Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette. In today's video, we'll discuss nine dry
cleaning hacks which you can use on clothing, which may require a little additional care.
[The Gentleman's Gazette theme song plays]
Now, how much money do you think you spend on dry cleaning per year? A huge return to those
who are interested in wearing a nicer garment is the perceived cost of what it's going to
take to maintain those clothes. It's a bit of a status symbol at large firms like Goldman Sachs,
for example, to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars getting your suits and shirts cleaned.
The average American home spends $500 on it alone. Unfortunately,
the pandemic has been very hard on this industry. It's still an important part of maintaining your
wardrobe and it's not always possible to avoid it. The ironic thing is that wool,
silk, and other natural fibers that aren't in direct contact with the skin
have many self-cleaning properties. In many cases, this will make dry cleaning unnecessary;
for example, in the lanolin oils found in wool, which are antimicrobial.
Cary Grant claimed to have never taken his suits to the dry cleaners and he had some
in his collection that were over 50 years old. And chances are he probably wasn't very smelly.
While this is an extreme take, dry cleaning does damage the dye and weave of your clothing,
and can damage your garment over time. So, this means you really only want to use dry
cleaning as a last resort, perhaps for a really bad smell, stain, or a misshapen jacket. Now,
the good news is that we've come up with nine dry cleaning hacks to help you spend less time and
money away from the cleaners and more toward things that you actually want to do. Plus,
you won't be as scared to eat that rack of ribs with your jacket still on. Number one:
Start treating stains the moment they occur. After eating in a nice jacket
and a drop of mustard hits your collar, don't wait to take it to the dry cleaner.
Start mitigating the stain immediately. Now, if you're out and about, here a few ways to start
dealing with it. Using a clean utensil, scrape off as much of the food or sauce from the garment
as possible. Blot the stain gently with little club soda but don't crush or rub the stain into
the fabric. You can also use plain white bread to blot as much of the food or sauce up as possible.
Please note that this must be plain white bread that does not contain fat; so,
no pastries or focaccia or the problem will be worse. Keep a stain remover wipe in your wallet
for just an occasion. Blot gently and avoid the temptation to rub too hard. Even if you can't get
the stain out entirely, you've made a good start and the dry cleaner will have a much easier time
getting the rest of the stain out. Number two: Use a clothes brush designed for spot cleaning.
Now, as we go about our day, dust, food, and other residue can sneak their way onto
and into the garments we wear, particularly in fibers like ones commonly found in a suit.
Now, over time, this grime will build up and sink its way into the fabric.
Now, this will cause potential food or smells for moths to take advantage of in the future.
A clothes brush made out of something like horse hair will
use its bristles to clear out the dirt and debris without harming the fabric.
Now, doing this once every few wears will help the garment from getting grimy over time.
If you just stained a small spot, you can take water and a small cloth and dab the
stain. If it still persists, you can apply a small amount of stain remover and press it.
Don't spray this directly as too much can damage the weave. Number three: Do a spot test on silk.
Now, before you try dry cleaning a silk garment yourself, a good trick you can try
to make sure that the fabric is sturdy enough is called a "spot test." You'll
want to place a small amount of water on the garment that's not visually noticeable with
whatever detergent you planned on using such as the back blade of the tie. Now,
make sure you can live with a small mark if this trick does not work.
You'll then want to run a cotton swab over that area. As some of the clothing's dye leaks onto
the swab, it's best to then take it to a dry cleaner or be very careful if you continue to
try to spot clean it. If it doesn't bleed, you can be a bit more aggressive with hand
washing or machine washing on a delicate cycle. Number four: Drying garments with ice cubes.
Did something get crammed into the back of the closet? Crammed into a suitcase? If you
have a dryer and some ice cubes handy, you can avoid going to the dry cleaner
and painstakingly hand steaming your garments. The warm air from the dryer will slowly melt the ice
cubes creating steam. Do this on dry clothes for the minimum amount of time to smooth out wrinkles.
Number five: Try these three methods to remove odors before bringing them to the dry cleaner.
