men's clothing quality question

[cajunmommy]

Men's no-iron dress shirts - how long do you expect them to last before you start seeing fraying at the collars / cuffs?

DH has a handful that we purchased a couple of years ago from Brooks' Brothers based on wonderful reviews. If I had to guess they've been worn & laundered at home an average of 2x/month.

They're still in good shape except for fraying at the collar points & edges of the cuff. Is this a typical life-span?

 

[FireDancer]

Brooks Bros. shirts used to come with lifetime guarantees. I no longer have to wear dress shirts and ties to work (thank God) but back in the proverbial day any time anything happened to one of their shirt like fraying or even a snag you could bring it back and exchange it. I had a roommate once who spilled coffee on the shirt and they even exchanged that one.

Unless their policies have changed you should be able to do the same thing.

 

[NotUrsula]

You've washed them ~24 times and they are fraying? No, that's not normal wear for a quality cotton, unless ... you are beating them up in the laundry or he is beating them up when he wears them. DH washes most of his shirts at least 3X that often, and their average lifespan is about 4 years.

Some things that will contribute to fraying at folds: bleach, use of fabric softener, hot water, dryer heat, agitation, a too-loose collar &/or a too-long cuff. Fabric softener combined with high dryer heat is probably the most common reason for premature fiber breakdown. Shirts treated to resist wrinkling should not be exposed to hot water or high dryer heat on a regular basis.

There are some things you can do to treat the shirt to prevent it, if you have the patience. Fabric stores carry a liquid product called Fray-Chek. It has a consistency rather like clear nail polish, but it dries to a flexible matte finish (not as flexible as untreated fabric, but it doesn't crack). If you treat the at-risk sewn edges (carefully, as it can darken the fabric a tad -- always test first on an inside seam), then you will probably prevent the worst of it. If the shirts have button-down collars, release the button tabs during washing. Also, remove any inserted collar stays during washing.

 

[Kies99]

I've been wearing a suit for work for the past 16 years. When I started I would wear Brooks Brothers items. Whether it was a tie, shirt or suit, I always had problems with them fraying and falling apart.

I stay away from Brooks Brothers and will not spend my money there.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Hmmm, that does not sound right. Like the PP said, I would return them to the store to see what they have to say about them.

None of my DH's Brooks Brother's stuff has ever frayed, but we dry clean.

 

[Hannathy]

You've washed them ~24 times and they are fraying?

2x a month for a couple of years is at least 48 to 72 times.

I think that is about right. I usually don't expect more than 3 yrs from a shirt worn to work 8 hours a day no matter what brand.

 

[gillep]

I have never had any of DH's collared shirts fray, the worst we get is a little color fading on the rim of the cuffs and the edge of the collar. DH has had many of his shirts for 3.5 years and we are just now needing to discard a couple due to this fading problem. We also always dry clean and I did find in the past when I tried to wash them that they did not seem to hold up nearly as well, and neither did I as I hate doing laundry and his shirts were always the most annoying.

 

[cajunmommy]

Interesting about the BB guarantee. I'll have to check & see if that's still in place.

Regarding wear & tear - It's really not out of the ordinary. DH is in front of the computer all day, so it's not like he's particularly rough on his clothing. No bleach, no liquid fabric softener, cold water wash / lo heat dry - so no added stress there.

I'm aware of Fray-check, but I honestly don't think I should have to resort to this on what's supposed to be quality garments.

Dry-cleaning is not the answer as these are no-iron shirts, purchased to avoid needless trips to the cleaners. I also think laundering at home would be a gentler alternative to having them done by the cleaners.

It's really disappointing. I could see if it was just one color shirt / one fabric. Then I could chalk it up to isolated poor quality. But the interfacing is showing / fabric fraying on more than one fabric/style.

 

[Kit'smommy]

Dry-cleaning is not the answer as these are no-iron shirts, purchased to avoid needless trips to the cleaners. I also think laundering at home would be a gentler alternative to having them done by the cleaners.

All of my DH's dress shirts get professionally laudered including the no-iron variety. When we were laundering them at home they never lasted as long as when taken to the cleaners. I don't think 48 washings sounds that bad. That is a lot of wear and tear on any item.

 

[rascalmom]

From the Brooks Brothers website:

Our Unconditional Guarantee
Brooks Brothers guarantees its merchandise and your satisfaction. Purchases may be exchanged or returned at any time. With a receipt, full merchandise refunds will be issued by original payment method. Without a receipt, merchandise refunds will only be issued at current sale price on a Brooks Brothers Merchandise Credit Card. Cash refunded only in amounts of $200 or less at Brooks Brothers retail stores in the United States only.

I don't normally keep receipts that long, but if you have a store nearby I would take the shirt to show them and see what they will do.

DH wears another brand of no-iron shirts that we get at a small local store. I will have to check the brand, but he is getting better wear out of them than that. The color choices are more limited than at Brooks Brothers though.