When food manufacturers make claims about the nutritional value of their products, government agencies like the Food & Drug Administration are there to make sure food labels don't make outrageous or misleading statements.

Car makers who stretch the truth about the safety or efficiency of their cars have to answer to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency or other watchdog groups.

But who is looking out for the poor uniform shirt buyer who has to make sense of an exasperating mix of brand names, trade terms and performance claims, when all they really want is to find a well-made shirt that stands up to the rigors of laundering and doesn’t require extensive ironing before it can be worn?

Wrinkle-Resistant. Wrinkle-Free. Non-Iron. Easy Care. What do these labels mean, and do they really tell buyers anything about the shirts that bear them?

“Those names can mean anything anybody wants them to,” says Andrea Engel, vice president of merchandising for Broder Bros. (asi/42090), one of the largest broad line distributors of uniform and corporate apparel. “There are no rules – it’s just marketing.” (For the record, Engel believes the best term to describe the wrinkle-fighting properties of a shirt is “wrinkle-release.”)

To help buyers make informed decisions about wrinkle-resistant shirts, Uniforms spoke with several experts to get the skinny on the science behind wrinkle-resistance. But we also went a step further, conducting an extensive wear test on some of the top wrinkle-resistant brands available to find out whether they live up to their “hype” – or “wrinkle” under pressure.

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