SECOND QUARTER 2026  35
NO. 550
B U L L E T I N
By DLI Staff
Seam Stains in Shirts  
What Is The Problem?
After proper laundering and commercial shirt finishing, some 
shirts, especially the shirts with “wrinkle-free or no-iron” 
finishes, will show dark stains in the seams. This can occur on 
any seam area, but most often is seen in the armhole seams.
What Does It Look Like?
On colored shirts, the stains appear as irregular spots or streaks, 
a shade darker than the shirt itself. On white shirts, the stains 
appear as tan, rust, or brown-colored spots.
What Caused It?
To eliminate seam puckering when an “easy care” shirt is home 
washed and machine dried, so no touch up ironing is necessary, 
a fusible tape with an adhesive is stitched between the layers of 
the fabric at the seams. After stitching, the seams are subjected 
to pressure, sticking the tape and outer fabric together giving 
the seams a smooth appearance. When the shirt is subjected to 
the heat and pressure used by commercial shirt equipment, the 
adhesive melts and softens, thereby leaching to the surface of 
the fabric, causing dark seam stains.
Can It Be Prevented?
The professional launderer cannot tell that a shirt contains 
seam adhesive that cannot withstand normal commercial 
laundering and finishing. When proper adhesives and 
component materials are used in shirt construction the shirt 
will be completely serviceable to repeated laundering and 
pressing without damage.
Who Is Responsible?
Since other, more durable construction methods are available 
for all shirts, the manufacturer must be held responsible when 
such self-staining occurs during proper professional care.
Is There A Remedy?
There is no method of removing this staining.
The stains seen in the arm seam of this shirt happened during normal
commercial pressing procedures after laundering.
Note: All in-print DLI bulletins, including this one, are available on DLI’s Drycleaning Encyclopedia accessible in the Members Only section of 
DLIonline.org. This resource is available to Standard, Gold, Premier, and International Members.

View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.