Maintenance & Care: How To Wash A Suit

Everyone has worn a suit at some point in their life. Suits are an item of clothing that makes any man look stylish. The maintenance and care for men's suits is a much-neglected aspect of the art of dressing. Most men tend to think that suits can be worn without proper cleaning and this makes them look bad after some time. This is why every man needs to know how to maintain and wash suits properly. If you don't even have a suit yet then be sure to get one here: FlexSuits

Here are some tips on how you can wash your suit more effectively:

The Basis Of Suit Maintenance

The basics of suit maintenance start with the knowledge that suits are made from delicate materials. The suit itself is a piece of art, and it needs to be treated as such. Always remember this when going out to wash for a suit or planning on how you can maintain your suit regularly.

Suit maintenance also requires that you do not wash it with an excessive amount of clothes. If you are sharing the clothes washer, always remember this rule of thumb to prevent your suit from shrinking.

If you have worn a suit, you must go straight to the dry cleaners for professional dry cleaning. Whether you are wearing a quality suit or not, never put it under any home washing program. You can always use your regular detergents but they should be only used sparingly on very dirty stains.

Never use water that is hot when washing your suit. This can cause you to shrink the suit jackets and pants. You should use warm water instead, as this helps to prevent the shrinking of delicate materials.

Tools For Washing/Cleaning A Suit

The tools or accessories needed to clean a suit are helpful but not mandatory. You may wash your suits without them but you will spend more time and energy doing the task properly. The basic tools needed for washing a suit include

Suit Brush

You need to buy a suit brush that will help you brush off any dirt or dust from the surface of your suit. The suit brush with a lid is just like any other normal brush, but what sets it apart from others is that it comes with a lid. You should use one because this enhances the cleaning process.

The method of using it is simple. All you need to do is to brush off the dirt or dust on your suit and leave it in the open to dry before putting it away.

Wooden Suit Hangers

The right hanger helps hold the structure of your jacket, thereby extending the size of its life, and helps ease out any wrinkles sustained at some point of put on and take off. A wooden hanger is preferable because they do not leave any mark on the shoulders.

The maintenance process is somewhat complicated for suit jackets that are made from delicate materials. You should use quality suit hangers.

Suit Bag

Buy a plastic or canvas bag for washing a suit to ensure that it stays protected from other clothes. Ensure that the cloth suit bag is large enough to accommodate the size of the suit you intend to wash.

A suit bag protects the suit against the harsh chemicals of the detergent you are using for cleaning. The suit bag also prevents your suit from being exposed to another same suit that may contain static electricity which can damage delicate fabric materials. You should put your suit in a bag, for protection against moths and wrinkles.

How to Clean Suit At Home By Yourself

One of the most necessary investments you can make when you fit is to go well with a clothes brush. If you are well-known to go well with wearers, make investments in something that will last. Follow the steps to clean the suit at home below:

Brush The Suit

Giving your go well with suits a thorough brushing after every sporting is a gorgeous way to assist hold your favorite suit easy and well-maintained. It helps to remove any particles that can trigger abrasion or harm.

Begin with a suit brush brushing the face of the suit over, making use of long strokes in the instructions of the hair fibers. Start at one sleeve cuff and brush up on each shoulder, across the back of your neck, over your breastbone (sternum), down your opposite arms, to your opposite hand. Repeat on the other side.

Pants are much easier to brush than jackets however they too need brushing after sporting. To clean your pants, start at the cuffs of every pant leg and use long strokes similar to those used for cleansing suits.

Clean Small Spots and Stains

Gently dab or gently rub the spot, shifting on the contrary route of the fabric’s weave. You solely favor getting the cloth damp, no longer soaked. To avoid harm to delicate materials, use a stain remover that is designed for suits. Test all removers on an inconspicuous area first before applying it directly onto the suit.

Use Steamer At The End

Steaming the suits is a notable way to hit the reset button on your go well after being worn. It smooths out wrinkles from its tough day of work and will assist out with any smells the go well with has picked up.

