okay, another stupid question
 

relatively new guy here, 3rd year. feel stupid asking this question.

when you wash your black/white striped shirts, are there any special tricks to keep the white stripes very distinct? any detergents/agents better than others to wash ref clothes? any to avoid? called my ex-wife (wonderful lady) and she didn't know.

If you'll search the forum, there was a long thread on laundry just a few weeks ago.

many thanks...i just joined about ten days ago, never thought about doing a search. i'll do that. if my middle-age computer skills are up to it!!

I use dye free detergent and Clorox 2. Wash in cold water and hang dry.

My shirts are also the performance fabric shirts made by Umpire & Referee Equipment & Uniforms so they are more resistant to color bleed.

Buying quality uniforms helps tremendously. I just wash and dry my shirts with no problem.

I also replace my shirts every year - at all times I have two or three varsity shirts and two to four "lower level" shirts. Next year I'll get two new varsity shirts and move my current varsity shirts to lower-level shirts and replace my worst two shirts.

I do similar things with pants.

I find most of the time problems with laundry come from not buying high enough quality or trying to extend the life of uniforms beyond their usefulness.

Uniform laundry
 

I always wash my uniforms separately from any other laundry, and ALWAYS hang them to dry - the dryer heat has a tendency to yellow the white stripes. Pants and compression shorts stay nice longer by not drying, in the dryer them, also.

Also, be sure to not use any fabric softener on performance fabrics. Fabric softener will degrade their ability to wick moisture away from your skin.

I wash all my ref gear together; Shirts, pants, socks, spandex. I was them with our regular detergent (tide) and I wash them on cold and the light cycle. When it is done I hang the pants, shirts, and spandex up to dry. I throw the socks in the dryer. I have never had any problems with the coloring doing it this way. I sometimes will put my shirt and pants in the dryer for about 3 minutes to give it a nice fluff. IT seems to help. Don't forget your gear and leave in the dryer for more than 5 minutes though. Always hang up your gear too. I have a seperate closet for all of my gear. Folding it will deteriate your gear sooner. Only fold when packing your game bag. We also wear jackets, I only wash them about once during the season. Again Cold Wash and hang to dry. I take my jacket to the cleaners after the season.
I hope that helps. ANd remember although there are some idiots on here that ridicule some questions, most of us remember what it was like when we started. So don't ever think a question is dumb. If you don't want to post it for the general public you can PM me on here. THere are alot of great guys on here, some jerks too, but most are good guys that love to help new officials. Best of luck!

I always wash my shirt, pants, undershirt and socks together in cold water. I use the same detergent we use for the rest of our stuff. I think it's the ultra-concentrated Tide. I only need to use a tiny tiny bit for my stuff.

I hang dry everything.

The search function is great, when you use it, hit the search button at the top and then select advanced search. Type in what ever subject you're after example "carrying" THEN select the basketball forum otherwise you will end up searching all the forums resulting in a longer search and search hits that may not be basketball. Good luck, when I'm stuck in an airport or have extra time I routinely explore different topics.

I wash my striped shirts twice. First I use masking tape on the white stripes, and wash it like a black shirt. Then I tape the black stripes, and use bleach like a white shirt. Both sets of stripes get very clean. :D

that is an AWESOME idea!!! thanks!! i'm going to try it tomorrow!!

Your process is similar to mine. I cut the stripes apart and wash them separately then sew them back together.

Even better way to search...use Google and type in site:forum.officiating.com as one of the search terms. Google does a much better job of searching that the forum search function.

Martha Stewart, New Forum Member ???
 

And, if I remember correctly, there was a pecan pie recipe posted that's to die for.