Hanes Undershirt Review. Are They Worth It?

As luck would have it, Mrs. Tug came across the new Hanes undershirt products today while shopping at our local Walmart.

She was kind enough to pick up a 5-pack of Hanes® Lay Flat Collar undershirts for me so I could take a closer look.

Hanes Lay Flat Collar undershirts

The package of five undershirts cost a mere $9.47 (plus tax, that’s $2.06 per shirt).

So if you’re on a budget, it’s not going to get much better than this.

Review of the New Hanes Undershirt

As with their other undershirts, these are packaged in a clear 2mil poly bag with color printing on the front and back sides.

On the front, they highlight some of their newer features including: “Now Softer!”, “LAY FLAT Collar!”, in addition to the traditional “TAGLESS® T-shirts”.


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Rules to wearing undershirts


hanes undershirt

In looking at the undershirt itself, the crew neck collar trim does seem to stand out as being wider than their traditional undershirts, but I don’t have any older Hanes crew necks to actually compare it to.

The collar trim measures a full 7/8 of an inch to the inner stitching. There is a total of 1″ to the outer collar trim stitching.

It actually looks pretty nice.

Considering Hanes typically cuts their undershirts a little more generously, I decided to try out their Medium-sized (38-40″) shirts, which was a good call.

Overall, the shirt fit me nicely throughout my shoulders, torso, waist and hips.

The cut of this undershirt is extra long, so the bottom hangs down a full 10″ below my pants waist line which should help it stay tucked better.

hanes men's t shirts

These Hanes men’s T shirts are made of 100% Cotton. 

Feel and Comfort

Although the brand labels them as “ComfortSoft” undershirts and markets as “Softer!”, the shirt feels pretty itchy straight out of the package, especially around the collar and shoulder area.

To be candid, I would not recommend wearing them until you run them through the wash at least once.

After trying one on, I really don’t get the feeling these are any softer than their predecessors. But it’s good marketing spin nonetheless.

I can’t honestly say that I see any big difference with these new undershirts, nor is there anything that stands out as particularly good or bad about them.

However, at just over $2 a shirt, the new Hanes Lay Flat Collar undershirts are a good value overall.

6/01/08 Update on the Hanes Lay Flat Collar Undershirts:

Correction, they do shrink.

I got the impression these were supposed to be preshrunk from this quote in the Hanes press release I wrote about the other day:

The Tagless® undershirts also feature preshrunk cotton specially knit for softness.

I washed the bunch per the care instructions yesterday. But, the undershirts did not fit me as well as they did prior to washing.

The Hanes undershirt lost roughly 2.75″ of length (from 10″ below my waistline to 7.25″) and the torso and mid section got fairly snug.

Considering this material is not all that stretchy, the tighter fit on these shirts is not very comfortable.

Since I asked for a medium instead of a large, I’ll chalk this one up to end-user error in buying the wrong size.

Btw, the shirts still feel a bit itchy/scratchy to me.

Disclaimer:

Under normal circumstances I would have expected these undershirts to shrink since they are 100% cotton.

I normally would have chosen a large instead of a medium.

The shrinkage amounts I described above are very reasonable for 100% cotton shirts.


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How to wear undershirts


13 thoughts on “Hanes Undershirt Review. Are They Worth It?”

  1. The Hanes T-shirts I recently purchased did not fit – XL size to large, the Large size too tight and hugged my body like a cheap nylon stocking. The material seems more pliable and cheap. Won’t waste my time with Hanes again.

    Reply
    • aaron, “lay flat collars” is really just a marketing tactic to describe collars made from more durable fabric. usually collars a made with a ribbed material and if that material is cheap and flimsy, collars won’t lay flat for very long.

      what you can safely assume is that the collars on hanes v-necks are made from the same material as their crew necks. whether or not they will lay flat for a long period of time is something that can’t easily be answered because it depends on lots of stuff, including how you care for your garment.

      my best advice is that if you see “lay flat collar” marketing on a crew neck package, that same product in v-neck is made with the same collar fabric.

      Reply
  2. hi, my question is that i bought some Hanes lay flat collar my chest size is 40″ so i got the medium but i have a small neck so i do not know is i should return it or what and i can not open the package because i wont be able to return it. help me plz

    Reply
    • at a size 40″ chest, i’d say a size medium might run a hair tight in a typical hanes undershirt. if i were you, i’d return them and buy a pack of large from a store you can return at like walmart, target, etc.

      Reply
  3. My husband and I are constantly searching (so far in vain) for the ultimate white undershirt to wear with his US Navy uniforms. I second Mark’s request for a military undershirt review! Great site. -P

    Reply
  4. Picked up a pack of these for wear under my USMC uniform. I usually wear a medium sized T-Shirt, and a picked a pack of smalls, to ensure the collar would stay snug and flat to my neck line. I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE Marines with saggy neck lines, regardless of uniform. Anywho, I thought they functioned well, for what they were marketed for. Soft enough after a wash, collar stayed falt, etc. Undershirt Guy- have you done a military undershirt review? Would be great. Personally, I look for a no-sag collar, some moisture wicking ability, and plenty of length to stay tucked in. Thanks!

    Reply
  5. Do any of you guys know where i can buy these Lay Flat Hanes Undershirts….? I looked at Target and they do not have them..

    Reply
    • hey chris, target does carry hanes lay flat collar undershirts. i’m not sure why your target did not carry them, but that’s a big stock item for them. did you ask the staff? if not, you should go back, or go to another target because they definitely carry that product. an alternative location would be to go walmart.

      Reply
  6. Hi Tony, Thanks for the info. Please let us know what you think of the Fruit-of-the-Loom undershirts you pick-up. I used to wear them too, but have graduated to wearing light-weight fitted undershirts.

    Reply
  7. I bought a package of these last week, and was sorely disappointed. I couldn’t believe how thin the fabric was! I could see clean through it whenever I looked at myself in the mirror. I compared these new shirts to my previous Hanes ones (which I was attempting to replace because they were too thread-worn) and found that the fabric was almost twice as heavy on the old as the new! Why would I even pay $2 a piece for a shirt that is already worn out? I’m going to check out the similar priced Fruit-of-the-Loom model this weekend sometime.

    Reply

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