How to Care for a Suit

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: June 1, 2021 References

Your suit is one of the most important items in your wardrobe. You’ll wear it several times throughout your life, perhaps even every day depending on your occupation. As it represents a significant investment, it’s important to learn how to wear, clean and store your suit properly so that it lasts.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Part 1: Wearing Your Suit

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Give it a rest. Unlike your trusty pair of jeans, a suit can’t be worn daily for months on end. A suit’s fibers need recovery time after each wear, otherwise you’re taking years out of its life.^{[1]
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Go to source} Additionally, not wearing your suit daily keeps it clean longer, allowing for more time between visits to the dry-cleaner. If your job requires wearing suits daily, consider the following options:
- Investing in an additional suit. Not only will this extend each suit’s lifetime, but it will provide you with additional style options.
- Should the above not fit within your budget, you can get away with buying a second pair of pants. They usually wear out faster, and having a pair of pants in a different color can give a suit jacket more versatility and style.^{[2]
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Empty your pockets. Filling your pockets to the brim will counter your suit’s flattering cut. Bulges and lumps change its overall shape and can stretch out the fabric, leaving it shapeless and deformed.^{[3]
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Go to source} Make it a point to empty your pockets before heading out in your suit, keeping only the essentials with you.
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Fold and pack your suit properly. Travelling with a suit takes some pre-planning, which is particularly important if you’re travelling for a meeting or conference. The last thing you want is to show up in a wrinkled suit. Ideally, you should carry your suit in its garment bag rather than stuffing it in a bag or suitcase. However, it is possible to fold a suit for storage in a carry-on:
- Hold the suit jacket upright, pop in one shoulder and pull it inside-out.
- Tuck the other shoulder into the inside-out shoulder, folding the jacket until the lapels line up.
- Finally, fold the jacket in half until the top of the shoulders lines up with the bottom of the jacket.^{[4]
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Method 2

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Part 2: Cleaning Your Suit

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Brush your suit after each wear. This is typically sufficient to keep it clean between trips to the dry cleaner. Brushes aren’t typically much more expensive than $20, and will rid your suit of hairs, dandruff and dirt that it might collect over the course of a day. Just remember to always brush downwards, following the fiber (never across).^{[5]
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Spot clean stains. It’s entirely possible for your suit to become noticeably stained, though you shouldn’t necessarily rush to the dry cleaner when this happens. Many of these stains can be spot cleaned using non-scented baby wipes.^{[6]
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Go to source} Alternatively, a towel and a bit of water can be used for cleaning tougher stains.
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Avoid the iron and use a steamer. Unfortunately, your suit will get wrinkled after wearing it, and unlike the rest of your wardrobe, ironing will do more harm than good. A hot iron can damage a suit’s fibers, shortening its lifespan and causing it to lose its shape. Instead of ironing, consider the following options:
- You can use a steamer to straighten wrinkles and rid your suit of unpleasant odours between trips to the dry cleaner. Good steamers typically cost around $150 but significantly extend your suit’s lifetime.^{[7]
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- A neat trick to replicate this without a steamer (eg. while travelling), is to hang your suit in the bathroom and run a hot shower for about half an hour. This will create a similar effect as the steam fills the room. ^{[8]
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Method 3

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Part 3: Storing Your Suit

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Use a wide-shouldered wooden hanger. Cheap, flimsy wire hangers might be enough for the rest of your wardrobe, but a wooden hanger is ideal for hanging your suit. This will ensure it retains its shape, whereas wire hangers tend to cause wrinkles and will even deform the jacket’s shoulders. Additionally, hangers made of cedar naturally repel one of your suit’s worst enemies: moths.^{[9]
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Store your suit in a cloth garment bag. Suits are usually sold in plastic garment bags, to ensure they don’t suffer any damage on their way to your closet. However, this is far from a long-term solution: suits shouldn’t be kept in an airtight environment. Plastic garment bags don’t allow the suit to breathe and can tear easily. This can lead to nasty odours and easy access for moths. You can find cloth garment bags rather easily; stores usually sell them if they sell suits. Important things to consider before buying are:
- Compare the length of the bag to that of your suit. You don’t want the suit to get bunched up while it’s stored.
- You can and should be storing dress pants with their respective jackets.
- Extra features that aren’t needed but can be handy include cedar linings and extra zipper flaps to ward off insects.
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Dry clean your suit before storing it for the season.^{[10]
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Go to source} While great for chilly holiday party weather, wool suits aren’t particularly suited for summer events. Beyond being sloppy and possibly permanently dirtying your suit, lingering stains and odours make your suit particularly attractive to moths and other insects. Remember not to dry clean your suit more than a few times a year. More than this and you risk damaging it.^{[11]
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Community Q&A

Question

What is the best way to remove bird droppings from my suit? Should I get it dry cleaned, or just wash it?

Community Answer

Dry cleaners usually have the expertise and materials to deal with such situations. Don't be afraid to invest in a heavy treatment, depending on what your dry cleaners recommend.

Tips

Always wear an undershirt under your dress shirt. This will help absorb perspiration and prevent it from reaching your suit.
Always take your suit to a reputable, professional cleaner who has experience and is dedicated to the service.
Use cedar blocks or chips in your closet to help ward off moths. Purchasing a cedar wood hanger will help keep your suits shoulders shaped and double as a moth repellent.

Warnings

When washing suits, never machine wash or tumble them. This can seriously damage the suit and cause shrinkage, loss of color and loss of shape. Always follow the manufacturer's instruction on the garment label.
Do not rub a stain to try to remove it as this can set the stain. If you spill something on your suit, gently blot up as much as you can.

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