Number one: Let your suits hang outside before deciding on whether or not you're going to dry
clean them. If your suit or sport coat is smelling like a wet dog, try leaving it
outside on a sunny day with a slight breeze for a few hours. The sun's ultraviolet rays
serve as a natural bacteria-killer. This will also help activate the oils in wool. Breeze
will also help remove any lingering substances, which also might be clinging onto the garment.
Now, this will serve as particularly helpful when trying to remove the scent of tobacco out of a
jacket. If you've been to a smoky casino or bar, that smell always sticks to clothing. Number two:
If the smell is particularly strong, you can get a fan and spray a mist of vodka towards the garment
to kill off any extra odors. Doing this process one to three times should help remove any moderate
odors, which might be clinging onto the garment. This is also a great hack for deodorizing vintage
clothes with that distinct smell. Number three: Stashing stinky clothes overnight in the freezer
has been known to dramatically reduce the smell of smoke and other strong odors.
Number six: Use a pressing cloth to iron your suits. Now, while shirts are very easy to iron,
suits can be a bit tricky. Suits have a third layer of inner lining or canvassing which can
bubble up or wrinkle a bit funny if not handled properly. You can also burn the wool of the suit
if you directly apply the iron to the fabric. Pressing like this can cause the fabric to become
unnaturally shiny and warped if done incorrectly. Using a pressing cloth adds a layer of protection
to the suit from the iron. Now, this will allow the user to iron the body of the suit without
worrying about burning the fabric or loosening the seams. And learn more about how to iron a suit,
check out our video here. Number seven: Wash a suit with lemon juice and vinegar in a tub.
If you have an old and severe stain or smell on a suit or in a garment that hasn't been cleaned
in a long time, this trick will work wonders for you as a last resort. Fill up the tub with
cold water and submerge the suit in question. You then want to take a teaspoon of lemon juice
and/or vinegar and apply that to the water. This is because the acidic properties are effective
at penetrating the wool fibers and killing off any germs that may have picked up along the way.
Press down on the problem areas and allow to soak for half an hour. When you return, drain the water
and press the fabric to remove any excess water. Now, you may never look at your clothes the same
way again when you see how much dirt comes out of it. You then want to put your garment on a sturdy
hanger and wait for it to dry before brushing it to get it to a pristine condition. You can even
do this outside, as we mentioned before, for maximum effect. For unavoidable dry cleaning,
schedule a twice annual off-season dry cleaning run. Now, there may be some things that you need
or just want to dry clean, but often they are never cleaned when we actually want to wear them.
Case in point, winter coats that you notice are dirty just when it gets cold outside.
The key is to plan ahead, so that you're ready when you need them. Now, in the summer months,
gather up your tweed jackets and overcoats and bring them in to be cleaned, so they are
ready when fall arrives or perhaps do this just when the season is ending. The same
is true for your linen suits and lightweight shirts. Bring those in at the first snowfall
or in January. Number nine: Try to avoid overly sweating or getting them dirty in the first place.
While all these techniques can be very effective at removing dirt and odors from garments that are
recommended to be dry cleaned, one of the best lines of defense is to avoid it all together.
Even Cary Grant broke his own rules on screen after a day of dodging crop dusters.
Now, while you shouldn't be overly fussy or afraid when wearing dress clothes,
if you have a tendency to be a bit messy, avoiding certain foods or perhaps drinking wine
while wearing those garments might be your best line of defense for keeping things clean. Now,
to ensure that you don't ruin your favorite shirt or your best suit, it's ideal to have a
set of clothes which are made from some workhorse material, perhaps something a little bit older,
to wear so that you don't mess up that nice stuff. Quality clothing is an investment and there's no
shame in hedging your bets if you don't think it's worth a risky situation. Today, I'm wearing
a green cable net sweater from Brooks Brothers and a blue and white checked casual shirt,
along with dark denim, dark green boots from Taft, and, of course,
my Fort Belvedere shadow stripe socks with gold and burgundy stripes. And, of course,
you can always find socks like these and other great accessories at the Fort Belvedere shop here.
[The Gentleman's Gazette theme song plays]