In the last few months I have noticed something odd. My office shirts (long-sleeve button-down) have been tearing at the elbow. This has never happened to me before in all of my many years of wearing these type of shirts, and it is almost always the left one. I figure it has happened in at least 8 shirts in the past six months. These are tears of about 2 inches long, ragged edges, not cuts. I have actually caught a couple of them before they had become proper tears and saw some signs of wear.
One thing I should mention is that I usually keep my sleeves rolled up to just below the elbow as I don’t like the feeling of sleeves on my forearms. Perhaps that has something to do with the tears? Maybe the rolled up ‘ring’ is acting like a fulcrum when I bend my arm and is putting strain on the material above the elbow? But I have always done this, so why would the tears start now?
I should add that I changed jobs 11 months ago, but it was just a move from one desk job to another, nothing different in terms of my routine or working style as far as I can tell. And some of these are new shirts, and some are older.
I’ve had several shirts go that way (I’m female). I think they were all buttonups (which I don’t wear much anymore). They were all at least a year old and had been through dozens of washings. I know I tend to rest with my chin-on-hand-elbow-on-desk on occasion, but I don’t know if that ever contributed. All shirts with narrower sleeves as opposed to billowy ones (which may factor with rolled-up arms), I think. Honestly, I just figured it’s because things wear at the elbows, and you pull there when you bend at the elbow.
Did you switch brands of shirt or laundry detergent? Different fabric? Arms get bigger/sleeves get tighter?
How’s your commute? I discovered I ‘hook’ my elbow into my door where the window is located when I drive as a lazy way guide the steering wheel with my left hand.
Hmm, that’s an interesting suggestion. One thing about my new job is that my commute is now 30 minutes in heavy traffic instead of 5 minutes. Maybe there is something there.
And it just occurred to me that this has taken place largely during the colder months, so maybe it has something to do with my winter coat. If that’s the case, it should stop soon with the warmer weather (allowing of course for the wear that started during the winter).
As for the other suggestions, I haven’t changed my detergent or brand of shirts. And my arms haven’t changed, or turned green.
I do lean on my elbows a lot in the office, but that is something I have always done.
They have a lower thread count ,I have notice this when buy some tops for myself . It was the same brand of clothing and when I tried the top on I could see right through it . You should try washing your shirts on the gentle wash and only wash them with cloths that have no zippers etc and see if that help or do a google search to see which brand of shirts have a higher thread count. Everything is being made poorly today ! :mad:
On this last point. I just occurred to me, that it is actually my left elbow that is on the desk (propping up my chin) while my right arm is operating the mouse and laying relatively flat. That might explain why my left elbow is wearing more.
Agreed. From what I know, car reliability today is much higher than it was 30 years ago. And I’ve only ever heard of shoelaces breaking, but I’ve read (on message boards - maybe this one) that it was common a few decades ago.
Now, there is a lot of cheap stuff on the market that doesn’t last, too - and it has it’s purpose. For things that will be obsolete or out of style in the very near future, there’s logic to buying a cheaper product that won’t last as long.
Starch will weaken cotton fibers over time. When I started an office job 30+ years ago, I started using a laundry to clean all of my work shirts with starch. After about a year the “blow-outs” started happening. Confirmed with others in the office that also had similar blow-outs that they also got starch in their shirts that were laundered.
Eventually started requesting “no starch” and the problem stopped.
I have a vacuum cleaner that less than 2 years old and it keep breaking down !
I had my mom vacuum which was 40 yo and I used it for few more years before it broke now . I see clothes in the stores that made out 100 % of some of rubber and have to seen the way bras are being made today ?? They look like rubber balls that been cut in half and made into bras . I am 70 years old and today stuff is junk compare to what it was growing up. A guy that works in an Appliance store told that the washer machines made today are poorly made .
And how much did each of those vacuums cost in today’s money? Does yours have filters and features that that old did not have? What about weight - did you get a lighter or heavier one? And so on and so on.
Which is style/material that people choose. If peopled wanted more of the old kind, and bought them, that’s the kind the bra companies would make. And I say that as someone who is very frustrated I have so much trouble finding a non-shaped/non-contoured front-clasp bra that fits well. If those sold more, they’d make more of them. Many people like the contoured ones for a “more pleasing shape” and especially for hiding nipples.
Again, let’s talk relative price. Not that his anecdate is necessarily correct - we need hard data on failure rates, usage rates, and relative prices over the years. Besides, I bought the second-cheapest Maytag washer and dryer set available 9 years ago - no problems at all.
In any event, if there is a higher quality product at a higher price and lower quality product at a lower price, consumers will often choose the lower price one. Sometimes that is a good decision for them, sometimes not.
Tearing elbows is the main reason I have had to throw out shirts in the past 5 years.
I blame low quality shirts.
My nicer shirts, with thicker fabric, hold up much better.
I don’t use starch, I do my own laundry and ironing, yada yada.
If they’re tearing in your laundry then you may be overloading the washer. Put fewer clothes in. Mine will tear in the elbows if I do this. Also, make sure the sleeves are unrolled when you wash them.