When you purchase clothes, you expect them to last longer than one season. Follow these tips to ensure your suits, dress shirts and shoes are ready when you are.
Suit Maintenance
Tip 1: Toss the Wire Hangers
Don’t use wire hangers as they create creases and ruin the tailored fit. Wood hangers are the safest bet for your suit regardless of the material.
Tip 2: Go Easy on the Dry Cleaning
Limit dry cleaning to when absolutely necessary to avoid taking years off your suit. Smell will guide you to knowing when it’s time to dry clean. If it’s ripe, take it in. If not, spot clean small stains.
Tip 3: Give That Suit a Break
If possible, rotate your suits so one isn’t overworn. After a day of use, suits need time to air out and get their shape back.
Tip 4: Keep Your Pockets Light
Don’t stuff your pockets. Loading them up with items not only affects the silhouette of the suit but can alter the shape.
Tip 5: Brush Your Suit
Clothing brushes remove unwanted dirt and debris from your suit after a night on the town or day in the office. Brush your suit to remove unwanted particles and keep it fresh between dry cleanings.
Dress Shirt Maintenance
Tip 1: Your Friend the Undershirt
Wearing an undershirt helps absorb sweat to keep your dress shirt in the rotation for years.
Tip 2: Re-Wear Your Shirt
If your shirt didn’t take on much stress the day or night you wore it, don’t wash it. Similar to the suit, if it’s ripe, give it a wash. If not, hang it for next time.
Tip 3: Don’t Dry
That’s right, steer clear of the dryer and dry cleaner. Wash and hang-dry your shirt to maintain its shape, size and color.
Tip 4: Toss the Wire Hangers
Wire hangers don’t do your shirt any good. Thin sharp metal can leave impressions or stretch the fabric in the shoulders. Your best bet is wood or plastic hangers.
Tip 5: Spot-Treat When Necessary
Instead of frequent washings in a machine, try simply removing small stains or discolorations with a small towel and water.
Dress Shoe Maintenance
Tip 1: Polish Early and Often
There’s never a bad time to polish your leather shoes. The first time you take them out of the box give your shoes a polish. From there, polish after every wear if possible.
Tip 2: Save Your Suede
Waterproofing spray, a stain eraser and a brush will give suede life. Don’t neglect these three simple steps and your shoes will look new for longer than one season.
Tip 3: The Shoe Tree
Shoes can lose shape, but shoes with a cedar shoe tree inside do not. It’s as simple as that.
Tip 4: Make Wet Shoes Dry
After a wet wearing, stuff old towels inside your shoes to soak up the water and get them ready for the next wearing. Be sure to change up your shoe rotation to give them ample recovery time.