Go ahead and throw your shirts in the washing machine with a mild detergent on a cold cycle, making sure to wash similar colors together. (You can wash the whites on warm.)

• Always remove the collar stays before you launder your shirts, they're super important for maintaining a crisp, straight collar.
• Unbutton all the buttons on the shirt, including those on the cuffs and the collar.
• The best way to get rid of collar ring (the stains on the inside of a collar) is to pre-treat the collar with by rubbing detergent or stain remover into the collar and letting it sit for a while before laundering. Doing this with every wash will keep collar ring from becoming a problem.
• If you have particularly sweaty, musty or smelly shirts, soak your shirts in a mixture of borax and white vinegar. You can do this in the washer and then run them through the wash cycle. Your shirts will come out fresh and odorless.

Once washed, hang the shirts up to dry in your closet, the bathroom, or outside -- wherever you have space really. Do this as quickly as possible to prevent the shirts becoming musty.

• Avoid the dryer at all costs. Heat is the enemy of all cotton garments. The heat fundamentally changes the cotton in the weave, noticeably causing the sleeves to shorten and changing how the shirt feels when worn.
• Most washers have a spin cycle that gets most of the water out of the shirt. If not, go ahead and give the shirt a squeeze after washing to get the excess water out.

The best time to iron is when the shirts are still slightly damp. Take a cool iron to them and they will look brand new. If the shirts have dried up a bit, use a hotter iron with steam. Particularly tough creases may need a spray of water to release them.

• Iron the collar first, then the cuffs, followed by the body of the shirt and finally the sleeves.
• Use only bottled water in a steam iron, this prevents staining of your shirts.
• Our dress shirts are well interlined, so starch isn't really necessary. If you follow the above instructions, you'll be able to get that perfectly crisp look without using starch.

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Ironing Dress Shirts

Ironing dress shirts may not be at the very top of your preferred activities list, but it’s not as difficult as you may think, and it makes a huge difference in how you look. Some guys like to iron all their shirt for the week on a Sunday afternoon, others incorporate ironing into their morning routine. Peace of mind through daily ironing – who knew?

Whatever hardware you use and whenever you choose to iron, a few more tips will serve you well:

• A spray bottle with water works wonders.
• Spend a disproportionate amount of time on the collar – it's the part of the shirt closest to your face, and thus the part people are most likely to notice.
• Starch is your frenemy (we wrote about this once before). A little can go a long way, but too much can shorten your shirt's lifespan. Caveat emptor.
• Stitching puckers in the wash. Stretching the seams at the collar, cuffs, sleeves, sides, and front placket will help restore your shirt's proportions before ironing.
• Iron your shirts when damp, but not soaked. Either let them hang dry for a while after washing or let them spend 10 minutes tumbling in the dryer on low heat. Or, if they're dry, get out the spray bottle.
• Press the collar and cuffs from the ends toward the middle, first from the underside and then flip over to iron the outsides.
• We find the following order reduces do-overs to an absolute minimum: collar, yoke (the fabric covering your shoulders), back, left cuff and sleeve (front then back), right cuff and sleeve, left shirt front, right shirt front (left or right is inconsequential – the trick is to alternate sleeves and then fronts).
• Letting your shirt rest on a hanger for 30 minutes before wearing will help keep the shirt from wrinkling as soon as you put it on. The fabric needs to rest.
• For ironed shirts you don't plan to wear, hang and button the top, middle, and bottom buttons. Good hangers help.

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Why Our Shirts Aren't Wrinkle Free

We get it. Ironing is a drag and getting your shirts pressed by the dry cleaner is expensive. There is perhaps no worse feeling than rolling out of bed, late for work, with nothing but wrinkled shirts to choose from. "Non-iron" or “wrinkle-free" shirts are convenient.

However, formaldehyde is a known carcinogen. In addition to its cancer causing potential, it can also cause “burning sensations in the eyes, nose, and throat; coughing; wheezing; nausea; and skin irritation."

At Hugh & Crye, we're not just obsessed with creating shirts that fit. We are 100% dedicated to not killing our customers. It's just a matter of principle, and it's why we don't sell non-iron shirts.

So, the next time you're smoothing out the wrinkles of your gently rumpled H&C shirt, just think: spend 10 minutes ironing now and add years to your life later.