How to make your suit last longer
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 practice is wrong because suit care should be done professionally. These housemaids are not professional cleaners and will end up damaging your expensive suit.
• Actually research has established that the best care for your suit is dry cleaning best handled by professionals in a laundry shop.
They have the expertise and equipment to ensure a good job is done.
• 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 of the skin to the suit, since the shirt will absorb the sweat and dirt.
Generally, ladies will have to clean their suits more often than men.
• You should point out any stains to your dry cleaners to enable them to do a better job of having your suits cleaned thoroughly.
• If in the course of regular wearing it gets 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 your suit
• Get a good quality soft clothes brush to remove dirt from your suit and a lint brush to remove particles (those tiny white specks) from your suit.
If you drive, 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 the car with your suit on. 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 the suit. This will enable you to maintain the shape and form of the suit. A wooden hanger or hard plastic is preferable.
• Finally provide enough room for the suit to hang. Avoid stuffing it in with other clothes so they don’t end up crushing it.
So you have what it takes to make your suit last longer and keep you looking good. Have a pleasant weekend.
• The Writer is a Certified Image Consultant. She provides Corporate & Personal Training on Grooming and Business Etiquette
She also runs KOBADEM Boutique. Email-
Mob- 0206471765.
