← back to "Men's Fashion"
How should I care for my suit? How to make your suit immortal
Benno Büchler, 29.03.2023
A suit is an investment in your appearance and your career. It is the flagship of your style and professionalism. A well-maintained suit can open doors for you and make you appear in the best light.
But how to properly care for a suit?
Already in the daily use of suit there are some things to consider: open it when you sit down, don't wear it 2 days in a row and make sure that the pockets are always as empty as possible. If you really need to iron it, use a lot of steam and, depending on the material, put a clean kitchen towel between the suit and the iron. When cleaning, use professional dry cleaning, your suit will thank you for it.
In this blog, I'm going to focus on the most important rules and tips for taking care of your suit so that it's always in top shape and you can enjoy your investment for as long as possible.
Daily handling
During wearing
Daily handling of a suit is crucial when it comes to keeping it in perfect condition.
While you're wearing it, there are some important facts to keep in mind to make sure your suit looks like new for as long as possible.
One of the most important aspects of wearing a suit is that you make sure to open the button while sitting. This prevents the suit from being unnecessarily stressed where the button is closed, which causes it to wear out faster.
This doesn't apply to all suits though, here I'll show you an important exception .
Another important factor is to make sure you keep your pockets as empty as possible when wearing the suit.
This prevents objects in the pocket from pressing against the suit fabric, leaving dents.
If possible, it's best to leave the pockets even sewn shut to avoid unwanted stretching of the suit fabric and to avoid the temptation to, for example, stow your wallet in the outside pocket.
Another important element of daily handling of a suit is that it should be paused for at least 24 hours between wearing it twice. This gives the suit fabric a chance to recover and regain its shape, and prevents it from wearing out too quickly.
Ironing
When it comes to ironing suits, it's important to pay attention to the suit's materials. Each one has care symbols on the sewn-in slip that tell you whether you can iron the suit or not.
If it is possible, you should not iron the suit, but hang it in the bathroom while you shower before wearing it.
The steam from the shower helps to smooth out the wrinkles from the suit and thus bring it into shape. In addition, the suit can breathe well again, which is also good for the fabric itself.
Instead of ironing the suit, it is best to always hang it on a well-padded hanger. This gives the suit the opportunity to regain its shape and prevents it from wrinkling.
Brushing with a soft clothes brush also helps to remove wrinkles and preserve the surface of the suit.
If you do need to iron it, for example after cleaning, try ironing it almost exclusively with steam.
It is also recommended to place a damp cotton cloth between the fabric and the iron to ensure that no unwanted shiny spots are created.
Storage
One of the most important rules when storing suits is to always keep them in a breathable suit bag.
This will protect your suit from dust, dirt, and daylight, all of which can contribute to it aging faster and changing color.
A suit bag allows you to store the suit neatly and tidily while allowing air circulation.
Another important factor when storing suits is to always carry them in your bag when you're on the go.
This way you protect your suit from wrinkles or dirt that can occur when it is not transported in the bag.
Cleaning
There are several ways in which you can clean the suit.
From hand washing to dry cleaning to the washing machine at home. Which cleaning is the right one for your suit you can see on the sewn-in label, which is in the jacket as well as in the pants.
Dry cleaning
If all options are crossed out, you must always take it to the dry cleaner.
You may be asked what material the suit is made of. You will also find this information on the piece of paper.
A rule of thumb is that a suit should only be dry cleaned twice a year, once in the middle of the season and once at the end.
Wash at home
I recommend, for the sake of your suit, don't wash it in your washing machine unless you know exactly what you're doing.
Depending on the suit, it may say on the information sheet that you can wash it yourself at low temperature. (mainly for cotton suits)
If you dare to do this, you absolutely must pay special attention to a few things:
- Wash the suit as gently as possible
- Do not throw anything else into the machine, except for the suit
- Empty the machine immediately after the program is finished
- Hang everything directly on hangers that also support padding
- Wait with the ironing until the suit is completely dry
Stains removal
Dry stains
If you find dry stains on your suit you can try to remove them with a clothes brush.
Make sure you don't put too much pressure on the stain and damage the material of the suit.
Also, it is important to always move the clothes brush along the fibers so as not to rub the fabric.
But before you use the brush you should check that it is clean. Otherwise, when cleaning one stain, in the worst case you will cause others and such a stupid mistake you will regret afterwards, believe me...
Damp stains
When it comes to removing wet stains, it is important to act immediately and treat the stain as soon as possible.
A good method is to treat the stain gently with a clean cloth and a few drops of water.
In doing so, you must not rub around on the fabric under any circumstances, but only dab it.
After that, you should take the suit to the dry cleaners as soon as possible if it hasn't gotten better.
It is important not to use stain removers as this may affect the color of the suit.
Most important points
- Daily handling: Button open while wearing, pockets as empty as possible (best to leave sewn shut), 24h break after wearing.
- Storage: always in the breathable suit pocket.
- Dry cleaning: Certain suits dry clean only, maximum 2x per year.
- Stain removal: Dry stains: remove immediately with a soft clothes brush, Damp stains: treat immediately with clean cloth and water. Do not use stain removers.
Conclusion
In this blog, we've focused on the most important rules and tips for taking care of your suit so that it's always in top shape and you can enjoy your investment for as long as possible.
We've shown the importance of taking proper care of your suit to keep it looking like new for as long as possible.
It's important to be responsible with your suit as a suit owner to make sure it's always in perfect condition and leaves a good impression.
If you're looking for even more tips and tricks on how to care for your outfit, visit our website and read on.
Source cover image: Pexels | edited post
More posts
What do I need to know about the bow tie? The guide to the cross tie
Originally known as an accessory for the man of the world and dandy, the bow tie has experienced a renaissance in recent years.
.
But which bow tie suits which occasion? How do you choose the right color? And above all: How do you actually tie a bow tie correctly?
What tie knots are very easy to learn?
I know I've already addressed simple, respectively mandatory tie knots in a post, but those were far from all.
Have fun trying it out.
With which tie knots can I impress others?
All good things come in threes.
And here comes the third part of the expert tie knot series. If this is the first one you come across, don't forget to check out parts one and two as well.