Most cleaners
offer different levels of starch for their laundered shirts. The choices are
typically; no, light, medium, and heavy. I recommend choosing “no starch”,
for several reasons.
1. Comfort – Using
no starch on your shirts is much more comfortable than using starch.
Starch will make your shirts feel stiff, may cause itching, and
it will prevent the fabric from breathing. Starch can
be especially uncomfortable on warm days, because it blocks the
evaporation of your perspiration.
2. Wrinkles – Starch will
give your shirts a smooth finish during pressing, but as you move around during
the day, the inevitable wrinkles actually become more pronounced. If
you use heavy starch, by the end of the day, your shirts can have
a crinkly aluminum foil looking finish.
3. Lifespan –
Starch builds up with repeated cleanings. This build-up causes the fibers
in the fabric to become overly stiff, weak and
brittle. Using starch dramatically decreases the
expected lifespan of your shirts.
So, is there a
way to have smooth crisp shirts without using starch? Yes! In general, 100%
cotton shirts finish much smoother and crisper than
poly blend fabrics. Also, the heavier the fabric the better. If you
love that paper smooth finish on your shirts, I recommend buying the
thicker 100% cotton shirts and skip the starch.
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