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Pauly Chase said:
Might try on my BB shirt this weekend. I have heard of borax/lemon juice combo. I have a Dior white shirt that has yellowed a bit over the years, want to whiten it a bit.
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Head to Home Depot and get some trisodium phosphate, a surfactant , and toss a tablespoon or so in with each load.
I have a bar of RIT Whitener & Brightener that I'm going to use on my next all-white load. Supposedly extended soaking is imperative.

The main thing about dryers is that any detergent residue left in the clothing gets cooked in, in much the same way that one must heat-set tea-dying to make it permanent.
 
Russell Street said:
Head to Home Depot and get some trisodium phosphate, a surfactant , and toss a tablespoon or so in with each load.
I have a bar of RIT Whitener & Brightener that I'm going to use on my next all-white load. Supposedly extended soaking is imperative.

The main thing about dryers is that any detergent residue left in the clothing gets cooked in, in much the same way that one must heat-set tea-dying to make it permanent.
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White vinegar works well as a fabric rinse. You can put it in a downy ball of you have a spin washer.
 
Rambo said:
White vinegar works well as a fabric rinse. You can put it in a downy ball of you have a spin washer.
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If using a commercial machine that won't let you stop it, would you put vinegar in the bleach or the fabric softener hole?
 
Arnathor said:
Well, I have plenty of white OCBDs and I can't see any damage. The worse 'damage' is collar and sleeve staining. Uh, yeah, some times buttons get cracked. If you can line/air dry that's obviously better. Can't line dry in the mid of feburary.
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I assume you don't have tub shower with a shower curtain you can dry on?
 
Is there such thing as a drying rack that is not wobbly and made from low-grade junk wood/plastic/metal? Everyone I've ever seen was so shoddy and disposable as to not merit a purchase.
 
Russell Street said:
Is there such thing as a drying rack that is not wobbly and made from low-grade junk wood/plastic/metal? Everyone I've ever seen was so shoddy and disposable as to not merit a purchase.
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I've got a cheap wobbly wire one I got many many years ago - still working. Just plonk it over a heating vent in winter. Folds away easy when not in use.
 
Pauly - you do sound like you don't iron stuff?

Get a small folding or wooden ironing board that you can sit on your dining table. If you don't iron much consider a travel iron - but basic irons are cheap.

Washing shirts - the main danger is letting stains set on collar and armpits, washing in too hot water, thrashing around in machine and especially thrashing around in a hot dryer. Just think about it. All the stress on the material. Laundry bags help mitigate friction on shirt in washing and drying in tumbler. Tumble drying is your enemy.

To avoid stains setting - wash as soon as possible after wearing. If you cant wash straight away then soak immediately after taking shirt off. Which naturally you will do, with your dress shirt, very shortly after walking in the door and changing. Just throwing in a bucket of ordinary old water is fine. Avoid dry cleaning. Dry cleaning will set sweat etc stains.

My tip if you are living alone in an apartment is get a wide bucket - place it near shower, each night chuck your shirt into bucket full of water. When having a shower in morning - wash shirt by hand when you are in the shower. Rinse well and hang WET on hanger, plastic NOT WIRE, over bath/shower - generally by the end of the day the shirt will be dry. And with a bit of luck due to drip dry relatively free of wrinkle if you hang it right.

Every now and then soak shirts, particularity white ones, over night in Napisan or whatever they sell in USA to stop yellowing. Don't use bleach..
 
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Arnathor said:
Well, I have plenty of white OCBDs and I can't see any damage. The worse 'damage' is collar and sleeve staining. Uh, yeah, some times buttons get cracked. If you can line/air dry that's obviously better. Can't line dry in the mid of feburary.
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You're a funny bugger.
You cant see any damage - EXCEPT collar AND sleeve staining AND cracked buttons.

WTF?
 
fxh said:
You're a funny bugger.
You cant see any damage - EXCEPT collar AND sleeve staining AND cracked buttons.

WTF?
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I shouldn't have to explain myself to you, but I will, okay.
I used the wrong wording, alright? I meant to say I treat the collar and cuff stains with the Laundress and then put them through the washing machine, that cleans them pretty well.

And yes, a few buttons have cracked here and there, but if that happens I snip it off and sew a replacement on.

Sorry to write the F-bomb a couple times, I clearly didn't proof read what I wrote earlier.
 
Rambo said:
Yes, Borax is very safe. Whether it whitens significantly is up for debate. A common additive is 1/2c borax and 1/2c white vinegar. Oxygenated bleach (Oxy-Clean types) also work well to whiten fabrics.
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Be careful with the vinegar, for it can damage mop buttons
 
Rambo said:
Interesting. I had no idea about that. Is that conclusive or more of a random thing?
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Pearl is calcium carbonate. Vinegar has acetic acid. Acetic acid will dissolve calcium carbonate over time.

