There is absolutely nothing worse than after having spent time, money and love finding great wardrobe pieces and then having them ruined or damaged by poor care. This usually happens in three ways, moth or wardrobe damage, poor maintenance and bad dry cleaning. Here are some simple guidelines in order to spare you the premature loss of a favourite piece.
Moths
The scourge of woollen garments. Most of us at one time or another experience the gut wrench of pulling out a great coat, jumper or suit only to discover moths have eaten chunks out of it.
These larvae hate sunlight, so you tend to see this on garments that have been stored for a while. To prevent this there are several options. Obviously you can put chemical mothballs in your closet which will keep them away, however this leaves the lovely “vintage smell” or “eau de old man” on all your clothes. A better option is to get cedarwood blocks and balls.
These are a more natural way to prevent them attacking our pieces.
What to do if its too late? Sometimes there isnt much that can be done, especially if the damage is extensive, however a trusted tailor may have some solutions for you. Go in and ask and on especially precious pieces enquire about invisible mending (read here for more http://parisiangentleman.co.uk/2012/01/11/invisible-mending-an-amazing-craft-under-threat/ )
Maintenance is very important. It is vital that suits are stored on a good hanger that supports their shoulder shape while in the wardrobe.
Nothing makes me cringe more than seeing a beautiful suit being stored on wire hangers. this totally destroys the structure of the shoulder aging the suit prematurely.
After wear suits need to air out and “recover” . There are two ways to do this. The best is to get a suit valet as pictured.
Putting your your suit on this after wear enables it to air out and breathe before putting it back into the closet. It is best to put the suit onto the valet after you take it off, then put it back in the wardrobe in the morning while getting dressed the next day. Alternatively you can hang the suit on a good hanger outside of the wardrobe off a door or off a stair rail, basically anything that will enable airflow through the garment to get rid of the moisture that accumulates during a days wear.
The last, and arguably most important thing to do before putting the suit away is to use a damp cloth to remove any stains or food spills from your suit. This will stop them setting, and prevent unnecessary drycleaning, which is the subject of next weeks post.
If you follow these few simple steps, your suits will be ready to go whenever you need them, and you will be spared the agony of prematurely damaged garments