Jersey Washing & Wearing

[Matthew Carlson]

I have a small collection of authentic jerseys.

Almost all of them are Starter and ProPlayer era

jerseys from the mid to late 90's.

In respect to washing them, do any of you use

fabric softener like Downy?

and

Do any of you have your jerseys hanging in the

closet and just don't wear them.

Do you have only certain ones that you wear?

Or do you wear them all?

I would just like to get an idea of what others

with larger collections do.

Thanks in advance for the info!

[JeffB]

I have a small collection of authentic jerseys.

Almost all of them are Starter and ProPlayer era

jerseys from the mid to late 90's.

In respect to washing them, do any of you use

fabric softener like Downy?

and

Do any of you have your jerseys hanging in the

closet and just don't wear them.

Do you have only certain ones that you wear?

Or do you wear them all?

I would just like to get an idea of what others

with larger collections do.

Thanks in advance for the info!

I don't use any fabric softener because that is something I normally add to the dryer and I never, ever put my jerseys in the dryer. I'm too afraid of parts of the main crests shrinking at a different rate than other parts and getting wrinkled and puckered. This is especially true of Starter and ProPlayer jerseys because I think they used different and multiple kinds of fabric/materials in their crests, like the satin type of fabric, in them than CCM.

And contrary to all the fuss Reebok has made about the old jerseys materials holding water at such a violent rate that they slowed the players down and needed to be reinvented, I find that my jerseys come out of the spin cycle remarkably dry and just need to be hung up to finish drying completely.

My 350+ jerseys are hanging on hangers on a pair of commercial grade garment racks. Obviously with that many, I can't wear them all, but try to wear to games or other hockey related events, like the monthly pizza night with the guys or player question and answer nights when I can. I even wear my game worn ones. The only ones I won't wear are my Gretzky and Brodeur autographed jerseys and one gamer that's worth $2000 based on a recent ebay auction.

[TBLightningFan]

Throwing my beloved authentic jerseys in the wash (what cycle do you use?) scares me to death. Once my new edge arrives though, I'm gonna finally bite the bullet and clean them (I only wear them to games, with shirts under, so they're not really dirty, just have a few dirty spots from seats and errant beer swigs).

Do you guys suggest dry cleaning, because that's the direction I was going in...

[Brilliant!]

I turn them inside out and put them in on the gentle cycle with just a tiny bit of detergent. Maybe a little stain remover if there's a spot I have to get rid of. I haven't had a problem yet with any of my jerseys; replica or authentic.

[rabinsurance]

Cold water only. Never use softner, ever.

[JustAnothaVictim]

Cold water only. Never use softner, ever.

...and never use bleach

I wash my jerseys in the washing machine with cold water und tumble them dry at full speed.

Don't wash your jersey in the machine together with other fabrics like cotton.

[rabinsurance]

...and never use bleach

I wash my jerseys in the washing machine with cold water und tumble them dry at full speed.

Don't wash your jersey in the machine together with other fabrics like cotton.

I would never, ever machine dry a jersey.

[lafountain]

I wash them like any other clothes, but always hang dry them. I learned the hard way a long time ago when I had one of the old starter jerseys shrink but the crest didn't.

[JustAnothaVictim]

I would never, ever machine dry a jersey.

I never had any problem the last 13 years

[rabinsurance]

I never had any problem the last 13 years

Congratualtions. In 20 years, I've had one incident with a Starter Canucks jersey. It never looked quite right after it was dried. That was enough for me, hang dry only, period. Never had a problem with hang-drying, usually dry in an hour or two, since the crests are the only part to retain much moisture.

To expand on the original question, fabric softner should be avoided because it contains silicone. It may cause material to be less absorbent. May sound like a good thing, but I am not a fan of altering the materials of my jerseys with a foreign substance.

[devilsfan26]

I have a small collection of authentic jerseys.

Almost all of them are Starter and ProPlayer era

jerseys from the mid to late 90's.

In respect to washing them, do any of you use

fabric softener like Downy?

and

Do any of you have your jerseys hanging in the

closet and just don't wear them.

Do you have only certain ones that you wear?

Or do you wear them all?

I would just like to get an idea of what others

with larger collections do.

Thanks in advance for the info!

I try to clean my jerseys as rarely as possible to prevent wear and tear. Maybe I am a slob but I don't find a need to wash them that much because I always wear at least a t-shirt underneath them, so they never get too dirty.

As for the other questions...

I have a few jerseys in my closet that I don't wear. Some because they are autographed, some because they are too small for me but I don't want to get rid of them, and some I am trying to sell because I never wear them and either it is too big or I don't like the team.

[benpc21]

I don't wash my jerseys too often, but what I use is Prefect Cure hat cleaner that they sell at Lids. I find that if you spray any smaller spots that need attention, let sit for 10 minutes, scrub lightly with the brush they sell at Lids or a washcloth, it usually does the trick. Sometimes 2 or 3 applications, but if its only a small spot, I dont find it worth it to wash the whole thing.

[Brilliant!]

I've never had a problem putting my jerseys in the dryer either. I always use the 'knits/gentle' cycle which means less heat but I've still never had an issue with one coming out of the dryer. I don't really wash my jerseys that often though...unless I get beer on them or something else from the game.

[JustAnothaVictim]

I've never had a problem putting my jerseys in the dryer either. I always use the 'knits/gentle' cycle which means less heat but I've still never had an issue with one coming out of the dryer. I don't really wash my jerseys that often though...unless I get beer on them or something else from the game.

oh, maybe I need to improve the way to express myself correctly... and get myself a new dictionary. I never put my jersey in the dryer. What I meant was when the washing machine goes up to high speed at the end of the whole washing process.

man, I really need to get a new dictionary...

[JeffB]

Here's a 12 page thread on this very subject on another forum if you really need to read more than the consensus we seem to have reached here.

http://www.nextleveltalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=146