How to clean and maintain your suit

• Posted on June 27, 2017June 27, 2017
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

A lot of you who wear suits have requested for an article on how to clean and maintain your suits. The basic rule that must constantly be observed when cleaning your clothes is: READ THE LABEL CARE INSTRUCTIONS.

For instance, there are some clothes that should only be dry cleaned. The attached label on the clothes will indicate whether it should be dry cleaned, machine washed or hand washed.

It will also indicate whether to tumble dry, air dry and the appropriate heat setting to use when ironing them out.

Dry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a chemical solvent other than water. This is the reverse of wet cleaning which uses water, soap and conditioners as a means of cleaning clothes.

Suits can be very expensive. Therefore utmost care must be taken when cleaning them. Several people have ended up damaging many a good and expensive suit by handing them over to their housemaids to wash and iron. This is so wrong. They are not professional cleaners and will end up damaging your expensive suit.

•  Actually research has shown that the best care for your suit is dry cleaning best handled by professionals in a laundry shop.  

•  You do not have to dry clean your suit anytime you wear it. For men 3 – 4 times a year is adequate.
 For ladies this is difficult unless we put on a shirt to prevent direct contact with the suit, since the shirt will absorb the sweat and dirt. Generally ladies will have to clean their suits more often than men will have to.  

•  You should point out any stains to your dry cleaners to enable them do a better job of having your suits cleaned thoroughly.

•  In the course of regular wearing it could get wrinkled. You can send it back just for ironing or should you choose to do it yourself, use steam iron and a moderate steam setting to avoid damaging the material. Avoid dry ironing and if you don’t have a steam iron, place a cloth over your suit before ironing it.

•  Get a good quality soft clothes brush to remove dirt from your suit and a lint brush to remove particles and snow (Those tiny white specks) from your suit. Have one at home and tuck another in your glove compartment for a quick touch up when needed.

•  Leave your suit to air dry after use before storing to prevent odour and moisture build up which can damage the material.

•  When driving or travelling, do not sit in with your suit. Rather hang it up in your car or lay it flat on your back seat to avoid damage and wrinkle.

•  Do not hang your suit with articles in it, it can damage the shape of your suit

•  Get a good sturdy hanger to hang your suit on. This will enable you to maintain the shape and form of your suit.

A wooden hanger or hard plastic is preferable.

•  Finally provide enough room for your suit to hang. Avoid stuffing it in with other clothes so they don’t end up crushing it.

I hope these tips I have provided will be useful to you to help you clean and maintain your suits and make them last as long as possible since the pockets are light these days.

Do have a great weekend.

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