Preserve and Don't Ignore : How to take care of your wardrobe

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In order to lengthen the useful life of your clothes and accessories, you should know how to clean and store them. Knowing how to take care of your wardrobe is just as important as knowing how to wear them. Here are some tips on how you can preserve the life of your clothing pieces:

1. For tops such as tees, dress shirts and polo shirts, hang them properly using hangers if you plan to use them again. If it is a structured piece, use a padded hanger so that the ends of the hanger don’t unevenly stretch or leave a mark on the material. If you choose to put them in a hamper for laundry, brush the inside of the collar and the cuffs for long sleeves first to remove yellowish marks or stains from sweat and dirt before it sets on to your clothes and become permanent stains.

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2. If you accidentally stained your shirt with pasta sauce or red wine, use cold water or ice to remove it before it sets. Do not rub too much for it not to spread.

3. If you can wash your clothes without putting it in the dryer, the better. Dryers forcibly stretch and wear out your clothes. It also deteriorates the color quality of your clothes faster than natural drying process.

4. Suits, jackets, tux and coats only deserve dry cleaning. Do not attempt to wash them yourself using a washing machine or by hand. You will damage the form and will never be able to wear them again. Also, brush your jackets and trousers right after every use to get rid of dirt and food crumbs that might damage your expensive suit.

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5. Leather shoes should be worn at least once a week. Storing it and not using it for a long time might cause the material to crack and break. Polish your shoes on a regular basis to preserve its texture, shine and moisture content. Store your shoes in a shoe rack where there is ventilation to remove unwanted smell.

6. For your watches, buy a watch box/organizer. Don’t just put it in your drawer together with your keys, pens and Swiss knife as it may scratch the face or damage the metal part and band of your watch. For leather bands, after using it for years, it is inevitable for it to have unpleasant odor as the material reacts to your sweat. Try using soap and water if you can still save it. Too much soap might ruin the leather so if after cleaning and the strap still stinks; you have to replace it altogether. For sports and dive watches, wash it with warm water after swimming in the beach.

7. For your belts, store them by hanging it in a hook-type hanger as it rests on vertical position without any fold. Do not roll it up and store in a box or hang it up in a hanger folding it into two. Belt, especially leather ones, will easily deform and create fold marks.

With proper care, surely you will save money by not having to replace your clothes and accessories as often and well maintained clothes always looks better and fresh.