The life cycle of a Tee shirt-my wife just doesn't understand

[dennis thompson]

My wife came to me & said "you have to throw out these two tee shirts they are full of holes" , she doesn't understand the life cycle of a tee shirt:
Stage 1-buy it new, scratchy & uncomfortable
Stage 2-have it for a year, just getting broken in
Stage 3-now two years old, comfortable, few small holes developing
Stage 4- over two years old, very comfortable, several large holes
Stage 5-over 3 years old,maybe you begin to think it might be time to retire it, how to decide?
I'd suggest that if you put your arm in it & it comes out the hole instead of the sleeve you must give serious thought to retiring it
Stage 6-you put it on & it falls off you, you must retire it
Any thoughts?
Dennis

[David G Baker]

I throughly believe in your philosophy, it also applies to blue jeans, boots and shoes. In my case it also applies to previous marriages.

[paul cottingham]

Stage 7. Beloved t-shirt becomes beloved shop cloth.

[Belinda Barfield]

Stage 7. Beloved t-shirt becomes beloved shop cloth.

or dusting cloth.

Funny, we just had closet/drawer purge yesterday. I have a number of T-shirts from concerts and such that I never wear, but can't bear to get rid of, so every year I pack them in with the summer clothes and store them in the garage until next spring. I am currently wearing an approximately 12 year old t-shirt from Big Dog's, a hot dog place that used to be on Hilton Head. Two small holes, but comfortably soft and thin. The one small stain is from either chili, or spaghetti - I'm not sure which.

[Brian Brown]

You have it wrong.

Stage 5-over 3 years old,maybe you begin to think it might be time to retire it, how to decide?
I'd suggest that if you put your arm in it & it comes out the hole instead of the sleeve you must give serious thought to retiring it
Stage 6-you put it on & it falls off you, you must retire it
Any thoughts?
Dennis

Stage 5-over 3 years old, maybe you begin to think it might be time to make it a shop shirt.
If you put your arm in it & it comes out the hole instead of the sleeve then it is truly a shop shirt, or one you wear only to the hardware store.
Stage 6-you put it on & it falls off you, you may now repair it with duct tape, and it is a shop shirt only, unless that hardware store trip is an emergency, then the shirt is a signal to store employees that you are in need of immediate help.

[Belinda Barfield]

Stage 6-you put it on & it falls off you, you may now repair it with duct tape, and it is a shop shirt only, unless that hardware store trip is an emergency, then the shirt is a signal to store employees that you are in need of immediate help.

Excellent suggestion! I had not thought of the duct tape serving as the universal signal of distress. However, the use of yellow crime scene tape might get you directed to the shovel and lime section quicker.

[Jim Koepke]

About 40 years ago my work was as a silk screener, (a type of printing).

Ink on my hands was soon wiped on my shirt or pants. Some of them looked like works of art. I still have an old pair of pants and tee shirt that no longer fit packed away.

Candy keeps an eye on my shirts and anything that she doesn't want to be seen in public with kind of gets set aside. If I keep finding it, it is saved. If not it eventually disappears.

Since we now live "away from the crowds" it doesn't matter as much what is worn around the homestead. She does make me change shirts if they have too many holes before we head into town.

jtk

[Van Huskey]

I have lots of T-shirts from 20+ years ago and the ones that are still around are very dear to me. My wife has recently started to collect the ones that really have gotten bad and plans to make a blanket for me with them, apparently there are commercial services that do this also, thats where she got the idea. One thing I have noticed about many new graphic T-shirts are made to be soft from the first wear, the only thing is they are only good for a few wears before they start to look like they are 10 years old.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Sue hates it when I wear T shirts with holes in them. She is sneaky though and I have to be careful. She will come up to me stick a finger in the hole and then use it to rip the shirt right off me. Usually though she lets me keep it for use as a shop rag. I "maintain" a pair of shop jeans, a pair of shop shorts, and several shop T shirts which are decorated in thoughtful designs executed in paint, glue, stain, aniline dye, shellac, waterlox, and BLO. They are truly works of art.

[Ray Chalenski]

The blanket suggestion sounds like a great idea. I recently pulled out some really old t shirts that somehow seem to have shrunk mysteriously in the bottom of the drawers. They're now shop towels.

[Van Huskey]

The blanket suggestion sounds like a great idea. I recently pulled out some really old t shirts that somehow seem to have shrunk mysteriously in the bottom of the drawers. They're now shop towels.

http://www.ublanket.com/

There are several others plus people that sell the service on etsy as well.

[David Helm]

You forgot the stage about food spots down the front (or maybe that's just for us old guys).

[Belinda Barfield]

I made the comment yesterday that I should make a quilt top from the shirts but I don't have time to quilt right now. Thanks for the info on others who can do it for me.

[Keith Starosta]

Sue hates it when I wear T shirts with holes in them. She is sneaky though and I have to be careful. She will come up to me stick a finger in the hole and then use it to rip the shirt right off me. Usually though she lets me keep it for use as a shop rag. I "maintain" a pair of shop jeans, a pair of shop shorts, and several shop T shirts which are decorated in thoughtful designs executed in paint, glue, stain, aniline dye, shellac, waterlox, and BLO. They are truly works of art.

You just sent a shiver down my spine. My wife did this to me once.....ONCE!!.....and it almost brought me to tears. I was NOT emotionally prepared to let go of my favorite Michigan football t-shirt. I just wasn't. It still had many "wears" left in it, IMHO. That sneaky woman came up to me like she was going to throw me a hug, snaked a finger into a small...ish hole under my left armpit, and ripped that sucker all the way across my chest! Rumor has it that I shrieked like a terrified 3rd grade girl, but I strenuously object to that claim!

[Dave Anderson NH]

I feel your pain Keith. Sue uses the exact same tactic. A little bit of tempting followed by a brutal and unprovoked assult. It took a couple of times, but I'm wise to the tactic now and consciously keep my distance when wearing my well broken in shop and yard atire.