- I'm Brian Sacawa and you're watching He Spoke Style,
and today we're going over how to properly
clean and care for your suits.
(upbeat jazz music)
So whether your suits are off the rack,
made to measure, or bespoke, you definitely want
to make sure that you're taking care of them properly
because doing so will prolong their life
which in turn will ensure that you are
getting the most out of the money that you've spent on them.
Suits should be dry cleaned but dry cleaning a suit
is something you shouldn't do that often,
and honestly I would consider it to be a last resort.
Dry cleaning is tough on fabric because it actually
uses a liquid solvent to remove dirt and oil.
It's effective, but it also strips the fabric
of the natural oils that it has
which over time breaks down the fabric, makes it brittle,
and significantly decreases the life span of your suit,
especially if you do it too frequently.
I am going to cover when you
should bring your suit to the dry cleaner,
but first we're going to go over five things
you can do between trips to the dry cleaner
to really stretch out the life of your suits.
First thing you're gonna want to do is to
rotate your suits, do not wear the same suit every day.
The more you wear any given suit,
the faster it's going to wear out.
Obviously this assumes you where suits regularly,
and if you do fall into that category
that's why it's very important to have multiple suits,
I would say at least three.
Full video answering the question on
how many suits do you actually need, coming soon.
Second, at the end of the day,
when you're done wearing the suit, hang it up.
This lets the fabric rest, gives it time to breathe,
and allow some of the wrinkles to
naturally fall out of the fabric.
The best option for this, which I recommend,
is a nice wooden suit hanger,
invest in a few if you don't have them already.
A plastic suit hanger is okay as a second choice,
but do not hang your suit on a plastic or wire hanger
that you would typically use for a shirt.
Those types of hangers will eventually
create indentations in the shoulders
of your suit jacket that will become permanent.
That's why you always want to have a hanger
that fits the contour of the jacket's shoulders.
Along those lines, make sure to take things out
of your pockets before hanging your suit.
This can also cause your suit to become misshapen.
Third, obviously when you go to put on your suit,
you want it to look sharp and neatly pressed,
but do not iron your suit, use a steamer.
It works quickly and it's much gentler on the fabric.
Also depending on the fabric if you iron it,
you run the risk of it kind of getting a
little shine to it which does not look good.
Now I understand when you use a steamer,
you're not gonna be able to get
that nice sharp crease in the trousers.
Some fabrics will hold a crease very well,
and for a very long time, and others like linen for example,
need to be touched up more often.
For this you want to use an iron,
but always try to avoid putting
the iron directly on the fabric.
You can get a pressing cloth to have a layer
between the iron and the fabric,
or you can get a Teflon cover to go over the iron,
and if you really want to get a great crease,
you'll want to invest in a tailors clapper.
Fourth, use a suit brush, or clothes brush.
Brush your suit before you put it on,
and then brush it again after you've worn it.
Takes 15 to 30 seconds, and it is time really well spent.
You're getting any dust or dirt out of the fabric
which again prolongs the life of the garment,
it's also kind of a nice ritual.
For me, the process of brushing my suit like that,
and giving it that kind of maintenance
kinda gets me in touch with the craftsmanship aspect
of many of my favorite suits.
Fifth, cover up your out of season suits.
Doing this keeps them from accumulating more dust
which we know is bad for fabric over time,
and be sure to use a cloth cover,
so the fabric can still breathe.
Now in the event that you do get a stain on your suit,
you should always try to clean it yourself first.
Admittedly I am not an expert on this topic,
and there are many different types of stains,
some more difficult to clean than others,
but there are a few best practices to consider.
Number one is to act fast, you don't want to
give the stain any time what so ever to set in.
Number two, use cold water,
wool especially is not very tolerant to heat,
and hot water can really damage the fabric.
Number three lightly blot at the stain,
and try to pull it up.
If you scrub at it, you run the risk
of the stain setting even more.
I've also heard that vinegar and lemon juice
is a good combination because of it's acidic properties,
I haven't actually tried that myself before.
Which brings us to the question,
when should you dry clean your suits.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this video,
dry cleaning should be a last resort,
so when all else fails,
that is when you should dry clean your suits.
There's a stain you absolutely can't get out,
if there's a smell you can't get rid of,
if there's dirt that is visible,
that is when a suit needs to be dry cleaned.
It's not an exact science unfortunately,
but doing those things like rotating,
hanging between wears, steaming, brushing, and covering
will increase the time between dry cleanings.
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Until next time, thanks for watching, and stay tailored.
(upbeat jazz music)