Washing dress shirts at home

[LucyStoner]

These instructions are absolutely NOT getting my husband’s shirts clean.  I switched from Woolite to our regular detergent (Arm and Hammer Free and Clear) and it’s better but not great.  

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.wikihow.com/Clean-Dress-Shirts%3famp=1

Sooooo, tell me how do you wash dress shirts at home.  Stain treatment, detergent brand, wash cycle.  I need all the details people.  What do you do that works without wearing out the shirts?  One proviso:  almost all of his shirts are light blue, purple or pink so no regular bleach.  

And if your husband wears a dress shirt everyday about how many shirts does he need to own?  He’s made the transition from working in scrub pants and t-shirts sort of place to a suit and tie are required every day sort of place.  

Edited October 16, 2018 by LucyStoner

[klmama]

We use Tide. Stain treatment is blue Dawn dish detergent.  Regular cycle wash, hang dry so the sleeves don't shrink, iron.  He has maybe ten?  

[Jean in Newcastle]

Arm and hammer free and clear detergent plus some oxyckean in the wash.   Tumble dry. Touch up with an iron ss needed. Shirts are wrinkle resistant. 

Dh has been in healthcare management for years. He wears dress shirts every day. He has a lot of shirts but would need a minimum of one for every day of the work week. 

[itsheresomewhere]

Seventh generation with a scoop of biz.  I wash in warm and hang dry ( they hang in the shower or outside). 

[G5052]

I washed them with other lighter clothes (no pants) with Charlie's and used blue Dawn for stains. Always came out great! 

[brehon]

In what way(s) are they not coming clean? Ring around the collar & cuffs? Deodorant stains? Food/ink stains? Smell? I treat stains differently depending on what the stain is. 

Ring around the collar/cuffs — I use a homemade pre-treat solution, but anything like Whisk or Shout tends to work well. 

Most food stains — same as above

Ink stains — Amodex (I buy from Amazon)

Smell — first make sure the machine is clean and not stinky. Second, I use OxyClean and some liquid product I’m blanking on right now. It helps get the boy-funk out of my teen boys’ clothes. 

General wash — Tide or Arm&Hammer + Biz and the aforementioned OxyClean & smell remover liquid combo in the wash cycle. I’ll use some detergent in the pre-wash cycle. I also use white vinegar in the rinse cycle. 

And, I’ll just say it because I’ve done this more often than I care to admit, be sure to move the clothes to the dryer or hang them when the washing machine finishes as opposed to, say, a day or two later. 

ETA:  For food and other mysterious stains a Tide pen or Shout wipe is great to use for the immediate pre-clean/treat stage while at work. I have saved more uniform shirts this way. I keep these stashed in my kit at work along with a spare shirt. My uniform shirts are white with colored patches on each arm; so, I can’t use bleach, either. 

Edited October 16, 2018 by brehon
Another thought

[Ausmumof3]

We have different brands here so that’s probably not helpful.  My one tip is to encourage pure cotton shirts, nothing with elastene or synthetic fibre blended.  They seem to wash much more reliably.  

[umsami]

We wash my husband's in the normal wash cycle (although alone...just dress shirts) with Tide + Oxyclean.  (Pre-treat any stains.)  We hang them instead of putting them in the dryer.

 

He's built his wardrobe up over the years, but I'd say that guys can get by with 5.   DH? Probably 10-15, but a lot of duplicates....so three whites...three blues, etc.

His favorites are Land's End dress shirts followed by Costco.  We always buy the Land's End ones on sale. 

[Miss Tick]

DH wears mostly LLBean for fit and probably had 6-8. It never occurred to me to do anything different than all the other clothes in the house. They just go in along with jeans, pajamas, t-shirts, towels, whatever. We use Tide Free and Clear and we have soft water. After the dryer i set them aside in a gentle pile  (with pants) and he irons them, mostly touch-up level ironing. I think he should buy a new shirt every year to Smith it the spend cycle, but it doesn't always work like that.

One thing that really helped 10 years ago was top switch him from an antiperspirant to just deodorant. Something in antiperspirant was combining with his sweat to make armpit stains that we could not remove.

[LucyStoner]

The shirts are all cotton for sure.  I don’t want to wash them with everything else so that they last longer.  I used to wash everything together years ago but I realized it was messing up the collars and cuffs on my dress shirts and that light colors came out dingy.  

Cleaning issues have been ring around the collar + still being able to smell his deodorant on the pits.  

I am taking them out promptly to hang dry.

Last batch I used some oxi branded pre treat on the collars and arm pit areas and they seem much cleaner.  I also changed the cycle from delicate to warm water with an extra rinse.  

