The London Lounge

I apologize for this question, which I think must be laughably ignorant, but I wonder how many times I ought to wear my shirts before sending them to the laundry. The starch seems to handle about 2 days, and with an undershirt, I don't feel I'm being gross.

But am I lengthening its life or shortening it by multiple wearings or by too-frequent laundering?

Well lets see, If you use starch at all you will most certainly shorten the shirt's life .

If you wash a shirt too much you can do some damage to the fabric, which would qualify as the same as wearing it too much as well.

My advice is, when at the end of the day (even if you wear an undershirt) take it off and put it into the hamper. At the end of the week when it comes time for the laundry wash it, press it, fold it or hang it (whatever you like), and put it away for a while.

If you wear dress shirts everyday have a good amount to rotate, and if you like a certain look or feel to a shirt buy more than one of them if you can.

Best Regards,

Cufflink79

It is under the collar and cuffs that a shirt gets soiled first. Therefore, the undershirt is no argument for wearing the shirt more than one day. Don't worry about shirt damage, just wear a fresh one every day - for practical and hygenical purposes (the collarband gets soiled before it actually shows) as well as for your psychological well-being of starting fresh every day. Then wearing a shirt the second day will lead in time to soil impregnating the collarband with a permanent yellowish or greyish indelible mark, giving the shirt a dirty look even when it's freshly laundered.
Don't be deceived by the starch still holding the second day, it is not an indication of a shirt's cleanliness.
Detachable collars and separate cuffs helped save on laundering (when it was still an expensive service) as the body of the shirt got 2-3 wears, but with a fresh collar every day. Nowadays however with all parts of the shirt sewn together...