Keep Your Shirts Looking Fresh

For men, looking good is important. Wearing a dress shirt, also called a formal shirt, is a great way to ensure a smart look. Formal shirts are fantastically versatile because, although they are intended for use with suits and formal clothing, they also look great with jeans, and other types of informal clothing. There are a few things to consider when wearing formal shirts however, and here, we look at a few key considerations.

Thread Count

Firstly, you must choose your shirt carefully. Colour and size are important, but to create a high-quality look you really must choose a decent material with the correct thread count.

Thread count refers to the number of threads in fabric per square inch, the more thread there is per square inch, the softer the shirt and the higher the quality.

The more threads there are per square inch, the finer the shirt appears, and the softer the shirt feels against the skin. In general, you need to look for a shirt with a thread count of around 150 per square inch.

Shirt Maintenance

Once you have bought the shirt – having made sure the fit is good, the colour suitable, and the material of sufficient quality – you need to ensure that the shirt is well looked after, and loses none of its original character. Clearly, this means washing the shirt carefully.

Always follow the instructions that appear on the label. If the shirt is coloured, make sure that you use a washing powder that is specifically designed for coloured clothing. Ensure that you set the temperature on your washing machine to its lowest possible level. Set spin and dry settings (although it is better to allow the shirt to dry naturally, rather than to tumble dry it) to delicate.

Ironing

Again, when ironing the shirt, make sure that you follow the manufacturer's recommended settings. A great tip when ironing is to double check for stains, if the shirt is stained and then ironed, the stain is much more likely to become permanent. Use the spray setting on the iron to allow for better wrinkle removal and hang the shirt as soon as you have ironed it.

Many people will add starch to their irons to ensure that shirts have a crisp finish, particularly around the collar. This however should be avoided as the starch may damage the shirt. Rather, use collar stays to make sure the collar is sharp and straight (see below for further information).

Collar Stay:

Most shirts come with pockets under the collar in which to insert a collar stay. Collar stays are normally made from plastic or metal, and are slid inside the wings of the collar on either side and keep the collar in place.

Two different types of collar stays exist, removable and permanent.

Permanent stays, as the name implies, are sewn into the shirt and cannot be removed. These stays tend to be made from plastic and are normally found on the cheaper styles of shirts.

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Removable collar stays are interchangeable, as the stays lose their functionality, they can be replaced with new ones, making them much better for the shirt as the overall attractiveness of the shirt will endure for a longer period. For further information, visit http://www.qstays.com/