White, a colour that even today is still the most popular colour for men's shirts. But really, what is white? And how do we use it? In this article we explain all ins and outs.

White used to be the standard colour for men's shirts. People used to associate white shirts with men who held good jobs; men that didn't need to get their hands dirty. White implicates clean, pure and neutral.

How one create white fabrics

White fabrics are created in two steps: first by (optical) bleaching and then dyeing the fabric. In the next chapter we describe these two steps.

Step 1: Bleaching the fabrics

Whiten the fabrics is being done by ‘bleaching’ and by ‘optical bleaching’.

Bleaching is one way to whiten fabrics. This method removes the natural fiber colour and other colour particles (impurities) as well. After bleaching a more light, bright and clean fabric appears.

Another way to whiten fabrics is optical bleaching by using Optical Brightening Agents (OBA). This method does not remove the colour. In fact it adds a substance that makes visible ultraviolet rays. The more OBA substances are used, the more the fabric will brighten up.

Step 2: Dyeing the fabrics

As you’ve read bleaching will whiten the fabric, but the colour remains pale. More intense white can be achieved by dyeing the fabric in a white colour. Of course there is also yarn dyed shirt fabrics, made of yarns which have been dyed already.

The benefits of white fabrics

So now we roughly understand the whitening process, we can think about the style, benefits of a crisp white shirt.

As you may know, white shirts are timeless and popular in various occasions. White shirts are most common for formal dressing and can be combined with a wide range of suits. Besides that, white shirts will fit at various fashion styles for men and women as well.

The benefits of white shirts are numerous. But these shirts also have some challenges. For example the see through problems, which you can resolve by using heavier weight fabric.

Tootal’s white fabrics collection

Because of the versatility, white fabrics are definitely one of our most popular articles. Tootal’s white fabric collection consists of various weaves, compositions and yarn counts offering you a wide selection to help you choose the perfect white shirt. And always with the best quality.

Please do not hesitate to contact our sales department for advice about this bestseller, via [email protected] or by phone +31 (0)53 428 6220.