Received two of these shirts yesterday, striped and solid white. The striped was on sale and the solid white wasn't on sale. The material is thinner, wrinkled out of the bag and noticeably rough on the skin, and looks cheaper compared to the shirts I ordered 4 years ago. One of the buttonholes had several stray threads hanging from the hole, I wasn't really looking, there were just so many on this hole that it caught my eye. I still use the shirts I ordered 4 years ago and love them, they were wrinkle free and soft out of the bag, still wrinkle free and soft. I almost returned the two shirts today, but my wife said they looked fine. I would have given three stars, but I like LL Bean so much, I hate to give anything they have a bad rating.
I own many of these shirts and keep buying more. Wash after wash they come out of the dryer looking like they were dry cleaned. I did have one--out of a dozen or more-- that developed a tear on the sleeve. I returned it with no fuss. You will be very happy with this shirt.
Bought this shirt last week, washed and dried it twice, pulled it out of the dryer and found a tear in, there wasn't anything in the dryer to tear it. Would return it, but removed the tags as they irritate my skin!
ProsGreat Value, Comfortable, a crisp permanent press, an sharp looking shirt, a time saver, a money saver, the bane of prof cleaners
My experience with Bean's permanent press pinpoint dress shirts has been very positive. I'm going to sound a little preachy here, so bear with me.
Treat your dress shirts like you treat your expensive suits and other dress clothes. Be respectful and they'll look sharp and last a long time.
I LOVE not depending on the cleaners for a clean, pressed shirt. Professional cleaners destroy clothes.
I wash my pinpoints separately from all other laundry. I wash my Bean pinpoints (and all my other shirts, even the T's) in small loads for a short time. I dry them gently on low temps, and keep an eye on them all the way through the process. This kind of attention may sound time consuming, but it's not.
Large, long, hot washer loads and high temperature dryer loads are the leading cause of damage to ALL clothing.
At work I turn up the cuffs when at my desk so they don't get frayed and dirty, and I'd never put a pen in the front pocket of any shirt, especially one I care about.
My pinpoints have worn very well and look good after 2-3 years of wear, some longer. I don't expect them to last a lifetime; that's crazy talk.
One last thing, I rotate through many shirts. I'm not leaning on just a few shirts that I wear every week; so I'm not washing the same shirt 52 times a year but closer to a third that many times.
Don't confuse clothes you wear to play with the clothes you wear to work and I believe that your experience with Bean's shirts will be like mine. It's all good. TIP: A borax soak will keep the whites white and you can avoid strong bleaches that quickly damage fabrics.
I guess I should sign this "your mom," but I just can't bring myself to say that.
