Are there really non-iron shirts?


Non-iron shirts, that sounds great. Just wash the shirts, hang them on a hanger to dry and put them on. That's exactly how it would be desirable. But according to the online newspaper "Zeit Online", the term "non-iron" for shirts is misleading consumers, because there is no cotton shirt that looks like it has been freshly ironed after washing and drying. This was also confirmed by Stiftung Warentest in its 10/2006 issue - and our ironing doll team agrees with Stiftung Warentest. However, so-called "non-iron" shirts are easier to iron than normal ones, but we shirt and blouse ironers still think that actually all "non-iron" shirts should be called "easy-iron".

How are men's shirts actually treated so that they don't crease so quickly?

Cotton fibres swell when washed, change their position and do not return to their original state when dried. That is why normal cotton shirts look wrinkled after washing.

In the case of "non-iron" shirts, an elastic bridge is built between the molecules of the cotton cellulose during the so-called wet cross-linking process, e.g. with liquid ammonia, through which the shirt is pulled back into shape after washing.

"Iron-on" shirts, on the other hand, are finished without ammonia via dry cross-linking, in which the cotton is strongly heated. This process is much cheaper and easier to produce.

The more the shirt is coated with synthetic resins, for example, the smoother it is. However, the wearing comfort suffers at some point and the shirt appears stiffer and is no longer as breathable.

However,the terms "non-iron" and "easy-iron" are not precisely defined, because there are no standards and therefore manufacturers are relatively free to determine what they declare as "non-iron" and what not.

Whether you buy a "non-iron" or "easy-iron" shirt, you need to know that such shirts have been chemically treated. That's why we at the ironing machine team advise you to wash the shirt before wearing it for the first time, otherwise it may irritate your skin.

It is a fact that even chemically treated cotton shirts should be ironed after washing and drying, even if the ironing process is much faster and easier than with normal shirts. If you don't feel like picking up the iron, you should get a TUBIE ironing dummy, because it does the ironing all by itself.

Stay wrinkle-free - your TUBIE shirt ironing team

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