Suit Care Techniques for Your Next Trip

You pull your luggage along with you and follow the exit signs down the long carpeted path. Every step you take reminds you of your tired eyes, stiff neck, and aching back. Your suits—just like yourself —can show the strain of being on a long business travel. Instead of rushing to the closest dry cleaner to press life back into your suits before your meeting, follow these simple suit care techniques to save time, energy and money. All these techniques can be done in the comfort of your hotel room.

Packing

Although style, fit and colour are big factors to consider when choosing what to pack, you should look at the type of fabric first. Cotton—the most universal fabric—can be the most troublesome fabric to bring with you on your travels. Avoid wearing or sitting in a cotton suit for long periods of time as cotton wrinkles more than other fabric types. Mohair and super 120 wool are ideal fabrics to travel with.

Spending time carefully packing your suits away will save you more time when it comes to unpacking them. Properly folding and packing your suits away will reduce the amount of wrinkles in your suits.

Create the best environment for your garments. Be sure to always leave plenty of space in your luggage for your suits and place cellophane plastic between each folded garment. This will help prevent wrinkling.

Refreshing 

After taking a hot shower, unpack your suits and hang them—along with your worn garments—in the steamy bathroom. The moisture from your shower will help remove the unwanted wrinkles.

Drying

If your garments get wet, simply hang dry them at room temperature. Be sure to hang your garments away from any sources of direct heat or sunlight.

Hanging

Using the correct hanger will help maintain the shape of your suits. Always hang woven garments on a shaped, padded hanger. The best suit hangers are wooden with a thickness of about 1.5 inches.

Resting

Before you rest for the night, allow your suits to rest as well. Hang tomorrow’s outfit up and allow it to sit in resting mode for at least 12 hours before wearing.

Pressing

If you need to press your suit to remove any stubborn wrinkles, always set the iron at low temperature. This will ensure that no damages are made to the fabric. Or better yet, use the steam from the iron and pull out the wrinkles with your bare hands.

Follow these simple techniques, and your suits will thank you. For more expert advice, send us an email, tweet us your questions, or simply click here, to submit your fashion queries. Masciangelo has more than enough years of experience under its belt, and would be glad to share more expert advice with you.