My husband, Tom, wears polo shirts to work every day. He wants his morning routine to be quick and easy, so just about everything he owns is wash and wear. To make it easy on him in the mornings, I have to care for polo shirts differently than his other clothing when I am doing the laundry.
Before I put any polo shirts in the washing machine (the one pictured is my son, Zack’s, shirt), I button all the buttons and turn it inside out. Then, I flip the collar up.
So, buttoned, inside out, and collar flipped up.
Then, I wash it on a normal or casual cycle in cold water to keep the colors vibrant.
When I’m transferring the washed clothes into the dryer, I check to make sure that the shirt is still inside out and the collar is still flipped up – sometimes it will partially reverse itself in the washer.
When the polo shirts come out of the dryer, I turn them right side out and flip the collar down. I dry our clothes on a casual cycle and try to take them out of the dryer while they are still warm. I do use my steam “touch up” function a lot, though!
I know some people hang their clothes to dry, lay them flat or dry a little bit in the dryer and hang while damp, but I want my laundry process to be as quick and easy as Tom’s morning routine.
The collar will be perfect and free of curling, waving or sticking out funny. Just hang it in the closet or fold it for the dresser, and you are set for an easy morning.
This method generally works on old shirts, too, but if the collar has already been dried too many times in a curling or waving fashion, you might not be able to “save” it in this way.
Do you have a problem with your polo shirt collars rolling?
Thanks for that tip! Going to give it a try, after 40+ yrs of marriage maybe I can now stop his collars from curling!
great tip! pinning!
That is brilliant Linds. I saw it on FB and had to know the mystery. I am totally trying this next time.
Thank you for this tip! I always iron the polo shirts because of that rolling collar.
But I was wondering if you meant to say dryer in this sentence, “When the polo
shirts come out of the washer, I turn them right side out and flip the collar down.”?
I’m definitely gonna give it a try.
Yes, you are right! I just corrected the post. Thanks, Naomi!
Good one, Lindsay!
Thanks! I do hope this works for me! I have had a problem with my husbands shirts curling for some time now. My next peeve for this type of shirt is the buttons coming out of the button hole! Any ideas for preventing that? Again, thanks so much! I will be trying this soon.
I’d never have realized that other people also obsess about things like this!! Almost all of our polos have that same problem, and I’ve gone to some lengths to prevent the dreaded “Curling collars” – like weighing the corners down with clothes pins (it’s not 100% effective) or pressing them after washing – and I do not like ironing!!! Thanks for this helpful post!
Thanks for such good tips to avoid collar from curling.. I was really unknown about this fact . I will surely suggest this tip to my wife as all my t-shirts collar curled after 3 months of use…:tup
I so needed this tip! My husband wears a polo to work each day and his curling collars drive me nuts 😉 Thanks for sharing!
I have been using a collar tamer (www.collartamer.com) for months now. I wear polo shirts for work too and I love this thing!
When shirt is turned inside out to wash are the stains on the right side removed effectively?
Thank you. Hopefully the frustration will now be a thing of the past.
Please do not put a cotton polo shirt in the dryer unless you want it to be shrunk to the next size down. Never dry a cotton polo shirt.