# Dress Shirts-To Starch Or Not To Starch...



## Jaxson613 (Oct 17, 2008)

...that is the question. I send my dress shirts out to be laundered, and usually have them lightly starched. However, I just popped for a T&A Sea Isle Cotton shirt- the fabric is INCREDIBLY soft, and it got me thinking - will I lose that feel if it's starched? That leads me to- what's the consensus here regarding laundered shirts and starch?
I'll take my answer off the air.......


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## LaoHu (Sep 16, 2006)

*Widely discussed in previous threads...*

Search function should yield plenty of opinions. Since I started AAAC, it's been "no starch please" for me.


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## Country Irish (Nov 10, 2005)

This is just my belief regarding starch. I do not starch unless a specific occasion calls for a very crisp shirt. Then I rewash, starch and iron for that one occasion. This is rare.
I believe that if I wanted a stiffer fabric I should just buy the shirt that has stiffer cloth. Starch is a cheap substitute for substantial fabric. Think of Kmart shirts and how they loose their original crispness so quickly as they are washed.
As for your particular shirt, that is up to you. I suspect you will find it stiffer and wearing out very quickly with starch.


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## rbstc123 (Jun 13, 2007)

No starch for me please.:icon_smile_big:


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

Do them myself.

No starch, please!


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## StephenRG (Apr 7, 2005)

No starch. I dislike the feel, and it makes the fibres brittle, so considerably shortening the life of the shirt. Good cotton doesn't crease so much it should be an issue, and when a starched shirt gets creased, boy, do those creases look terrible.


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## alphadelta (Oct 2, 2007)

I wash my dress shirts and let them hang dry. Prior to ironing, I mist them with a sprayer, use a little spray starch (Niagara), roll them in a ball to distribute the moisture and starch then iron. I realize most posters here are against starch, but I feel a bit of spray starch adds a touch of crispness and does not adversely affect the fabric. Just my method.

AD


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## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

Light starch, please.


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## JayJay (Oct 8, 2007)

No starch for my shirts.


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## dfloyd (May 7, 2006)

*Adding starch to shirts started when collars .... were detachable....*

Later on, broadcloth white shirts were starched so they would maintain their crispness. Starch is no longer needed or desired in fine shirts. Hardly anyone has a closet full of broadcloth shirts these days. Shirts come in a variety of different weaves such as poplin, twill, etc. These shirts do not require starch, and, in fact, look better without starch. You are right. It would be a sacrilege to starch a T & A Sea Island cotton. It is a near sacrilege to send a shirt of that quality to a commercial laundry.


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## Prisoner of Zendaline (Dec 8, 2008)

The _how-to-dress _books used to caution against starch, because it shortened the life of the shirt. Too, starch interferes with breathablity, and so is not a good idea during the worst months of summer.

But looking good is a more important objective in menswear than longevity. A heavily-starched shirt will make your upper body seem bigger. V-shaped men are more attractive. One reason Western wear makes men look so good is the fact that those heavily-starched shirts create the illusion of v-shaped bodies.

So here's my rule: Starch for shirts that will be the outer layer of clothing, and no starch for shirts that will be covered by a jacket.

However, I have a batch of Zendaline shirts, from the much-mourned Sulka, which are only presentable when their collars and cuffs are heavily starched. Starch for collars and cuffs, only, is a fairly common request for launderers.


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## Thomas Hart (Dec 1, 2008)

It depends, but in general I thoroughly enjoy the look of very, very crisp shirt. 
I miss Sulka. (insert inane sad smiley face).


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## gnatty8 (Nov 7, 2006)

I always ask for no starch, just personal preference.. I have heard starch can be hard on shirts, but I never keep mine long enough for this to be a worry, lol


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## mrkleen (Sep 21, 2007)

Starch is hard on my shirts and hard on my neck. No thanks.


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## joeyzaza (Dec 9, 2005)

Starch? Yes and heavy. Love the starch. Especially on broadcloaths and pinpoints.


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## HISMES PARIS (Mar 26, 2008)

Ever seen Office Space? Think Milton on the beach in the final scene (I said no starch, noo starch!). And Dfloyd brings up an interesting point about not sending high quality shirts to a commercial cleaner. I agree that they're hard on them and they frequently press my collar over the seam and the collars come out triangular, all of which I hate, but I simply do not have time to engage in anything like what alphadelta mentioned. Any recommendations on how to either get shirts cleaned with love, or do them yourself with a modicum of time outlay?


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## Jim In Sunny So Calif (May 13, 2006)

mrkleen said:


> Starch is hard on my shirts and hard on my neck. No thanks.


Those are the two excellent reasons why I have never had anything starched since I got out of the Army in 1956. Most of us had our fatigues starched while in the service and I have enjoyed not having any garment starched since that time.


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## Blueboy1938 (Aug 17, 2008)

Since most "good" shirts have collar stays, the need for starch to hold the collar in shape is really no longer necessary. Starching the body of a shirt can make it chafe, especially in humid weather. Since all my shirts are done in house and not by a laundry, the only shirts that get any starch are formal ones with a spritz of spray starch while ironing them. Then it's just the collar, cuffs, and pleated or piquet fronts.

And, yes, after three years of "breaking starch" in the army, I don't miss it at all.


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## Jim In Sunny So Calif (May 13, 2006)

I understand that the Army no longer allows the BDUs, or whatever the current name is, to be starched. Apparently starch makes them reflective to night vision devices.

I was told that they no longer polish their boots, but I can't remember the reason for that.


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## Mr. Mick (Nov 18, 2008)

Starch never have I and never will I.


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## Miket61 (Mar 1, 2008)

I do light starch.

