Recurring folds in my shirts

February 22, 2009 9:52 PM

Sometimes after I buy a shirt there's this sudden fold that happens along front placket. I can iron it, but it takes time and ends up not looking nice and just comes back anyway. What is likely causing this to happen? Is there any way for me to prevent it? Here's a picture.
posted by apetpsychic to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (8 answers total)

That's been covered on askme before. Basically it came down to: There's little to be done about it because the fold is caused by the way the material was sewn.
posted by 517 at 10:11 PM on February 22, 2009

Perhaps a few invisible stitches will help keep the fold in place. Pass the needle and thread through the inside of the shirt and just catch one side of the fold. Pass back and secure. Repeat every couple of inches.

Good luck.
posted by Ophelia at 1:58 AM on February 23, 2009

Best answer: 517 is right. I have found that all kinds of placket wrinkling can be minimized (but not eliminated) by washing shirts inside-out with all the buttons done up. Takes a few extra minutes when undressing or loading the washer, but it's worth the savings in ironing time.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:13 AM on February 23, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ironing while your shirts are still damp can help. Also having them professionally laundered usually has better results than anything you can do at home.
posted by electroboy at 6:24 AM on February 23, 2009

Best answer: I'm not terribly picky about wrinkles and such, but, yeah, I get that too. What I do is spray some starch along the placket, hang the shirt on a hanger, then sort of pull and coax the wrinkle out the best I can. It works OK, if, like me, you're not terribly picky.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:07 AM on February 23, 2009

Rock Steady's answer really helps, as does always buttoning those buttons when hanging up the shirt. It's also good to use hangers that have a bit of a "neck", like these.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:50 AM on February 23, 2009

You can try tricks but they usually come back. Try lining up your shirts in your closet, with the ones that have these problems on one side and the ones that you've never had a hitch with on the other. In general, have you paid more for the ones with no problems? Therein lies your answer.
posted by allkindsoftime at 10:25 AM on February 23, 2009

This used to drive me nuts. Women's blouses are particularly prone to this, especially the "stretch cotton" ones that have recently become popular. My solution was to haunt thrift stores for high-quality men's dress shirts in small/boy's sizes, but that may not be your preference.

A friend of mine who is a seamstress says this phenomenon is usually the result of the seam threads shrinking and/or being too tight. It is caused by one or more of several factors:

- Over tensioned thread in the initial sewing process
- Using cheap seam thread and / or subpar / poorly matched materials
- Washing in too-hot water or washing out of compliance with manufacturer's specification.

The above answers re: starch and washing inside-out with placket buttoned are both excellent solutions. To avoid this problem in the first place, you could also buy higher quality, and keep an eye out for not washing "too hot".
posted by lonefrontranger at 12:34 PM on February 25, 2009