{the proper care and feeding of polos}

I realized as I folded laundry this evening that I have a useful domestic tidbit worth sharing. It starts with a confession.

I was tortured as child. Granted, in her defense, my mom was a working teacher throughout my middle school and high school years and couldn't be bothered with the likes of our soddy laundry piles that showed up at their leisure with complete disregard for their sheer volume and soddiness. She had better things to do with her evenings at home after a full day of teaching Trigonometry to sassy high schoolers. Like eat bon bons and soak her feet in peppermint oil.

So she made us do our own laundry. Egad. I know. And it is within these roots that my domestic trivia begins. I still have some explaining however, so stick with me. We wore uniforms and I was a vain yet lazy high schooler. Who wanted to avoid ironing at all costs. So let's talk collars. In my vanity, I liked (ahem, like?) the look of a straight-standing, well curved collar. No flat collars and no creased collar curves. (Now, oxford collars are another matter, but laziness and thus the non-iron uniform brand were involved.) So in my lazy vanity, I discovered how a nicely standing, well-curved polo collar can be achieved with a little preliminary work and no ironing.
Please note: "The Prep." When a polo comes out of the dryer and is still warm, shake it out and promptly hang it. Button all buttons, and pop the collar. Hang in closet with the rest of its preppy friends.

Let's take a closer look at this red one here. What has happened? This is unfortunate.Now granted, this is a golf polo in which the sun and sweat and non-ironing facilitated an irrevocable crease. But if you have a husband who is outside often, or who does not differentiate between his athletic and non-athletic collared shirts, or who likes to wear sporty polos for their shininess at other occasions, or if you have a small, or large, boy whose clothes are often subject to sun and sweat and lack of collar ironing THIS could be your fate.

SO shake them out, get preppy with them and they will last long, stay lovely and you will be able to avoid the iron.

Thanks for your time.