LITTLE ROCK — Q. I like my dress shirts to look sharp, but it seems that having them starched is taking a heavy toll on them. Over time, the collars have developed some type of stain, and I often have to replace the little sleeve buttons on the cuffs. Am I better off only having the shirts laundered and pressed, omitting the starch?
A. I think you are better off finding another dry cleaner/ laundry. Yours seems to be taking too little care in the laundering process and putting too much pressure on the ironing of your shirts. While it’s true that starch does take more of a toll on shirts than “no starch,” it is not true that having a shirt starched should cause such havoc.
A lot of men dislike the stiffness of a starched shirt. Others find that light starch for dress shirts gives them a little bit of crispness and keeps their shirts looking fresh. If you don’t like to look wrinkled by the end of the day and prefer to have your shirts starched, a top-quality laundry should be able to accommodate your exact preference. Though a midlevel cleaning place may only offer “starch” or “no-starch” service, the finer establishments will take your order for “no starch,” “light starch,” “medium starch” or “heavy starch.” (Heavier starch tends to break down the fibers more, especially on the fold of a French cuff and on the collar at the back of the neck.) There is yet another category of how to starch a shirt that most fine hand laundries and the rare commercial laundry can handle — starching only the collars and cuffs. I would advise trying a variety of strengths and determining which results you prefer. Still, as with hamburgers, “having it your way” is more expensive than the one-way-fits-all type of service.
Personally, I find the neatness of a lightly starched finish worth whatever eventual erosion of material may occur. Of course, it also helps to have enough shirts to rotate so that each one is worn fewer times and laundered less often.
In previous years, a few readers have berated me for my remarks about seeking out and patronizing a top quality (and therefore, a more expensive) dry cleaner/laundry. When I have written about upscale professional cleaners who carefully stuff the sleeves of pressed garments with tissue paper and provide other refined services as well, these readers have complained that they would rather take their cleaned garments off of the wire hangers and re-hang them at home than pay the extra cost for such meticulous service. That is certainly every person’s right. But I don’t agree.
After I have taken the considerable time and effort to find the perfect garment (even possibly paying a bit too much for it), I want it to continue to look good for a long time. I believe the professional cleaner/launderer who takes extra time packaging my garment is not doing so as a cosmetic device. In all likelihood, he also pre-spots garments before cleaning them, uses better quality cleaning fluids, changes his solutions more frequently, hires skilled pressers, and generally provides better overall care and service. And often he has upgraded his system to use the new environmentally friendly “green” solvents. I feel that his slightly higher prices are a worthwhile expense. My clothes will not only look better, but will last longer.
Along the same lines, to answer your question about the stains your shirts have developed on the collar, my dry cleaner tells me it has nothing to do with starching and everything to do with the cleaning and bleaching solutions your cleaner uses.
Incidentally, really good laundries do not press shirts so the sleeve buttons get knocked off. But if, on occasion, this does happen, they should automatically replace them without your having to request it or even without your knowledge.
Send your questions for Male Call to:
lois.fenton@prodigy.net
High Profile, Pages 41 on 07/22/2012