Standards Proposed For Men’s White Shirts

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30312, 12 December 1963, Page 18

Standards Proposed For Men’s White Shirts

From complaints and from the experience of persons who had’tested white office shirts, there appeared to be a need for specified standards for the multiple size fittings of men’s shirts and for the correct labelling to show this, says the latest issue of “Consumer." There was also a need for standards for shirts covering stitching, seams, buttonholes, and buttons and shrinkage. The journal records tests of 71 brands of shirts made for 18 different firms. Wearers were asked to wear and wash a shirt 32 times and fill in a standard record sheet. Laboratory tests were made for measurement and shrinkage. the burst strength of the fabric, washing, attachment of buttons and colour. Of the 284 shirts sent to men in Auckland and Wellington, 26 were withdrawn before the end of the test period because their wearers considered them unsuitable for further wear. In only seven cases was more than one shirt of the same brand withdrawn.

In 21 of the 26 rejected shirts some defect in the collar was the main reason or one of the main reasons why the shirt was withdrawn. In only four of the 21 cases was collar shrinkage the main reason for rejection.

Tire wearers were also asked to state their normal method of treating “no-iron" or “drip-dry” (Shirts. Twentythree of the 107 wearers said they never ironed the shirts. 18 said they ironed them all over, and 66 said they at least partly ironed them or touched them up. “Our laboratory advisers say that the resin treatment used to create the no-iron properties tends to wash out in time,” the journal says. “Tliis was borne out in the wearer test where many who followed the no-iron instructions at first had to revert to ironing (in some cases at a very early stage) to make the shirt presentable. “While there are advantages in no-iron treatment—particularly to travellers—the claims, in our opinion, are much exaggerated. Only a small number of shirts thus treated could really be worn without ironing after a large number of washes. “The term ‘minimum iron,’ as used by some makers, would be more appropriate for most of the shirts.” A correctly-fitting collar is necessary for a good shirt, the journal says. On size and fit, it says, the existence of two sizing systems has caused confusion. With only a few exceptions, makers did not show other measurements, such as sleeve length or chest width. This made it difficult for many men to get a shirt that really fitted.

Many of those who took part in the tests thought packaging was over-elaborate and that sealed packages made it difficult for customers to examine the shirts properly. Some of the more elaborate packages could add as much as 4s to the retail price.