How to Keep Ringer Trim From Bleeding

CARE GUIDE

On a two-color tee, the seam where band meets body is the spot to watch.

A ringer tee is two colors sewn together, and that is where its care starts. Most of the time the colors stay put. When they do not, the trouble shows up in one place: a faint haze of the band color on the lighter body right next to it. Here is why it happens and how to keep it from happening to yours.

Why the Band Is Where Color Moves

Cotton releases a little loose dye in its first few washes, and darker shades carry more of it. On a single-color tee that dye simply rinses away. On a ringer, the dark band sits pressed against the light body along every seam, so any dye that loosens has a short trip to make. Warm water, long soaks, and a tee left wet in a pile all give it more time to travel.

The First Few Washes

Treat the first three or four washes as the careful ones. Wash the tee in cold water, on its own or only with clothes in the same color family as the band. A color-catcher sheet in the drum is cheap insurance, since it picks up loose dye before it can settle anywhere. Run a short cycle and take the tee out as soon as it finishes.

Never soak a ringer, even to lift a stain. A soak is the one situation where dye has hours to wander. Treat stains on the spot with a little detergent on a damp cloth instead.

Drying So the Bands Keep Their Shape

Ribbed bands stretch when they are pulled wet, and a neck band that dries stretched will stand away from the collarbone for good. Reshape the collar and both sleeve bands with your fingers while the tee is damp, then lay it flat on a towel or a drying rack. If you use a dryer, choose low heat and take the tee out while it is still slightly damp.

Keep a wet ringer away from other wet clothes. A tee folded against a damp pair of jeans can pick up their dye in a matter of hours.

After a Night at the Rink

A tee that spent the evening going around the rink comes home damp at the neck band and under the arms. Hang it over a chair back to dry out before it goes in the hamper. A damp two-color shirt pressed against other clothes for a few days is exactly where dye starts to move, and the neck band is where it shows first.

Day to Day

After those first washes, a ringer needs very little. Wash it cold with similar colors, dry it flat or on low, and fold it with the collar on top so the neck band is not creased flat in a drawer. Hanging a tee by the shoulders slowly pulls the neck band out of shape, so a shelf or drawer is the better home.

If the Trim Has Already Bled

Act while the tee is still damp from the wash. Rewash it straight away in cold water with a color-catcher sheet, and do not put it in the dryer, since heat sets the stain. On a light-colored body, an oxygen-based stain remover used as the label directs can lift a fresh haze. Avoid chlorine bleach, which will fade the band along with the stain.

If a tee arrives with a mark along the seam before it has ever been washed, that is a defect, and our Return & Refund Policy explains how we put it right.

Thank you for shopping with us, and for saving us a spot on the rink.