Silly Things that Impress Me

All right, I got a shirt for Hanukwanzumas this year — I forget the brand, but it’s one of them wrinkle- and stain-free types.

I own wrinkle-free shirts from several companies, and they’re all sort of wrinkle-free. They don’t look quite as crisp as one that’s been ironed, but maybe I’m just picky.

(I think the whole wrinkle-free fabric thing is very cool. It’s one of those technologies I like best — the kind that’s sort of in the background but that really makes a difference. Look for a USA Today column on it soon.)

Anyway.

Out of the box, even a wrinkle-free shirt has creases; it’s been stored for weeks. So I go to use this wrinkle-releaser spray on it (quicker than ironing, and most of the shirt is just fine). Well, the stuff just beads off it.

Blink. Blink.

So now I’ve run smack into the “stain-free” part of the shirt. Unlike, say, a spraying of Scotch Guard, this is one of those fabrics that’s been treated at the cloth stage, possibly, I kid you not, with nanotech: Zillions of tiny particles that are bonded to the fabric to keep it sealed from dirt, especially liquids.

And that includes the wrinkle releaser I was trying to use.

The point is, this is pretty impressive to me. I mean, Scotch Guard is supposed to make things stain repellent (or repellant — both spellings are OK), but I’ve never been convinced. But when you see things bead off a cotton shirt, well, something’s at work.

Silly, I know. But I think it’s cool that someone worked hard to develop a way to make things that much more convenient.

I know that I’m supposed to say that I tried staining it will coffee and wine and what-have-you, but I’m not. I like the shirt, and I’m sure stains will be attracted to it given enough time.