How to care for 80% cotton / 20% wool shirts?

[andreyb]

Gentlemen,

Perhaps this topic has been discussed numerous times, but unfortunately, I can't find these discussions.

So, the question is: how to care for these cotton/wool shirts? Do you wash them in a washing mashine? Do you use a regular washing powder or a less harsh powder designed for wool? Do you iron them? If yes, at what temperature (at what iron settings)? Do you sprinkle them before ironing (as suggested for purely cotton shirts)?

Andrey

[RWS]

Dear Andrey,

Cotton shirts with but twenty-percent wool I generally wash in a washing machine and hang (immediately pulling button placket, cuffs, and collar to reduce wrinkling) to dry. On occasion, I'll take the shirts to a commercial laundry, but I find that mine -- though they treat cotton and even linen quite well -- seems to have some trouble with any woollen content in a shirt.

My last old Viyella shirt, which has (I think) forty-five-percent woollen content, I wash myself, by hand, in warm water with "Ivory" soap flakes. I iron the shirt lightly, while it is still damp, and then hang it to dry fully.

You've made a good choice with woollen-cotton mixes, I think. Having just heard that you're enduring the coldest winter in nearly three decades in Moscow, I'm certain that you'll need the additional warmth!

Yours,

Robb

[AlexanderKabbaz]

I would wash them gentle/cold. Then, as RWS indicates, a good stretch of the sewn parts prior to hanging them. You could wash them warm if the fabric had been laundered prior to cutting ... but I doubt that is the case.
Iron exactly as for cotton - sames temperature, same procedure.

[andreyb]

Gents, thanks for the answers!

Robb, this is the first ("sample") shirt from my order placed at Budd. And it arrived just in time! Right now it is really, r-e-a-l-l-y cold in Moscow...

Andrey