 

[umsami]

We don't have an issue with deodorant (he uses Axe), but he wears undershirts, so I think that helps as well.

[LucyStoner]

42 minutes ago, umsami said:

We don't have an issue with deodorant (he uses Axe), but he wears undershirts, so I think that helps as well.

 

He uses Dove for men.  He did switch from anti-perspirant to deodorant recently so that may help.  No undershirts, I may suggest them.  Thanks.  

[gardenmom5]

when dh had to wear a dress shirt everyday - he had to wear white shirts.

he'd drip apple juice . . . (another reason I'm not fond of the things.) - most spray on stain cleaners are worthless.   stain sticks work better.

if it was bad - I'd soak in a bucket of oxyclean.  

I have a front loader, so not as hard on clothes as an agitator.  I'd wash with costco det., another scoop of oxyclean and do a stain-pre-cycle (I have an auto dispenser) in warm water.

what kind of stains is he getting?

oily stuff is the worst - and usually has to be soaked in a bucket.

[Scarlett]

39 minutes ago, LucyStoner said:

 

He uses Dove for men.  He did switch from anti-perspirant to deodorant recently so that may help.  No undershirts, I may suggest them.  Thanks.  

I have 3 in my house who wear dress shirts 2 or 3 times a week. They all wear undershirts which I think is crucial. I use cheap soap and Downy....only trouble I have is with rings on collars on white shirts...I have never heard of using Dawn ---can't wait to try it!

[Momto6inIN]

Not to hijack the thread, but what in the world causes men to have ring around the collar?!?!? How is this funk generated? He works a desk job in a temperature controlled building, he's not out there sweating and toiling in the hot sun and dirt all day for crying out loud. ?

He wears an undershirt most of the time and I spray OxyClean on the collar and pits and it helps. I wash them with All Free and Clear with other light colors. He has probably about 10 solid color dress shirts to wear with various ties, although mostly he wears khakis with more casual patterned button downs and no tie.

[prairiewindmomma]

Dh wore dress shirts for a couple of decades until he stepped into his new role.  

1. Buy the "right" shirt.  There are a number of brands out there, and some just never looked nice and held onto stains.  We had the best luck with Kirkland Brand shirts from Costco, Stafford shirts (Kohls?), and the traveller brand from Jos A. Banks.  His wardrobe was 80% Costco shirts, though.  Dh likewise wore nearly all light blues, lavenders, and the occasional white and navy print shirt....

2. You want to wash in at least warm water, and preferably hot if you are dealing with stink and stain issues.  Stink is nearly always brought on by bacteria, and certain strains of bacteria like certain material types. I normally just use the normal cycle, but I'll put it on an extended "whitest whites" with a color catcher sheet if I'm fighting stink until we get over it.

3. Stain & stink treatment--I treat with Shout spray, add a scoop of oxyclean, and if there's buildup in the armpits, I also will use an enzymatic liquid called Biokleen Bac-Out. 

4. Detergent---we have slightly better results with name brand Tide, but I often use the Kirkland Signature generic Tide. We do ok with that for the most part---and I'll just use Tide every 4th or 5th load. 

Dh lived out of a suitcase with 5 dress shirts last winter. It's doable, but you have to keep up with the laundry.  He built up to about 10-12 shirts. He "retires" a few shirts a year due to stains or wear and add in an equal number. I sometimes buy double of favorite prints at Costco, and I generally check when I go in to see if anything is new. His shirts average about 3-4 years in his wardrobe if they are getting weekly wear.

[prairiewindmomma]

Ring around the collar is dead skin mixed with oils.  Generally exfoliating a bit by washing with a washcloth in the shower helps. 

[G5052]

4 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

I have never heard of using Dawn ---can't wait to try it!

 

We've always found that blue Dawn works on nearly everything for isolated stains, particularly if they are oily and/or have tomato in them.

Amodex for pen stains.

DS is in the National Guard and runs a lot and does weight training, and we wash his stuff separately in Charlie's with a few drops of essential oils. We air dry his ACU's. He gave up trying to get the dress shirts perfect and take those to the cleaners. He doesn't wear a dress uniform very often anyway.

[Tap]

We just use Tide free and clear.  We have Zout for the occasional spot that may need a bit of spot treatment (drop of grease etc) but for normal every day.....just Tide.  A few times per year the white ones get a long hot soak in Oxyclean or bleach to brighten them but other than that, they all stay nice. We wash dress clothes with only dress clothes or maybe a few other lightweight items like light-colored t-shirts. Never anything fuzzy. We dry like normal and press with an iron if needed. 

