What to do with shirts?

[Ozchuck]

I wear business shirts for work.
Sometimes I get to copout and wear a polo, but most days I'm in the thin fabric'd long sleeve shirt.

I've been trying to fold, or even "roll" my shirts up after ironing in the morning.
I'm currently experimenting with tonnes of starch.

Still cant get my shirts coming out of my bag respectable.

What do you find works, and how do you do it?

[ForkinGreat]

take a week's worth to work (maybe not ride to work that day) & store them somewhere hanging up, if possible.

[Ozchuck]

Sadly, they have a habit of dissapearing when night shift works.

[Chanboy]

I iron my shirt, then fold and then slip it into a plastic shopping bag (stiffer, thicker variety) with my trousers and then put it all in a flat sort of way into my backpack.

I find that my shirt comes out pretty well.

Trick is not to over pack your backpack, if you do, then everything gets crushed.

I leave my work shoes at the office, so my backpack is pretty light...

[Ozchuck]

Right. I've been experimenting with packing them between 2 stiff panels, but it seems no matter what I do, I get squishyness happening.

I've heard some people have a sweet rolling technique, and I'm keen to learn about that.

[twizzle]

Sadly, they have a habit of dissapearing when night shift works.

Lobby your work to install lockers for people who get changed at work.

[Chanboy]

I've tried rolling, doesn't work for me. There may be some trick to it though. When backpacking I definitely used rolling as you can pack more in... but for pressed shirts, the less folds the better...

[Ozchuck]

I'm going to try a flat piece of hinged board shaped like an upper body if this keeps being an issue.
Dress the torso, and then fold him up.
Theory seems sounds at this point in time.

[wombatK]

Still cant get my shirts coming out of my bag respectable.

Look at the packaging the shirt is sold in - and try to copy the folding/packing technique with possibly a wider backing board if your bag allows room. Pack the shirt in your bag so that it can't move around. Shirts packed this way in suit-case sized bags can travel thousands of miles and still look good on arrival. Will be more difficult with a back-pack sized bag, less so with larger panniers.

If you need any better result, maybe buy a small travel iron and iron them at work. Can be done on any table/desk with a suitable blanket or similar mat rolled out under it.

Ironing a shirt should only add a few minutes to your commute (i.e. two traffic light changes !), particularly if you heat the iron while showering.

Cheers

[ni78ck]

take an iron with you

[rhancock]

This isn't a cheap option in the short term, but different fabrics handle differently, so think about it next time you buy a new shirt. I now get my folks in the UK to buy me "Non-iron" shirts from Marks and Spencer and post them over - one or two a year for Christmas and birthday keeps me going. They really are non iron too. Wash, hang dry or tumble, then roll / fold in the bag, shake and hang if possible in the shower and then wear.

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Ultimate ... b/59548031

I'd love to find something similar here, but I've been looking for ten years and not found any.

[justD]

This isn't a cheap option in the short term, but different fabrics handle differently, so think about it next time you buy a new shirt. I now get my folks in the UK to buy me "Non-iron" shirts from Marks and Spencer and post them over - one or two a year for Christmas and birthday keeps me going. They really are non iron too. Wash, hang dry or tumble, then roll / fold in the bag, shake and hang if possible in the shower and then wear.

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Ultimate ... b/59548031

I'd love to find something similar here, but I've been looking for ten years and not found any.

That's very sad!! I've still got "iron free" shirts from back in South Africa, but only 2. I thought I'd just been looking in the wrong shops in Australia, but then obviously they don't have them here In that case I'll be asking mom-dearest to send me some over soon. They work like a dream!!

[Baalzamon]

I'm lucky, I get to wear a polo shirt that don't crease easily

[twizzle]

This isn't a cheap option in the short term, but different fabrics handle differently, so think about it next time you buy a new shirt. I now get my folks in the UK to buy me "Non-iron" shirts from Marks and Spencer and post them over - one or two a year for Christmas and birthday keeps me going. They really are non iron too. Wash, hang dry or tumble, then roll / fold in the bag, shake and hang if possible in the shower and then wear.

