Marked Man

September 20, 2008 12:12 PM

I left the collar stays in my shirt when I sent it to the laundry, and now there are marks on the collar. How do I get rid of the marks?

The marks are the shape as the collar stays and slightly shiny. I think that the marks won't be noticed in most lighting, but I'd still rather wipe them away. They appeared on Banana Republic (100% cotton) shirts. Since the marks appeared, I've sent the shirts back to the wash, without the stays, but the marks persisted. Anyone have experience with this?

posted by bargex to clothing, beauty, & fashion (3 comments total)

I'd take them back to the laundry and let them do it, they'll be able to do it more confidently than you can. They should have noticed the stays were in to begin with.
posted by [NOT HERMITOSIS-IST] at 12:18 PM on September 20, 2008

I would point the marks out to your cleaner; they should be able to fix them, since they should have in their arsenal of cleaning products a brass bristle brush for taking the shine off suits that are ironed without a pressing cloth. Failing that, you could try getting a brass bristle brush to get the marks off yourself, but it might ruin the shirt if you rub too much or too hard.
posted by Lycaste at 12:46 PM on September 20, 2008

They will probably go away the next time the shirt is laundered. Usually it is just the shirt being pressed into that shape so rewetting and ironing gets it back to normal. It can, though, permanently affect the fibers over the stay in some instances in which case the marks may not completely disappear. This is not a stain or something that detergents, cleaners etc. will affect although the shininess likely comes from overheated starch. Unless that starch has burned it should rinse out in the next wash easily. I would take it back to the dry cleaner though as they will likely re-launder and press the shirt for you for no charge. Oh, and I have always understood that it was my responsibility, not theirs, to remove collar stays prior to laundering.
posted by caddis at 7:57 AM on September 21, 2008