until it’s flat and dry. You may need to pull gently at one end as you’re pressing down.
Next, turn the collar over and repeat the procedure, ironing from the point to the centre as this will minimise creasing on the collar’s edge. When ironing the collar tips, try not to use too much pressure because these are most likely to wear when ironing. Never iron a collar with the collar stays inside, as this will cause wear to the cloth on the collar points.
When ironing cuffs, they should always be
unbuttoned or unfolded and iron them the same way as you iron the
collar—on both sides. Ironing a double cuff when it’s folded can lead
to lines and after a while it may split.
As with the collar, don’t exert too much pressure over the cuff points or edges.
Iron the sleeve from the top down to the cuff, creating a crease if you want one.
Next, iron the two front panels of the shirt and finally the back. Make sure that whenever you iron a shirt all the buttons are unbuttoned.
Finally, once the shirt is ironed, slip it onto a hanger, fasten the
top button and leave it to air. This will allow any leftover moisture
to evaporate as well as minimise creasing.
DRY CLEANING
When dry cleaning your shirt, always select the hand laundered service if available. And remember to remove collar stays.
SILK TIES
We recommend specialist dry cleaning. Do not wash in water.