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Ultimate ... b/59548031

I'd love to find something similar here, but I've been looking for ten years and not found any.

That's very sad!! I've still got "iron free" shirts from back in South Africa, but only 2. I thought I'd just been looking in the wrong shops in Australia, but then obviously they don't have them here In that case I'll be asking mom-dearest to send me some over soon. They work like a dream!!

Van Heusen business shirts, Myer. Check the labels - some of the lines aren't non-iron.

[itsaghostcar]

What sort of bag are you using?

I used to have panniers and just rolled the shirt and placed it on the top. No probs there as there was no weight on the shirt. Now I've switched to a messenger bag I still roll it and carefully position at the top. Depending on how much stuff I'm carrying, sometimes I'll get a light crease, but it's usually not too bad and comes out with body heat. Shirts get wrinkles and creases once you sit down in a chair anyway!

[Ozchuck]

These shirts sound awesome.

[mcketi]

Another option that I have been using for some time is to keep an iron and board at work. Stuff the shirt in a pannier and fix it at the destination.

[Ozchuck]

As there is an issue with leaving shirts, so too is there an issue with leaving an iron. ridiculous, I know.

I'll try more resilient shirts.

[trailgumby]

Lockers are the go.

That sucks that your stuff gets nicked.

[Redbull]

This

look at the packaging the shirt is sold in - and try to copy the folding/packing technique

Plus

Van Heusen business shirts, Myer. Check the labels - some of the lines aren't non-iron (also Gloweave)

Plus

Hanging the shirt in the shower cubicle and letting the steam get to them takes some wrinkles out

equals

Almost presentable

[wombatK]

Van Heusen business shirts, Myer. Check the labels - some of the lines aren't non-iron.

+1. My reference to shirts surviving thousand of suit-case miles was in fact to Van Heusen business shirts. Only ones that have sleeves long enough for a tall skinny bloke, as well as being non-iron.

[rhancock]

Thanks for the tip. Here's the Van Heusen page on their 3 non iron shirts: http://www.vanheusen.com.au/www/497/100 ... 01176.html

Hope you like white! There's white, white, white and three shades of white!

I'll look out for these in the post Christmas sales. I've bought Van Heusen before, but I've never found non iron.

[twizzle]

Thanks for the tip. Here's the Van Heusen page on their 3 non iron shirts: http://www.vanheusen.com.au/www/497/100 ... 01176.html

Hope you like white! There's white, white, white and three shades of white!

I'll look out for these in the post Christmas sales. I've bought Van Heusen before, but I've never found non iron.

I only buy the non-iron ones, and I have a collection of about seven shirts - and only one of them is white. Mind you, they are all a few years old now - I have a hatred of shirts and pants, give me shorts and t-shirts any day.

[rearviewmirror]

In the US I wore shorts, polo shirt, and jesus creepers to work every day, when I moved to Australia I had to start dressing up. I commute 5 days per week and found that buying the more expensive non-wrinkle shirts and pants is the only way to roll. I throw my stuff in the bag in the morning, and when I get to work and get dressed it all looks fine. I must admit I do look pretty good.

[srl]

One approach is to lay the shirt (I go with a poly-cotton mix; cotton crushes) flat, front side down, then lay tissue paper or kitchen paper across the back. Fold sleeves in to collar and then down the centre line of the shirt. Fold the sides of the shirt in to the center and, finally, fold the tail up one third and again up to the collar. The folds have to be neat and really taut. Finally, stick the folded shirt in to a plastic bag and tuck the plastic bag tightly in to the shirt without crushing it. I tried this a few weeks ago and the shirt came out in reasonable shape. I then just hung it up while I had a shower so the steam could take out the creases. You won't get the same result as you would with a freshly ironed shirt, but really the only person who notices the crush marks is you.