Menswear Trends

How to care for your suit

The life of your new Steel and May suit will be enhanced by following these simple tips.

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CLEANING and Brushing

After 10-15 wears, hang your suit outside to air. Airing is recommended to eliminate any odours and dry out any moisture in your suit. Keep your suit outside your wardrobe for one day after wearing, this helps to rejuvenate wool since it is a natural fibre and will lessen the need for dry cleaning. Dry clean suits as infrequently as possible (once every 30 wears is enough) . The wool provides a natural lanolin protection for the suit and constant dry cleaning will deplete this from the cloth.

Do not rub forcefully on stains or dirt to avoid it embedding into the fabric. Save the dry cleaning for stains or other major emergencies. Frequency depending on wear should be 6-12 months. Never iron a stain on the suit, it will permanently imprint the stain. The cloth of a suit loses its integrity over time as dirt and unseen particles build up causing it to weaken and dull in appearance. Brushing the suit helps restore lustre to the suit.

When selecting the right brush keep in mind quality of the brush may effect results. Choices are generally a wooden or plastic body/handle and bristles made from either synthetic material or real animal hair. Natural animal hair is your best option, to ensure that the bristles aren’t coarse and damage your suit.

RESTING

Try to avoid wearing the same garment two consecutive days, if possible allow a minimum of 24 hours to rest. Alternate the suit trousers if you have two pairs with one jacket. This gives your suit time to recover and retain its shape.

HANGING

A quality coat hanger is crucial when it comes to suiting. Your choice of hanger can help maintain the shape of your jacket and ultimately help it last longer. No wire hangers, ever. Keep your suit on the Steel and May hanger supplied to help maintain the shape of your jacket, thereby extending the length of its life, this too will help smooth out any wrinkles sustained during wear. Wool suits are recommended to be occasionally hung for a short time in a steamy environment, this can easily be achieved in a bathroom to relax and refresh the garment.

PRESSING

A great alternative to dry cleaning is pressing. Get your suit hand pressed at your selected reputable dry cleaner, this has less cost involved and will successfully remove unwanted creases.

TIPS

Avoid excess loads in your pockets, which could strain the joints. Unbutton your jacket before you sit down. Also pull the pants up when you sit so you don’t pull the fabric too much. Avoid metal wire hangers for suits. If a hanger is not available, fold your suit jacket inside out with shoulders touching. Try not to get caught in the rain in your suit as this can damage the interior construction of the suit.

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