When you take your clothes to a washing expert, you don’t care what they do, but when you wash them by yourself, there are a few things that can mess up your mind and confuse you. One of those things is the buttons!
Should you button your shirts before washing them or unbutton them? This article aims to tell you important information regarding that question, and I will try to tell you everything you need to know as simply as possible. Let me tell you whether you should button shirts before washing them!
Key Takeaways
- When you wash a shirt, you should always unbutton it before doing so because many things can happen!
- Buttoning the shirt before getting it washed means damaging every piece of a button, threads, and other clothes as well.
- No worries if your concern stands on the neck collar and you are afraid you might damage it! There’s no damage of any kind!
- When you dry shirts in a dryer, you shouldn’t button shirts either! When air-drying them, you can do whatever you want!
Should You Button Shirts Before Washing Them?
You should never button your shirt when washing it!
However, it doesn’t happen just like that, and when I say no, you shouldn’t button your shirts before washing them, there are some hidden reasons behind it.
You don’t protect the shirt when you button it up! Instead, you are causing damage to everything and every piece it has!
Also, find out what air fluff on the dryer means.
Why Not Button Shirts Before Washing Them?
After every saying, including the answer of yes or no, I know that I must show a reason, and that’s what I will do right now! I would like to mention some of the main things that conclude the fact that you shouldn’t button shirts when you wash them.
Damages on Buttons
A washing machine is one of the most robust contacts with water that a cloth can have. There is no doubt that the water pressure is at its highest level. When you put your buttoned shirt in a washing machine, everything is tightened up, and since the pressure is high, the buttons can come out fully damaged.
They can be loose and even wholly lost in the washing machine just because of the tightness!
Full Damage to Threads
I mentioned above that the buttons could be loose, which is directly related to the threads they have when sewn.
When you button your shirt before putting it into the washing machine, the threads have a lot of tension, mainly if you use hot water to wash the shirt. Threads are threads, and everybody knows how easily they can get cut!
Damages on Other Clothes
Buttons are hard pieces that include strong materials in the making. When you button them up on your shirt while they are being washed in a washing machine, they can cause damage to other clothes as well, again repeating, just because you have everything tightened up.
You should know that when it comes to buttons, everything I mentioned should be known for every piece of cloth that has buttons and not only shirts. Dresses, pants, skirts, and everything else.
Other Things to Know When Washing a Button Shirt
Now you know that when washing a shirt, you should never button it. However, there are some other important things that I want to mention regarding some important information and some worries that you may have.
Also, find out if you can dry clean your jeans.
Don’t Use Hot Water
Whether you wash your shirt in a washing machine or by hand, you should ensure not to use very hot or boiling water! Using very hot water can easily damage the buttons and cause all the things I mentioned above, especially damage to the threads of the shirt. You can use warm water or, if unsure, use cold water instead. There’s no damage from cold water.
Notice the Collars
If you wash your shirts buttoned up just because you don’t want to damage your collar, don’t do it! The collar of a shirt is always the most robust piece, and it is done with more layers of fabric. You won’t do anything to your collar if you unbutton your shirt before washing, and you shouldn’t worry about it! When doing so, you give the collar a more accessible area so that you can properly clean it.
Protecting the Sleeves
A buttoned-up shirt will always have buttons on the sleeves too! Just like on the collar part, when you unbutton the sleeves, the water, the detergent, and everything else can pass easily through the shirt and the sleeves, more particularly.
Using a Washing Bag
The use of a washing bag is also something worth considering! When doing so, you can be more than free of button-ups or unbuttoning your shirts because it is not in direct contact with anything regarding the other clothes you have in there. However, it is different when you hand-wash shirts.
What About Drying Shirts?
Just like washing them, you shouldn’t button the shirts, especially if you use a dryer! If you just want to hang the shirt in the fresh air and dry it like that, there is no matter. You won’t cause any tension, and you can truly do whatever you want with the buttons.
Also, find out what dry flat means.
Final Words
Here we came to the last part of today’s article, with the answers to the question: Should you button shirts before washing them?
As I mentioned in the article, you shouldn’t button your shirt before washing it, whether you put it on a washing machine or wash it by hand. The most straightforward answer is no! You can cause different damages to the buttons, the shirt, and other clothes.
Proper care and washing instructions will always help you do the job more precisely and not cause anything bad.
I really hope that you find this article understandable! Good luck with washing your shirts and ways remember to take good care of shirts in general, as they are quite sensitive!
I have been in the embroidery field for over 10 years. My career first started when I was an apprentice to a local seamstress where I started to learn the basics of garment construction and alterations. That’s where I started to love sewing and began to hone my skills even more.
