Caring For Your Vintage Shirts

Posted on: 19 September 2019

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Vintage shirts can be an extremely comfortable and stylish type of clothing to wear. However, any vintage garment will have some special care needs if you are to maximize the life of it by reducing the wear that it experiences. Here are a few ways you can care for the shirts you get at your local vintage clothing store.

Protect Any Embroidery Or Print

Vintage shirts will often include embroidery or prints on them, and these can be distinctive markers for it. As a result, you should take particular care to avoid causing excessive wear to these parts of the garment when you are washing it. One way to do this will be to turn the shirts inside out when you are washing them as this can reduce the friction that the print or embroidery experiences during the wash. Some individuals may also choose to apply a fabric guard to the embroidery or the print of these shirts, as these substances can help to protect the vulnerable part of the shirt against stains.

Always Use Cold Water To Wash The Vintage Shirts

Whenever you are washing your vintage garments, they should be washed in cold water. Warm water can be more effective at removing some types of soil and stains from the garments, but it can cause far more wear to the fabrics. Furthermore, the warm water can also degrade the color of the shirt more rapidly than cold water will.

Hang The Shirt To Dry

A dryer will be extremely damaging to vintage shirts as the intense heat can rapidly degrade the fibers in the garment. Hanging the shirt and allowing it to air dry can be some of the most effective options for reducing the risk of the garment suffering needless wear from drying. To help speed up this drying process, the shirt should be placed in a well-ventilated area. If you have to hang the shirt inside to dry, you can position a small fan to blow towards it. This moving air can rapidly speed up the drying process.

Properly Store The Vintage Shirt Between Uses

A major source of severe wear to vintage garments can be improperly storing them. When individuals store these garments in areas that may allow them to remain damp for long periods of time or to be exposed to sunlight for extended periods, the garment will be far more likely to suffer noticeable damage. In particular, the garment could fade due to exposure to either sunlight or moisture. Additionally, prolonged moisture exposure can allow the garment to develop mold, mildew, or even rot.