How to Take Care of Your Suits

How to Take Care of Your Suits

Suits make you look better. In a suit, you look sharp, tidy and cultured. It is a piece of cloth that is made to impress. However, suits can be easily the most expensive item in your wardrobe.

It’s not something you want to buy once a year, unless your job requires you to put it on every day.
While suits, compared to other man’s clothes like shirts or polo, are firmer and sturdier, it is also quite sensitive.

A mistreatment can lead to a change of shape or texture and you don’t want that to happen to your most expensive piece in your wardrobe.

So, how do you care for your suit to make it not only lasts longer, but look new as well?
We’ve compiled the truth about how to take care of your suits.

Tuxedo or Suit

1. Buy a different pair of suits and rotate

If your day job requires you to wear suits Monday to Friday, a pair is not enough. Own at least five different pair so you can wear each once every week.

However, since we’ve established earlier that suits are not cheap, don’t be too hard on yourself with this recommendation. Wearing a suit twice in a week is quite moderate using, so you can start your initial suits investment in three pairs of them.

2. Hang your suits in wooden hanger

Everybody and their mom knows that they should hang their suits. However, not everybody knows how to hang them correctly.

If you take a look at a suit store, you’ll find that they hang suits on a rounded wooden hanger. There is a reason for this: it keeps the suits in their original form.

Also Read  Different Kinds of Suits – Which Suit Are You Wearing?

Wooden hanger is thick enough to fill in the space inside the suit. The rounded edge keeps the shoulder part from sticking out unnaturally. Wooden hanger can also absorbs moistures in the fabric.

Don’t hang them too close with other clothes, especially after you wear them. They need plenty of fresh air to breathe, airing out any lingering odor of sweat, perfume or even air conditioner.

adult-apparel-blur

3. Use Cedar Cupboard

After you know how to hang your suits, you should also know where to hang them. A cedar cupboard is preferable if possible. Cedar is a natural anti-moth. It also absorbs excess moisture in the cupboard.

4. Brush your suits

It’s inevitable for your suits to retain tiny particles: the dust from the street or the crumbs from croissant you had for lunch. Don’t send them to dry cleaning yet! There is safer and cheaper way to get rid of those: by brushing.

Invest for a good quality brush that is soft enough not to damage the fabric.

5. Cleaning your suits

Unless there is emergency like spilled wine or coffee or other staining accidents, only clean you suits when it is absolutely necessary. This is because dry cleaning uses chemical agents that breaks the fabric’s natural fibers. Too often of dry cleaning and it will take some years off you suits’ life.

If you scarcely use your suits, only for formal events, once every six month is enough for a dry cleaning. If you wear it to work, wash it only when it starts to smell.

For most of the time, brushing and hanging or airing usually enough to maintain its hygiene, while steam-pressing is enough to get rid of any wrinkles.

6. Damage Control

Sometimes you still get minor spillage accident, like a drop of ink from your pen while you’re signing your paper or a drop of red wine when you’re dining.

Don’t call your dry cleaner to pick up your suits yet. Do damage control 101: try to remove the stain as soon as possible with unscented baby wipes. You can also try to dab the spot with plain water and soft towel.

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Pixabay

7. Steam-Press your suits

Don’t dry iron your suits. Immediate contact with high temperature iron will burn the fiber and cause your suits’ color to fade and looks old.

Only steam-press your suits. The steam actually helps the fabrics of the suit to relax, eliminating any crease formed on the suits.

If you, however, have a very wrinkled suits and no steam-iron lying around, you can dry iron it, but only after placing a wet towel between the suits and the iron.

8. Pack Right/Don’t fold your suits

If you need to bring your suits for an events outside the city, you don’t really need to buy a specifically tailored suits suitcase.
Turn the suits inside out, put the shoulder part together then roll them from the bottom up. Don’t fold the suits, as it can leave some creases.

9. Storing your suits

If you have different suits for different season, then you must store them for a full season. Many thing can happens to this suit if you don’t store it properly.

Previous suggestions apply for this: hang it not to close with other clothes, preferably in cedar cupboard.
Before storing it is also the perfect time to send your suit to a dry cleaner. It helps your suit to be free of any food particles that can invites moths to gnaw on them.

suit-pixabay
Image: Pixabay

10. Buy additional trousers for suits

If you use suits daily, consider to buy some spare trousers. Trousers wear out faster than suits, so sometimes they may look more faded than your suits even if you bought them as a pair.

For every suits you have, an additional trousers is preferable.

11. Get the right size

Suits look better fitted, however too fitted suits will wear out easier since it will unnecessarily strains to accomodate your body.

The seams of the suits is the most affected area for this. It can get thinner faster than if you wear the right sized suit. Worst case possible is they get split open.

Also Read  Guidelines for Choosing the Bridegroom’s Tuxedo or Suit

You can fix split seams easily, but if it happens when you’re in public or when you’re with someone, it can be embarrassing.

12. Go back to the original tailor

If you need to alter your suit, come back to the shop that sold you the suit. They usually offer such services.
Altering your suit in its original store will prevent the alteration to look strange or not matched.

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes

13. Don’t overload internal pockets

Maybe you feel safer for storing wallet or car key in your internal pocket, but it can actually put strain on the seams. It also makes you look bulky in the place that is not right.

Keep your body line look sharp and well-built by avoiding storing anything in the internal pocket altogether.

14. Don’t use external pockets

One of the key to keep your suits look new is to never open its external pockets. Once opened, the line won’t look as straight as before.

15. When steam-iron is not available…

This simple trick can save you from creased suits. Simply drape the jacket and trousers over a hanger near the bath or shower. All you need to do then is turning the hot water on.

Keep the water running for half an hour. After that, lay the suit on flat surface like a table or bed, then use the palm of your hand to press on the particularly stubborn crease.

Not only you’ll get your suits wrinkle-free, you will get to feel good as you pretend like you have an ironing hand!

So, what do you think? Taking care of a suit may look like a hassle, but it’s actually not, once you know the tricks! Do you have any special way to take care of your suit? Share your tips with us in the comment section below.

Bonous! Check this amazing infographics for perfect modern suit.

Fashion infographic on suits

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