Hold on here, folks. Let's understand a few things.
1) STOP! DO NOT WASH THE SHIRT until you get to Step #7 of this post!
2) Enchanting means literally to sing or chant a spoken or sung spell over something; it is a European folk magic tradition. In English folk magic, the meter of such chants is fairly fixed, but the words vary with the purpose of the enchantment. The usual form is a rhymed couplet, with a meter is like:
da DA da DA da DA da DA
da DA da DA da DA da DA
Here are two different English enchantments for a tea cup to be used in tasseography:
Would'st thou thy future wish to see?
Perhaps this cup will show it thee!
Many curious things i see
While telling fortunes in your tea!
Here is a typical enchantment of a shirt for magical purposes (but keep reading, and i'll show you a better way to work with the shirt):
Whenever John this shirt shall wear
His arms will ache to hold me near
This rhythmic meter is so popularly understood as the proper meter of enchantment among English-speaking people, that even in comic books it is used to indicate magical power. Alfred Bester wrote this enchantment for DC's "Green Lantern" comics in 1943; it is the enchantment of an emerald ring by the power of a cosmic battery disguised in the form of an old railroad lantern and it is known as The Green Lantern Oath:
In brightest day, in blackest night,
no evil shall escape my sight!
Let those who worship evil's might,
beware my power...Green Lantern's light!"
There are hundreds of rhymed spells of enchantment used by the mystic magician Dr. Strange in the Marvel Comics series "Strange Tales" and "Dr. Strange." This one is by Roy Thomas, and appeared in the late 1960s:
By the wisdom of Oshtur -- by the curse of Watoomb --
let the forces which threaten now know only doom!
And here's one by Roger Stern, also in "Dr. Strange" comics, this time from the 1970s:
Bird of evil -- hear my call!
By Balthakk's Bolts shall now you fall!
For many more rhymed spells of enchantment in "Strange Tales" and "Dr. Strange" comics, see my web site "The Lesser Book of the Vishanti," which is online here:
https://luckymojo.com/vishanti.html
2) Okay, so that was all about "enchantments." Now, let's remember that this is a site for the discussion of conjure, hoodoo, and rootwork, which is African American folk magic, not English folk magic. In hoodoo we do not use enchantments of this sort, but we do work heavily with personal concerns of the body. The soiled, worn, and dirty shirt is such a personal concern. So, for a background on personal concerns, i want you to read the multi-page section on personal concerns in my book "Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic." If you do not have the book, please order it and get walking on this path. Without it, you will waste our time in the forum by asking questions that have been answered there. The book is only $14.95 and it will save you a lot of time thinking "What shall i do?" Order the book at
https://luckymojo.com/mojocatbooks.html
It is:
Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic, paperback by Catherine Yronwode
Originally published in 2002.
From the proprietor of the Lucky Mojo Curio Company comes the most thorough, complete, and authentic book on how roots and herbs are used in traditional African-American folk magic. 500 herbs, roots, minerals, and zoological curios are listed, along with their scientific names, so you will know exactly what to harvest or buy from an herb dealer. Included are an amazing 750 spells, formulas, mojo hand combinations, and candle rites, all given in workable, practical detail. Medical usages for many of the herbs, supplementary botanical notes, a series of cross-indexes listing herbs by the magical conditions for which they are recommended, plus 50 beautiful black and white illustrations of herbs and vintage herb packaging round out this informative reference volume. There is no other herb encyclopedia like this one. This is the book to get if you are working traditional conjure and herb magic. If you order from Lucky Mojo, cat will inscribe your copy to you. 224 pages.
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4) If you are not interested in studying hoodoo and just want a quick peek into the use of personal concerns, read this page on "Body Fluids" from my free online book "Hoodoo in Theory and Practice." It does not duplicate the more extensive material on "Personal Concerns" in "Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic," but it will give you a glimpse into why NOT to wash the shirt. The URL is
https://luckymojo.com/bodyfluids.html
This page deals with Menstrual Blood, Semen, and Urine -- but the shirt contains Sweat, which is also a vital body fluid and should be preserved, NOT washed out of the shirt!
5) If you can keep the shirt, here's what to do:
Decide whether you want to make a doll-baby on the man.
A) If you do want to make a doll, use the shirt-cloth (especially the sweaty underarm potions) to craft the doll. Stuff it with herbs and incense powders of love, control, and passion. For a list of such herbs and incense powders, buy and read "Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic" or see my free web page "Hoodoo at a Glance," online here:
https:luckymojo.com/hoodooataglance.html
Note that i said "incense powders" and not "sachet powders." If you are familiar with our products, you will understand why.
After making, baptizing, and working with the doll by loving it up all over your body, wrap it tightly in your underpants and keep it hidden. Take it out and work with it in a sexual manner whenever you feel inclined to draw him closer.
B) If you do not wish to make a doll, you may use a very old spell which simply consists of tying the shirt into a knot and burying it in your back yard so he will come to your place and not leave. This spell is usually done with a man's underpants, but i have seen it done with an undershirt or with socks as well, and it works well.
6) If you cannot keep the shirt, but will be expected to return it, you should carefully pull some threads from it, preferably from under the armpit area. If it is a knit shirt, work neatly lest it unravel. You don't need a lot, but you need something.
A) You can use the threads as part of the stuffing of a flannel cloth doll, along with suitable herbs.
B) You can put the threads in a nation sack or mojo hand made for sexual attraction, fidelity, and control over the man. Order
THE NATION SACK
For women only we fashion a traditional Memphis style filled with the particular concerns women want in this type of article. The red flannel bag contains Queen Elizabeth Root, Lodestone, Magnetic Sand, Dragon's Blood, Licorice Root, Calamus Root, a Silver Dime, a Heart charm, and a length of white cotton string for you to "personalize" according to the instructions, plus a vial of Follow Me Boy Dressing Oil.
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This also comes in a Triple Strength version with rarer and more costly ingredients
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C) After you have taken the threads from the shirt, get one of your own hairs (a pubic hair is best, but a head-hair will do), thread it on a needle, and work it into the lower-edge hem of the shirt (closest to his genitals when he will wear the shirt). You will need to pray over this work as you do it. This procedure is described more fully in my book "Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic" in the section on "Personal Concerns."
D) After you have threaded the hair into the hem of the shirt, rub it between your legs three times while praying for your desired outcome; see "Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic" in the section on "Personal Concerns." The shirt is then ready to return to him.
7) The procedure that ConjureMan described -- washing the shirt in water that contains some dissolved bath crystals for love -- is a valid way of working, but ONLY after following steps 1 through 6 above. It is usually employed in cases where you regularly do a man's laundry.
If the two of you live together, for instance, washing his clothes with a sprinkling of love bath crystals in the rinse water should become as second nature to you.
But in YOUR case, getting this shirt was a one-time or first-time event, and it should not and cannot be treated as something routine, like dressing his laundry.
Good luck!