Shirt laundering
Dress shirts washed, finished, and returned on hangers or boxed — collars and cuffs done properly.
A shirt is judged at the collar and the cuffs, which are the two places that show above a jacket. Laundering a dress shirt well is mostly about those inches: getting the ring out of the collar, keeping the interlining flat, and finishing the placket so it lies clean down the front.
The process
Shirts are washed rather than dry cleaned — cotton comes cleanest in water — with the collar and cuffs pre-treated by hand first, because that is where body oils concentrate and where an ordinary wash leaves a grey shadow behind.
After washing, each shirt is finished and pressed with the collar, cuffs, yoke, and placket shaped individually. Buttons are checked and any that are cracked or missing are replaced, which happens more often than you would think — a machine press is the leading cause of broken shirt buttons.
How you want them back
On hangers, which is right for shirts you will wear this week, or folded and boxed, which is right for travel and for anything going into a drawer. Tell us once and we will keep it as your default.
Starch is your choice: none, light, medium, or heavy. If you have never thought about it, none or light is the modern answer — heavy starch looks crisp on day one and wears the fibers out faster.
Making shirts last
Launder a shirt after every wear, not every third — body oils left in cotton oxidize and yellow the collar permanently, and the wash itself is not what wears a shirt out. Undo the collar button and the cuffs before taking it off, hang it with the top two buttons done up so the collar keeps its shape, and rotate your shirts rather than wearing your favorite three into the ground.
Common questions
Are shirts washed or dry cleaned?
Washed. Cotton releases body soil far better in water. We dry clean a shirt only when the fabric requires it — silk, or a blend that will not take water.
Can you get the yellow out of a collar?
Often, if it is recent. Long-standing yellowing is oxidized body oil that has bonded to the fiber and may not come out entirely. Laundering after each wear prevents it.
Do you replace missing buttons?
Yes, at no charge, matched as closely as we can.
How quickly can I get shirts back?
Usually next day, and same day for morning drop-offs. Call ahead at (212) 289-9874 if you need them for a specific morning.
Often asked for together
Wash & fold laundry
Drop a bag, get it back sorted, washed, dried, and folded — with pickup and delivery in Carnegie Hill at no charge.
Dry cleaning
Everything is cleaned in our own NYS DEC-approved machine at 1287 Madison Ave. Nothing is shipped out.
Pickup & delivery
We collect from your building and bring everything back, at no extra charge, across Carnegie Hill and the Upper East Side.
Bring it in, or let us come to you.
Free pickup and delivery across Carnegie Hill and the Upper East Side. Call and we will set up a time that repeats — or just walk in.