This was recent a source of contention with a lady friend - she would have her husband's shirts done with heavy starch because she thought it was more elegant and formal. I told her not to because it wears out the shirt and makes it less breathable. She accused me of having a superior attitude and thinking she was ignorant.

The irony is that we had the same conversation regarding the shirts of her previous husband, and she accepted the advice and changed over.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Used to lightly starch, years ago when shirts were sent to the laundry...looked great, felt terrible! As for now...I'm not really sure...my shirts are laundered at home but, the wife's still asleep (it's just a bit past 0600 hrs.)...and I'm not going to wake her to ask!


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## Frank aka The Minotaur (Nov 12, 2004)

joeyzaza said:


> Starch? Yes and heavy. Love the starch. Especially on broadcloaths and pinpoints.


Almost exactly the same for me:
Starch? Yes and *medium*. Love the starch. Especially on broadcloaths and pinpoints.


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## dhuge677 (May 16, 2012)

Jim In Sunny So Calif said:


> I understand that the Army no longer allows the BDUs, or whatever the current name is, to be starched. Apparently starch makes them reflective to night vision devices.
> 
> I was told that they no longer polish their boots, but I can't remember the reason for that.


Because the boots are suede now!


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## StylinLa (Feb 15, 2009)

I used to love putting on a professional laundry starched shirt, but came to the conclusion as many here noted, it seems to wear the shirts out faster, a lot faster. It was also much harsher in the neck, leading to irritation.

Lastly, depending on how heavy handed they were with the starch, it would sort of lead to creases that look almost like cracks in the shirt after you were wearing for awhile. 

I tend to think between shirt quality and modern laudries, the shirts look just fine without starch.

Having said all that, if and when I do my own shirts, I do use a little Niagra assist, but I don't think that is anywhere near even a "light starch" from a laundry.


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## mhdena (Jan 4, 2008)

I stopped starching and asking for starch 20 years ago when I noticed them wearing more quickly. I still have many of the more expensive Robert Talbott shirts I bought 17 years ago.


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## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

From the T*he Encyclopedia of Men's Clothes*, Clothes Care Chapter:

_Laundry starch comes from the complex carbohydrate manufactured by plants! Commercial starch is obtained by crushing or grinding starch containing tubers or seeds, and mixing the pulp with water. Corn provides 80% of commercial starch. The corn is soaked in water for 48 hours, then ground and carefully strained. The mixture is allowed to settle in vats, and then is washed, and bleached. The resulting paste is freed of impurities and then dried.

*There are some advantages to using starch on dress shirts:*_

_Starch gives a crisp look to your shirts._
_Starch makes ironing easier by eliminating iron drag_
_The moisture in the starch provides steam when you iron so you can use a lower steam setting on the iron._
_Starch provides some protection to fabrics from stains._
_Starched clothing can keep you cooler, since starched clothing allows more air to pass through it._
_*And a disadvantage: *_

_Fraying! After months of starching, residue builds up in the collars, cuffs, and seams where the there is a double layer of fabric and difficult to flush clean. Starch dries out the threads until they eventually snap or fray. This can reduce the garment's lifetime._


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## fishertw (Jan 27, 2006)

I use light starch in most.Just habit from teenage years in the 60's.
At my age, I do not really worry about wearing out shirts.


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## vonSuess (Apr 29, 2017)

Reasonably light starch for me. I don't need these shirts to last forever, although it seems like they do...


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## challer (Sep 4, 2008)

Starch for black and white tie, and for when I am addressing large audiences. Otherwise no. Now I get my shirts done at a service and there is no doubt there is some amount starch getting in them from common washers and the presses.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

My dress shirts get hit with a light starching, as the wife irons them, but when she irons my vented fishing shirts the rule is....No starch!


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## challer (Sep 4, 2008)

eagle2250 said:


> My dress shirts get hit with a light starching, as the wife irons them, but when she irons my vented fishing shirts the rule is....No starch!


She irons your fishing shirts? Man you got it made!


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## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

challer said:


> She irons your fishing shirts? Man you got it made!


challer: Maybe we misunderstood. eagle2250 may have *phishing* shirts! ??


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## Dcr5468 (Jul 11, 2015)

no starch - my wife claims she “can’t” iron so I have done my own for 10 years since I started investing in nicer shirts. They get beat to death at the cleaners. I actually enjoy it


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## Dhaller (Jan 20, 2008)

My father used to spray his shirts with starch and *refrigerate* them (???), and when he ironed them they were like thin cardboard or stiff paper. I've never felt more uncomfortable in a shirt in my life.

(He ironed his socks as well... the man left nothing to chance!)

Naturally, I went for the opposite extreme: I never starch my dress shirts at all. I iron them, and they look fine, and then they wrinkle when I put them on. I am at peace with this.

When I used to take dress shirts in by the sackful to the laundry, I used to request light starch on the cuffs and collars, but not on the shirt. I think they adhered to this maybe 10% of the time, but I always requested it. Now that I launder my shirts? No bother.

DH


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## Vecchio Vespa (Dec 3, 2011)

I grew up in the world where OCBDs were not starched but formal shirts were. After school I entered the world of big banks and law firms, and for the seventies and eighties the look was professionally starched, even OCBDs! When I moved into government I reverted to no starch except for a light spritz from a weak solution of Niagra in a spray bottle for collars, cuffs, and plackets, if needed. Now that I am retired I'll iron an OCBD the same way if I am going to wear a tie with it, but otherwise I enjoy the comfort of unironed OCBDs (yes, the kind that are unlined, unfused, and have no treatment to prevent wrinkles). I still own one point collar French cuff broadcloth for things like weddings and funerals, and it goes out for laundering and gets lightly starched.


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