How do you keep the collar on a polo shirt from curling under at the points?

Question

I iron it, but somehow throughout the day it tends to curl under?!?! so frustrating! and sloppy...

Answer 1

Spray starch is a bit wimpy for this job so you can make your own starch instead.

Go to the grocery store's laundry aisle and pick up a box of ARGO starch. A "medium" starch should work well without your collar feeling like cardboard. Follow the directions on the package, but only dip the collar of your shirt in the solution.

Wring out the excess starch and lay your shirt face down on a towel to dry (overnight should do it) and make sure you smooth out the collar points.

The next time you wear your shirt, the points will be nice and straight and they won't curl up on you!

Answer 2

Quality counts, even in a polo shirt.

If this is really important to you, look for the kind that has a collar made from woven (not knitted) material and then iron (and maybe spray starch) it after washing. I have a couple of these and they do look a bit less casual than those with knitted collars.

It's just a polo shirt which is casual wear - if your goal is to look clean, pressed, and starched, polos probably aren't your best choice.

Of course, you can always at least try to make the collar stay flat by torturing it with starch, irons, etc.

Answer 3

This has dogged me since I started doing my own laundry, so I appreciate the question.

Starch treats the symptoms, not the problem itself. The reason the collar curls is simple -- shrinkage. In the main body of shirt, which is a much looser weave, a little shrinkage is barely noticeable. In the collar, which is a tighter weave, even a small amount of shrinkage is obvious.

Example: Take a piece of paper and lie it flat on a table or desk. Pinch a 1/2" of it in the middle of the bottom. You'll see that the top corners no longer lay flat. This is what happens to the collar.

Sadly, the only way I've found to avoid that problem is to wash in cold and line dry the shirts and then iron them (very lightly if at all, on the collar). If you dry and then iron, they will still curl after you wear them a bit. If you starch them it will wear out the fabric faster... and it won't hold form forever either.

Have fun...

Answer 4

I had that same problem when I was in the military. But, though this may seem weird, use a mixture of, 40% Simple Green and 10% Windex, diluted with 50% water-- followed by an iron on steam.

The purpose of spray starch is to stick to the shirt and harden-- which in turn smothers the creases, and makes it feel hard.

Windex does this too, but Simple Green doesn't-- it's the opposite. Simple Green is thinner than Windex and Starch too, which could be a big reason.

For thick clothes, starch works great, but for thinner material, that's what I use... because it too is thin. The 10% Windex is thinner than Starch, but thicker than Simple Green and allows very small molten plates that become invisible to the naked eye when hardened; unlike starch.

The water dilutes both Simple Green, and mainly the Windex so that when applied to the material, the water enhances the "shirts" hardened plates, the Windex to be fried into the material, rather than outside-- where it becomes flakey-- like that of starch.

Steam prevents the shirt being burned. I always go steam, just in case.

Hope this helped.. It's worked for me ever since.

--Rob :)

Answer 5

This answer will date me, but here goes. Shirts used to come with little plastic inserts sewn into the collar to hold them down. I have added those to shirt collars myself in the past to help keep collars laying straight against the shirt. I used to make the strips out of plastic gallon milk jugs. It sounds wierd, but does work. Make a tiny slit under the shirt collar and insert the sliver of plastic at an angle and use a needle and thread to secure the sliver in position, from underneath, making sure the needle does not penetrate through to the top side of the shirt material, so it is invisible. Use a little spray starch to lightly iron the collar and remove any wrinkles and you are through.
The strip of plastic is usually about 1/4 inch wide x 1 3/4 long.
I think some men's dress shirts still come with these.
...jj

Answer 6

Spray a quick blast of starch over the entire collar, and iron it flat. When ironing the collar, iron from the outside in for the smoothest look. Flip the shirt over so that the outside of the back of the shirt is now facing up. Again, spray the collar with starch, and press. Continue moving the iron back and forth until the starch is dry

Answer 7

Take it out of the dryer before it's too dry. Then hang to finish drying. A little spray starch when you iron will help the curl. Otherwise, give up, 'cause everyone's collar does it and it really isn't a big deal enough to be worrying about.'

Answer 8

Iron from the back with spray starch. Insert a small straight pin from the back side so that the tip has the head of the pin and the pin goes straight up the outside of the collar. The pin is stable enough to prevent curling and if you work from the tip up, will never poke or scratch you.

Answer 9

You can either use spray starch on the collar when you iron, or you can buy a collar device from a department store, it's kind of like those white things that Catholic priests wear under thier black shirts. It helps keep the collar propped up.

Answer 10

Flip the shirt over so that the outside of the back of the shirt is now facing up. Again, spray the collar with starch, and press. Continue moving the iron back and forth until the starch is dry