Method of maintaining an article of clothing in a folded condition and

Abstract

Method of maintaining an article of clothing, such as a dress shirt, in a folded condition and a plastic fastener well-suited for use in the method. According to one embodiment, the plastic fastener is a unitary structure made of polypropylene and comprises a flexible filament having a first cross-bar at a first end thereof and a second cross-bar at a second end thereof. The filament has a length of about 7 mm and has a tensile strength of about 4 pounds. Preferably, the fastener is molded as part of a clip, the clip comprising a plurality of identical such fasteners arranged side-by-side, with the respective first cross-bars parallel to one another and the respective second cross-bars parallel to one another, each of the first cross-bars being joined to a common, orthogonally-disposed runner bar by a severable connector. In use, the clip is loaded into a tagging gun of the type intended for use with runner bar-type clips, the dress shirt is folded in the desired manner, and the first cross-bar of a fastener is dispensed by the tagging gun into and completely through the folded shirt at an appropriate pair of locations, with the second cross-bar not being inserted into the dress shirt. Additional fasteners may be used, where desired, in the same manner to ensure that the shirt remains folded in other areas thereof. To unfold the shirt, one merely pulls apart the two portions of the shirt folded together until the filament of the fastener connecting the two portions breaks.