# Ironing a "non-iron" shirt?



## dawgvet (Mar 15, 2009)

I have a oxford cloth shirt that is labeled non-iron and I am wondering if I can iron it? The label for fabric care has an iron symbol with "150 degrees C" inside it. I washed and dried it but it doesn't look crisp. Any input appreciated.
Thanks,
Jedidiah


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## Hanzo (Sep 9, 2009)

Yes, I do it all the time.


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

I iron all of mine with a steam iron. Never a problem.


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## dawgvet (Mar 15, 2009)

Thanks for the input. I just wanted to make sure no deleterious effects would pop up later.
Jedidiah


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## Starch (Jun 28, 2010)

It may depend on exactly what sort of non-iron shirt you have.

The "old-fashioned" (old, here, being used in a relative sense) no-iron shirt didn't need ironing because it was made, in whole or in part, of polyster, rather than cotton.

The newer no-iron shirts that have popped up at Brooks Brothers and all over the place in recent years are 100% cotton, and get their wrinkle-resistance from a semi-mysterious chemical treatment of the fabric.

The symbol you refer to suggests it's a polyster shirt or a polyester blend. You can still iron it, but do so as the symbol suggests: limit the heat of the iron to 150 degrees centigrade. If your iron - like the typical consumer clothes iron - doesn't have temperatures in degrees on it, use the polyester setting.

So far as I know, there's no problem with ironing the newer 100% cotton no-iron shirts. Indeed, the care label sometimes says something like "touch up with iron as needed." Then again, the chemical process is somewhat mysterious, and it may vary from maker to maker. It's possible that a hot iron might degrade the non-iron properties, or (if you want to get scary about it) release something noxious. I don't think so, though.


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## dawgvet (Mar 15, 2009)

Thankfully this shirt, thanks to my education here at AAAC, is 100% cotton Nautica oxford. Thank you for the replies.
Jedidiah


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