[katilac]

My dh is a lunatic and owns 30+ dress shirts. I would think at least 10 in case you don't get to the wash one week. 

I don't have problems and don't do anything special. All Free & Clear most of the time, only his dress shirts and nothing else, throw them in the dryer on low heat. I don't find that the dryer shortens the lifespan appreciably, his shirts last freaking forever.  

If your washing machine has the auto-fill feature, try overriding it and washing a smaller load on the "max" setting. 

[madteaparty]

Mine’s are dry cleaned (which just means washed and pressed by someone not me), but undershirts are really a must. I didn’t know you could wear shirts without one underneath ? also, I hate that he does this, but he does rewear a shirt (changing the undershirt) ?

i add a couple shirts every year 

[Momto6inIN]

1 hour ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Ring around the collar is dead skin mixed with oils.  Generally exfoliating a bit by washing with a washcloth in the shower helps. 

I have dead skin and oils too, so why is it just the men who get this? Maybe they don't scrub their necks like we do lol

[Jean in Newcastle]

2 hours ago, umsami said:

We don't have an issue with deodorant (he uses Axe), but he wears undershirts, so I think that helps as well.

Oh. I didn’t even think to mention that dh wears undershirts (V neck) under his dress shirts. I haven’t had problems with deodorant and/or smells. 

[TravelingChris]

My husband wears undershirts.  And he washes his own clothes.  He uses the Tide Free and Clear.  He doesn't stain his work clothes.  He doesn't even stain his non work clothes much either except if he is doing something actually staining. 

[LucyStoner]

5 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Ring around the collar is dead skin mixed with oils.  Generally exfoliating a bit by washing with a washcloth in the shower helps. 

 

Yes, though my husband adopted a whole body skincare routine this summer that puts mine to shame.  The ring around the collar is mostly any issue on the older shirts he has.  The newer ones seem ok there if I treat them.  

Edited October 16, 2018 by LucyStoner

[LucyStoner]

3 hours ago, Momto5inIN said:

I have dead skin and oils too, so why is it just the men who get this? Maybe they don't scrub their necks like we do lol

 

I noticed it sometimes back when I wore collared shirts. So like around 2000.  And then I started wearing silk shells and blouses rather than menswear inspired collared shirts with my business wear.  Even women’s dress clothes are mostly without a snug fitting collar.  

[LucyStoner]

2 hours ago, TravelingChris said:

And he washes his own clothes.   

I tend to wash anything that needs to see an iron or benefits greatly from being removed promptly.  He does other chores I hate, like vacuuming furniture, cleaning the cat box and most of the dishes.  

[LucyStoner]

4 hours ago, katilac said:

My dh is a lunatic and owns 30+ dress shirts. I would think at least 10 in case you don't get to the wash one week. 

I don't have problems and don't do anything special. All Free & Clear most of the time, only his dress shirts and nothing else, throw them in the dryer on low heat. I don't find that the dryer shortens the lifespan appreciably, his shirts last freaking forever.  

If your washing machine has the auto-fill feature, try overriding it and washing a smaller load on the "max" setting. 

 

I think he has 8 and I was washing them all last night?.  It looked like 10 but I pulled out two that he was hanging onto too long becuase he can no longer wear a 14.5 collar in a slim fit.  1 is in the goodwill bin, the  other was practically new and I showed him he wasn’t going to ever wear it again by giving it to our very skinny 15 year old son.  I might be a little mean.  2 are old shirts and 6 are new since July.  Because he has really long arms, we only order them where they sell custom sizes or else the sleeves are just too short.  He used to get shirts from Lands End Custom but they stopped offfering that so most all come from Charles Tyrwhitt.  

[Meriwether]

I just wash with the rest of the laundry with an off brand detergent. It hasn't been a problem. Dh does wear undershirts, which do get nasty stains in the armpits.

[KungFuPanda]

I use the stain thing with the scrubbie end. Undershirts are important and so is getting rid of gel deodorants. It’s great if you have a toploader because you can soak before washing. Adding vinegar or ammonia to the soak can help too. 

I don’t believe front loaders are gentler on clothes. The cycles are SO much longer and there’s friction that entire time. 

Edited October 17, 2018 by KungFuPanda

[Scarlett]

18 hours ago, LucyStoner said:

I tend to wash anything that needs to see an iron or benefits greatly from being removed promptly.  He does other chores I hate, like vacuuming furniture, cleaning the cat box and most of the dishes.  

I do my dh’s  laundry. And he does all sorts of things for me.  But I love laundry.  ☺️ 

I do wonder how so many get away with washing all clothes together.  My dss does that and his dress shirts look horrible.  I can barely take it.