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Keeping the suit looking fresh needs some maintenance standard; it doesn’t stop until you hang up the dry-cleaning. If you don’t know the cleaning suit rules, we’re going to teach you the ropes to keep you and your suit fresh.
You’re hard at work and challenging at leisure. You’re cranking away, making motions, and feeling so fresh in your freshly minted custom suit. You’re sitting with it, cycling, driving, digging, and hustling all day long. And you’re not the only one. Your suit is stiff at work right there with you, a modern armor coat that leaves you sparkling. But the constant hustle doesn’t just affect you. It even affects your suit. And much like the ones they adorn, the suit gets dusty, too. And you’re dreaming about parting for a couple of days so you can spend some time in the dry cleaners for thorough cleaning of the suit.
But do you need to dry clean to keep your suit clean?
A Step-by-step Guide To Cleaning A Suit
A suit is a serious investment. Like any investment, you have to value it, understand it, and learn how to handle it correctly and take care of it. We’ll take you a few temporary measures to prolong the life of your trusty friend.
Suit Cleaning Tip #1
Avoid cleaning products.
You know you’re not going to chuck your suit in the washer, but there’s nothing that’s going to rough up your suit jacket and wear it quicker than the dry cleaners. A ride to the cleaners is necessary every once and a while. However, do it only after cleaning the apparent dirt built up and the filthy places, instead of the whole suit jacket cleaned. Dry cleaning will subject the suit to harsh chemicals that will inevitably take their toll on the cloth. Therefore, any cleaners may not take proper caution during the operation and can cause harm to the internal canvassing process (this is not a problem for pants that do not contain canvassing). So, keep your suit jacket clear and clean as appropriate.
To ensure appropriate hygiene practices, note that you must perform any procedure that contains harmful chemicals in moderation.
Any suit fans would also restrict the dry cleaning of a suit to as little as once or twice a year. Instead, do your suit cleaning needs by steam cleaning it and continuously hang it up with some space between it and the next thing in your wardrobe (probably another suit) so that it can breathe properly in between the clothes.
Again, note that suit care is becoming increasingly necessary with a higher micron number of fabrics. Many people mistake higher micron number wool with higher longevity, but the reverse is the case. While firmer and smoother, resulting in better drape, wool yarns with higher micron numbers are also more refined and more brittle, rendering them more vulnerable to daily wear and tear; constant dry washing would only worsen the issue.
Suit Cleaning Tip #2
Steam, NOT iron.
Using a clothes steamer on your suit is one of the easiest ways to free your wrinkles suit and deodorize it. Steaming is a more delicate way of rejuvenating your suit’s fibers that can continue to extend your survival. A decent steamer can cost up to $150, but it’s a small price to pay to keep your suits in tip-top condition for the long term. Avoid steaming the region of the collar. This region is not wrinkled much, and steaming can alter the relative shape of the inner canvas. More specifically, AVOID uses standard iron to press your suits, as a prolonged and intense touch of the iron on the suit at a high-temperature setting will harm the cloth and cause shine. If you need to use an iron, use a press cloth as a shield to secure the wool.
Suit Cleaning Tip #3
Appropriately hang the suit.
Keep your suit in a well-spaced place when you’re not wearing it. And don’t hang up with one of the flimsy metal hangers that are going to leave the hanging divots between your shoulders. Consider investing in a proper wooden hanger with a broad contoured profile to maintain the suit’s form and drape. The hanger should be broad enough to meet the shoulders’ edge and wide enough to fill a section of the shoulders. Try to purchase natural wood hangers as they help to extract the moisture from the cloth after a long day of use.
Suit Cleaning Tip #4
Fight the dust with lint rollers.
Dust, loose hair, and dandruff tend to accumulate in your hair over time. A way to keep it safe and clean is by using a shampoo and a brush. Your suits merit the same attention. Wool, a natural fiber, can hold pollen, debris, and lint from the atmosphere and, if left untreated, can cause tissue loss over time. The cost of a suit brush is less than $20, and giving your suit a brush after each wear along with the occasional application of a lint roller as needed would significantly increase its lifespan. Just hang up the jacket and rub down, never perpendicular to the fibers softly and steadily. Start with your shoulders and work your way down.
Suit Cleaning Tip #5
Give your suit a break.
Although we might all have been in cases when we need to wear the same suit two days in a row (going so late and waking up in an apartment that isn’t yours, etc.), strive not to wear the same suit every day to prevent degradation. Your suit’s natural wool fabrics require time to relax and regenerate, so make sure you change your suits evenly during the week. Much like you, your favorite custom-tailored suit deserves a limelight break for some occasional R&R.
If you’re traveling and don’t have access to a steamer, put your suit on your bathroom door when you’re taking a hot shower. Don’t you want hot showers? Give your suit some steam treatment of its own – hang up your suit, change the hot water in the tub, leave the vent, and shut the door. The suit should be calm and relatively free from all the hot steam in just a few minutes.