Think using acid (vinegar) to dissolve limescale. Same thing kind of
 
Thruth said:
Pearl is calcium carbonate. Vinegar has acetic acid. Acetic acid will dissolve calcium carbonate over time.

Think using acid (vinegar) to dissolve limescale. Same thing kind of
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I understand the science but I phrased the question poorly as I was rushing. I was wondering whether he had seen that in every instance, only with cheaper buttons, etc..

So if vinegar is out, I don't have a good soap residue rinse for shirts.
 
Thruth said:
Pearl is calcium carbonate. Vinegar has acetic acid. Acetic acid will dissolve calcium carbonate over time.

Think using acid (vinegar) to dissolve limescale. Same thing kind of
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Putting that practical chemistry knowledge to use. Thank you Common Core.
 
Rambo said:
I understand the science but I phrased the question poorly as I was rushing. I was wondering whether he had seen that in every instance, only with cheaper buttons, etc..
So if vinegar is out, I don't have a good soap residue rinse for shirts.
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Run them through a warm wash every now and then. Or Napisan soak seems to get rid of it.

You need to run the machine through a HOT wash ever so often too to stop build up of grease and crap. Like de calcifying the coffee machine. I either do it with some dirty work clothes (not my suit and tie work) or do it on empty
 
Rambo said:
I understand the science but I phrased the question poorly as I was rushing. I was wondering whether he had seen that in every instance, only with cheaper buttons, etc..

So if vinegar is out, I don't have a good soap residue rinse for shirts.
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At the beginning I was using a little vinegar for the same reason ( soap residue) and I did not notice any problem; however, when I started experimenting with vinegar and ammonia to get ridden of sweat from the armpit I noticed the problem with the buttons.
On the web a lot of people suggest to use vinegar to clean sweat and grease and it works fine with plastic buttons.
Again, is probably ok in low concentration, that half a cup you use mixed with all the gallons of water in your washer should not be a problem.
In case you need buttons, Sarto can provide few kilos...
 
fxh said:
Pauly - you do sound like you don't iron stuff?

Get a small folding or wooden ironing board that you can sit on your dining table. If you don't iron much consider a travel iron - but basic irons are cheap.

Washing shirts - the main danger is letting stains set on collar and armpits, washing in too hot water, thrashing around in machine and especially thrashing around in a hot dryer. Just think about it. All the stress on the material. Laundry bags help mitigate friction on shirt in washing and drying in tumbler. Tumble drying is your enemy.

To avoid stains setting - wash as soon as possible after wearing. If you cant wash straight away then soak immediately after taking shirt off. Which naturally you will do, with your dress shirt, very shortly after walking in the door and changing. Just throwing in a bucket of ordinary old water is fine. Avoid dry cleaning. Dry cleaning will set sweat etc stains.

My tip if you are living alone in an apartment is get a wide bucket - place it near shower, each night chuck your shirt into bucket full of water. When having a shower in morning - wash shirt by hand when you are in the shower. Rinse well and hang WET on hanger, plastic NOT WIRE, over bath/shower - generally by the end of the day the shirt will be dry. And with a bit of luck due to drip dry relatively free of wrinkle if you hang it right.

Every now and then soak shirts, particularity white ones, over night in Napisan or whatever they sell in USA to stop yellowing. Don't use bleach..
Click to expand...

I have always used dry cleaning services for shirts and pants, but after the last couple of runs (stains on shirts, starch when I requested no starch), I have become wary of run of the mill dry cleaners. Going to start DIY.

I hand wash my Rick tees and other ninja gear already. So wash shirts won't be a problem.
 
Where can I kop some Saphir at decent price? I have been using Meltonian, but want to try a different polish.
 
Is Saphir really worth the price? Just wondering since there is about 10 bucks difference.
 
Like Khakis with dark chocolate wingtips, would they look good? or is it an old man's look? I tried it today and I wasn't convinced...
 
Arnathor said:
Anyone have a nice burgundy tie for sale?
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I was going to suggest Henry Carter - hopefully there will be something good in burgundy in stock soon. I think that Jason (the owner of Henry Carter) mentioned that he was going to re-stock some of the grenadines soon.


Leitmotif said:
Like Khakis with dark chocolate wingtips, would they look good? or is it an old man's look? I tried it today and I wasn't convinced...
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I don't know if you'd call them khakis, but I quite often wear a pair of beige/stone/fawn/whatever cotton trousers with a pair of dark cognac shell cordovan RL Marlow wingtips, and I think that the combination looks nice.
 
Journeyman said:
I don't know if you'd call them khakis, but I quite often wear a pair of beige/stone/fawn/whatever cotton trousers with a pair of dark cognac shell cordovan RL Marlow wingtips, and I think that the combination looks nice.
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It probably has something to do with the fact I'm used to wear any of my 'nice shoes' with dress pants and I'm not used to wearing them with any other kind of jeans/chinos/younameit

Here the pants in question;
IMG_20150408_164640.webp
 
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