execshirts
Execshirts Custom Fabric Care

Fabric Care For Dress Shirts

Try Execshirts Custom Made Shirts With Free Shipping

How To Care For Shirts

All of the shirts we sell can either be laundered at home or commercially dry cleaned. One very important rule to note is that the shirts we sell MUST BE laundered/dry cleaned BEFORE they are worn. The reason for this is all our shirts are not pre-washed, so the fibers have not tightened and the shirts will shrink some after cleaning. Natural fibers such as Cotton or Linen will shrink more than Cotton/Poly mix shirts. If you wear your shirts before you launder/clean them, some of your stains may become imbedded in the fabric fibers and will not come out. Each of the different fabrics that we use in our shirts has a different set of cleaning/laundering instructions. To know what type of fabric was used on your shirts, refer to your invoice generated at the time you ordered or our web site; do not refer to the Commercial Invoice inserted in the package; that is for customs' purposes only.

If you are going to be Dry Cleaning your shirts make sure that you use a reputable and professional Dry Cleaner that understands the differences in dry cleaning different fabrics. If you are going to be laundering your shirts at home, the usual laundry rules apply, we will re-cap them below:

    •  Sort articles of clothing by color, keeping whites, darks, brights, and medium colors separate.

    •  Wash heavily soiled items separately from slightly soiled items.

    •  Pre-treat stains before you wash to prevent them from setting.

    •  Leave space for your clothing and detergent to move freely in the washing machine for better cleaning, do not overload the machine.

    •  Add detergent to water before placing shirts in machine; failure to do so can lead to fabric discoloration in some instances due to the chemicals contained in the detergent.

    •  Wash garments which generally lint, such as fleece sweatshirts, flannels and chenille robes, separately.

    •  Keep your Brights vibrant by turning shirts inside out before washing.

    •  Dry just long enough to remove wrinkles and moisture. If left in too long, the heat can actually shrink your shirts and set wrinkles.

    •  Remove garments from the dryer immediately, put them on hangers or fold them neatly right away.

Specific Cleaning Information For Specific Shirt Fabrics

Custom Shirt Swatches

Below you will find some fabric specific cleaning instructions for your shirts, use these instructions in conjunction with the fabric definitions on our web site to properly care for your shirts.

Cotton Dress Shirts

Cotton creases on washing and wrinkles when worn, it requires some ironing. Cotton is a natural fiber that "breathes" which makes it cooler to wear than a cotton/poly mix, but makes it more susceptible to wrinkling. Many colored cottons fabrics are non-colorfast so wash them separately when new. Cotton is weakened and may be destroyed by contact with acids - even mild ones like fruit juice - if left for long periods. Wash out any staining immediately.

    •  Cotton can be easily laundered, it can withstand warm temperatures

    •  Any good detergent can be used to wash cotton.

    •  Chlorine bleach can be used safely on cotton whites, use color safe bleach on dyed cottons.

    •  Since cotton fibers are natural fibers these shirts will breathe, but will also wrinkle easily so they will require ironing.

    •  A higher heat setting is needed in the dryer to dry cotton. Cotton will take much longer to dry than less absorbent fibers, but do not set the temperature too high or dry the shirts for too long, or it will create excessive shrinkage.

    •  Cotton can be ironed with a hot iron.

Linen Shirts

In general, linen fabrics do not soil easily. Our linens can be safely washed using a normal wash cycle, but will definitely need ironing. Linen shirts will need to be washed a couple of times to "soften" up the fabric some. Our Linen shirts will shrink depending on how much you wash and dry them, to avoid excess shrinkage try dry cleaning. Dry cleaning them always will not get that initial softening effect you need, so they should be washed a couple of times at first if you plan to dry clean them always.

    •  Both our regular Linen shirts and Deluxe Linen shirts can be washed easily and become softer with use.

    •  You can use gentle bleach in small amounts on your White Linen shirts.

    •  If you wash and dry your Linen shirts at home there is a tendency for colored shirts to fade.

    •  Generally speaking, dry cleaning is recommended if you do not want to see a lot of shrinkage or fading with your Linen shirts.

    •  Linen fabrics will need frequent ironing to reduce wrinkling.

Cotton/Polyester Shirts

Items made from a Cotton/Polyester mix are considered "wrinkle resistant". The lower the Cotton content in the shirt (e.g. 60/40 versus 80/20) the less the shirts will wrinkle. You can wash and wear Cotton/Polyester shirts with minimal or no ironing. You can dry clean these shirts but it is not really needed.

    •  Use warm water and add a fabric softener if you choose.

    •  Machine dry at low temperature setting and remove articles as soon as the tumbling cycle is complete.

    •  If ironing is needed, use a moderately warm iron.

    •  Our Cotton/Poly shirts can be dry cleaned if you wish.

    •  Follow all other laundering instructions mentioned at the beginning.

Silk Shirts

All of Silk shirts are made from 100% Hand-Woven Thai Silk. You should always treat your Silk shirts as a "delicate" item. Never use any kind of bleach on your Silk shirts. Dry-cleaning is preferable, but some garments can be gently washed in a neutral detergent, such as the special wool washes. The washing and rinsing temperature should always be warm, never hot. Spot cleaning tends to leave rings and should be avoided. After washing, hang briefly to remove excess water and press or roll between towels. Avoid steam pressing or sprinkling with water because it may cause water marks. Iron shirts on the inside - it stops the fabric getting a glossy look if the iron is a hot.

    •  Dry cleaning is the preferable method to use

    •  You can hand wash with a gentle detergent such as Woolite.

    •  You can machine wash and dry as long as you treat the shirts as an extremely "delicate" item.

    •  Do not use a hot temperature in either washing or drying since it can damage the fabric.

    •  Do not use bleach on any Silk shirts.