A Guide to Simple Suit Care

Let's hope you've taken my advice and have purchased your suit.  Now let's talk about taking care of it.

1.  Always hang up your suit.

 So I think it should be pretty common sense to hang up your suit.  However, somethings are important.  First, make sure that you hang up your pant according to the crease.  The crease of both legs of the pant should lie flat and be against the rod of the hanger.  Second, the hanger should be a wide hanger, 1.5 inches or wider in order to prevent destruction of the shoulder.  Cedar hangers are a nice touch to prevent moths and wick moisture.

2.  Invest in a Brush

Do not use a sticky fabric roller.  Fabric rollers will leave a residue on the suit that will cause dust and hair buildup in the future.  Using an inexpensive fabric brush will ultimately save in dry cleaning.

3.  Dry Clean (if possible) Less than Twice a Year

Chemicals in the dry cleaning process can cause the fibers of your suit to become brittle and wear.  However, if your suit has a stain or a spot or is dirty, please take it in.  No one wants to look like that dirt clod off of Charlie Brown.

4.  Travel

Travel without wearing your suit coat.  It will prevent wrinkles in sitting and buckling.  Make sure that your suit is always laying flat on top of whatever you may be hauling.  Or even better, if possible to hang it up.  Optimal travel would include taking a trash bag and punching the hanger through the top of the bag and tying it at the bottom to prevent dirty and dust from accumulating during travel.

5. Long Term Storage.

Invest in a suit bag ($5-$10).  Dry clean and brush your suit to make sure that oils and dust are removed.  Make sure that mothballs are proximal to the suit (and that humans and animals are not).  Air out before next wear.  However, suits are best worn and will maintain shape and fit better if worn regularly.

6.  Always Wear Your Jacket

It's important that whenever the suit is worn that pants are worn with the jacket.  Suits do fade or even darken over time as they are exposed to the sun and other elements.  If pants are worn often enough without the jacket, it can cause the pants to wear faster than the jacket and even become lighter.  (Pants are often the first thing to wear out anyway).  If I were to venture a guess, I would say that twice as much repair work is done to the seat of a pant than anywhere else on a suit.

7.  Invest in a 2nd Suit

Buying a second suit will automatically double the life of your first suit, and also double the life of the second suit.  Wool suits, when properly taken care of, will relax wrinkles out of them and other such self-maintenance.  But it requires time for the suit to do that, and by allowing time for it to air out will increase it's lifespan.

A well made suit can last for years.  I was an LDS Missionary for two years and wore my two suits constantly and still have them to this day.  Well made suits can last for years if properly taken care of.  So make your investment wisely.