In a cloth bag, steam each suit from the rear of the suit on a standard setting. Do not hold too near to the suit as it will probably cause damage. Steaming rarely takes over 10 minutes for one to go well with and if you are steaming several at once, even less time is needed.

How To Clean And Sanitize Your Suit?

To clean and sanitize your suit, make use of a cleaner that is designed for the suit's fabric. This will prevent any harm to the delicate materials used in your suit, but it's typically overkill. A mild detergent ought to be enough to get rid of dust and dirt that has accumulated on your go well throughout the day.

Here's a great article if you are looking for some eco-friendly ways to clean a suit

Here are some safe and easy tricks to keep your suits, jackets, and trousers clean and good-looking.

Washing

Cleaning your suit well with many methods is a pretty barbaric factor to do, though: you’d better take your suit to a depended on dry-cleaner on every occasion you have the chance.

How To Clean A Suit

Always check the label to see how you ought to launder your go well with and what temperature the water should be. The three most encouraging washing techniques are the following: 

Hand Wash

When in doubt about how to clean the suit, the easiest thing is to hand wash it. You ought to place your garments in a basin or clean bucket and make use of lukewarm water. The best methods are using cashmere shampoo or delicate cleaning soap, which are much less likely to damage, fade, or change the color of your suit.

You can always air your dirty suit for 24 hours before you wash it. This usually gives the dust and unseen particles on the surface of your suit time to settle down, making it easier to wash.

Washing Machines

If washing by hand is not possible, use machine washing for this job. There are three different ways to do machine wash: the gentle cycle, the regular wash, and the extra dirty wash.

The gentle cycle is for clothes that are not very dirty. The regular wash is a little bit dirty. The extra dirty wash is very dirty and time-consuming.

Always check if you go well with label permits in a washing machine. If that's the case, use warm water at 82-85ºF (28-30ºC). The temperature will depend on the fabric. A high temperature is enough to kill most germs without damaging your favorite suit at all.

Dry Cleaning

If you're not sure whether or not your suit can be machine washed, it's best to err on the side of caution and dry clean it instead. Dry cleaning is a more intensive process than regular washing, but it's the safest way to clean delicate fabrics without risking any damage.

Dry-cleaning is an effective way to clean a suit that can't be washed, but it's quite expensive. Keep this in mind before deciding whether or not you'll take your suit for dry cleaning or you'll do it yourself at home.

The most effective way to clean a suit is by hiring a dry cleaner. The professional dry cleaner is well trained in the art of basic cleaning without causing any damage to delicate material.

Sanitize

Sanitizing is important for suits and goes well with. It will eliminate virtually all odor and embarrassment that the garment has suffered, even though you cannot disinfect it completely. No matter what you do, microbes stay in the fabric.

You can do sanitizing by using cubilose which is a disinfectant for surfaces used to being in contact with people. Cubilose is available at your local pharmacy or home care section of a department store.

Smell Removal

Most suits probably have picked up an unpleasant odor by this time, especially if you work in the food industry. It's time to remove it with white vinegar and water. The best method is mixing equal parts of both ingredients and putting the solution in a spray bottle. Now, you just need to spray the vinegar and water mixture on your suit and let it dry.

Ironing

When you are done washing your suit, make sure to iron it. This will make the suit safe for a long period. Don't forget there are some types of suits that are made from delicate material. You must check carefully before ironing it. Iron your go well with inside out, on the lowest setting possible. The reason for this is to protect the fragile fabric and threads in your suit. It's also better if you use a press cloth or iron pad.

If that wasn't enough here are some more ways to clean a suit as well. 

Final Thoughts

When it comes to maintaining and cleaning your suit, there are a lot of options. We’ve highlighted the basics for you here in this post--the tools you need to wash/clean a suit, how to clean your suit at home by yourself, and even how to sanitize your suits. Your best bet is following our recommendations on regular care which will help keep that new-suit smell around longer!

Be sure to check out our collection of men's suits if you need a fresh new suit!