Protect Your Shirt Buttons In The Wash With This Beyond Genius Hack

Finishing a load (or several loads) of laundry can give you the most satisfied feeling — until you check your button-down shirts and find a button missing. The thought of replacing lost buttons is enough to make you wish you didn't need to wash them in your machine, but thanks to the internet in all its wonder, there is a hack to keep those pesky (but important) additions from falling off during the spin cycle. All you need is some clear nail polish, which you want to coat over each individual button's threads before adding the item to your laundry load. This common household item can help the threads stay in place, keeping them from unraveling even under intense pressure.

While thread can become weak over time, clear nail polish helps to protect it from laundry soaps and detergents, water temperatures, and other products, ensuring it doesn't fray or snap while in the washing machine. Not only will your buttons remain in place, but the threads will look tidy for longer.

To ensure the trick works, add one coat of clear polish to your buttons when prepping to wash your shirts. Let it dry, allowing the polish to harden and firm up the threads. Wash your shirts as normal, then dry them thoroughly as you usually would before organizing your clean laundry and putting everything away. It can help to flip dress shirts inside out before adding them to the laundry, protecting the buttons from the machine's intense spin cycles. You can repeat this process as often as you need, keeping button threads flat and coated for each load.

The clear polish won't show up after your laundry is dry and isn't detrimental to the buttons either. If there are already loose threads on your buttons, try to snip those or gently remove them so the top looks tidy before you use the applicator to dab the polish on. You don't need a lot. One or two brush strokes will get the job done. You can also try this hack on everything from drawstring ends to shoelaces — just keep a bottle of clear polish handy in your laundry room.