One of the worst parts of a pull over, polo style shirt is the collar. The shirt itself may last for years, but the collar’s days are numbered. It will ultimately be the fate of your favorite shirt.
The easiest part of the shirt, is everything except the collar. It just hangs down or fits over your arm. The most difficult part of a shirt is the collar. It has to rise upwards, then gently fold over in a nice manner and lay down nicely on top of the shirt. Sounds simple, but after one wash, it gets hairy!
So how do you save a man’s shirt collar from wrinkling beyond repair? Great question! I have a few invention ideas, but nothing I’d want to broadcast to the world at this point. I can give you some suggestions on how to preserve the collar, though.
The shirt collar gets destroyed in the wash/dry cycle. In the wash, the collar will get set in it’s ways. Maybe an awkward fold on one side and a flip up on the other, but it sets the wheels in motion. Then you throw it into the dryer and the hot air pretty much cements your imperfections into place. Once this happens, you’re screwed! Your shirt will NEVER be the same. No matter how many times you try to iron out the wrinkles, or take it to the dry cleaners, your shirt collar will never be the same.
Anyhow, so I’ll give my tips on how to save your shirt collars. Not 100% proven, but they’ve worked for me.
- Wash your shirts inside out with the collar standing up
- Let your shirts air dry with the collar up, then iron the collar and fold over while hot
- If drying shirts in the dryer, make sure the collar is standing up so no wrinkles can form. The normal collar fold is easier to create if the collar has no wrinkle or fold pressed into it.
- Always take your collar shirts to the dry cleaners and emphasize that you want the collars preserved.
- ***MOST IMPORTANT*** – DO NOT WASH YOUR SHIRT (this is more of a joke, but if you never wash it, you’ll never have to worry about the collar screwing up)
If you have a hint or tip on how to save the emphamis shirt collar, help us, help you, help others. We’re all in the same boat, so hopefully we can come together to create the best shirt collar solution we’ve ever seen!!!
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
you jokingly say don’t wash it, but its the real truth, this is a theory of mine, but if you just wear undershirts religiously, you will only have to wash your shirts once every few months, and save their collars. My collars are screwed my first wash.
Spot on Todd, I always wear an undershirt and none of my shirts have any armpit stains or smell even after wearing 5-6 times. That way, not only I have to wash them less, I also put them in gentler wash/dry cycles and thus avoid the butchery of long/hard wash cycles that are required to remove stains & sweat smell.
Also, since my undershirts are all white(cotton), I can easily wash them in hot wash cycles (with non-chlorine bleach) and they come out clean & fresh without any damage.
use paper clips on the seems to keep fm wraklelang negro!