How to wash your nasty fishing shirts (performance wear)

Polyester performance fishing shirts AKA sun shirts

No matter what you call them, sun shirts, Florida shirts, tropical-wear, or performance shirt, polyester fishing shirts are awesome and I love them.  They are like wearing a silk sheet which keeps you cool anytime there is even the slightest breeze.  In sunny, hot, and dry Southwest Montana, these shirts give great SPF protection and will dry minutes after getting wet, cooling you to the bone even on the hottest day. In the humid south, the fabric dries more slowly and works like a swamp cooler in the wind making even the hottest day on the flats bearable.  Hell, I even wear sun shirts under my hoodie in the winter here in Montana because they are so comfortable and they make me think of Florida and summer carping when it's -25F and blowing.

Not only are they practical but they can also be beautiful.  They take printing and hold images way better than cotton and have been used for years to display fishy art that is super fun to wear.

However, anyone who has ever owned one of these shirts knows that there are a couple of downsides. They hold BO smell and they stain, badly! For a while, I had given up on some of my favorite shirts because they became so stained that I could no longer wear them in public.  I had a couple of white ones that looked like I had worn them as a line cook in a Greek diner on a Friday night! Not everyone will get that reference but just picture a lot of food and fish fry grease.

We tried everything to get the stains out including using chlorine bleach.  I googled "fishing shirt staining" and saw that a lot of folks were having the same issue.  Many people said that they just don't buy the more expensive printed ones and just throw them out after a while.  Others had concoctions they mixed up which sounded like a lot of work without great results.  I didn't find all the info in one place but I did come to a conclusion that works.  Here it is:

DONT: 

• Use bleach
• Throw your nasty stained/smelly fishing shirts out

Using bleach actually, destroys the fabric and causes it to stain more! 

DO:

• Spot treat mega-bad stains with stain remover like you'd do with any type of clothing
• SOAK THEM IN OXY CLEAN!!

Yes, Oxy Clean is the ticket.  And you don't even need to remember anything.  Follow the instructions on the back for "tough laundry stains."  The longer you soak the shirts, the better.  The first time I tried this, I soaked all of my nasty-ass shirts for 12 hours.  I drained the washer and then ran a normal load.  I was absolutely blown away by the results!  I had little faith and this was really the last shot.  They looked brand new!!  The soaking took out 98% of the stains including gnarly ones around the neck from sunscreen and huge globs from the ribs and pulled pork nachos at Izzaks in Craig.  By soaking them, you're not only totally dissolving the greasy stains but you're also dissolving the disgusting human grease, sweat, and carp slime that causes them to get so stinky.  It was a total restoration. 

Now, I only have to soak them every once in a while when they get bad.  The shirts have actually gotten brighter and cleaner after each subsequent soaking. It's easy and cheap and I get to have my awesome shirts back!