Questions from Customers: Dark Areas Around Armholes
~ This was posted on - October 8, 2008
As technology continues to evolve and revolutionize many different industries across the entire business spectrum, the clothing industry has greatly benefited from technological advances in cleaning, as well as in the construction of garments. One of our local Camas, WA dry cleaning customers had a question that is directly related to the increasing presence of new technologies in the industry:
Why are there dark areas around the armholes of my laundered shirt?
Unfortunately, this is a result of advancing technologies and the overlooked aftereffects they may inadvertently cause.
Shirt manufacturers are trying to develop a true no-iron shirt that will stay looking great without the chore of ironing. Many of the kinds of permanent press polyester blends on the market that tried to be a true no-iron shirt were not wearable after washing at home. The stitching threads shrunk, at varying rates, which caused the seams to pucker. Thus, these shirts needed to be ironed to remedy.
Because of this, shirt manufacturers developed a new process which applies an adhesive to the seams.
This seam adhesive is the cause behind the dark areas around the armholes of laundered shirts.
It cannot be detected if a garment will develop these dark areas. However, there are two shirt manufacturers that continue to use this method. Stafford (a JC Penny brand) and Jeffery Bean shirts are at risk for these irreversible dark areas.
If you’re worried about the risk of these dark areas around the armholes on your garments, feel free to ask our experienced and knowledgeable staff to make sure your shirts continue to look great!