Seven habits that ruin shirt collars

A business shirt usually fails at the collar first. The body is still good, the buttons are fine, and the collar has gone limp, grey or frayed. Here is what causes it.

Wearing a shirt twice between washes. Skin oil and sweat sit in the collar overnight and oxidise, which is what turns white cotton yellow along the fold. The mark that appears weeks later started the night the shirt went back in the wardrobe unwashed.

Washing too hot. Hot water sets protein stains — sweat included — instead of lifting them. Warm water and a longer cycle clean a collar better than heat does.

Leaving a stain to sit. A collar mark treated the same day usually comes out. The same mark after three weeks in a laundry basket often does not.

Too much bleach. Chlorine bleach whitens by breaking things down, and it does not stop at the stain. Repeated bleaching weakens the cotton fibres until the collar edge frays. Yellowing from bleach damage cannot be reversed.

Ironing a collar that is still dirty. Heat bakes whatever is in the fabric and makes it permanent. Always clean first, press second.

Folding rather than hanging. A folded collar develops a crease that eventually cracks along the fold. Hang shirts with the top button fastened and the collar standing.

Over-starching. Starch holds a crisp line, but every wash adds a layer, and a heavily starched collar becomes brittle. Brittle fabric splits at the point where it bends.

None of these need a special product. They are habits, and changing them adds years to a shirt.

We press collars separately from the body for this reason, and we treat the collar and cuffs before the shirt goes anywhere near heat.