Guidance10 July 20263 min read
Storing winter suits: what really damages them.
Clothes wear out in a wardrobe as much as in use. Hanger, cover, light, cleaning: four decisions that settle the state of a suit come October.
By Gilles Masson, Atelier Mesure, Paris 7ᵉ
July is the month when woollens disappear to the back of a wardrobe for three months. It is also the moment when, without knowing it, you decide what state they will be in when you find them again. Most of the damage seen in autumn does not come from the previous winter's wear but from the summer's storage.
The hanger, the most underrated decision
A thin wire or plastic hanger concentrates the whole weight of the jacket on two points of the shoulder. Within three months the shoulder line hollows, and that deformation cannot be pressed out.
What is needed is a wide hanger, thickened at the ends, following the curve of the shoulder and spreading the load. Trousers hang from the cuffs, never folded over a bar: a sharp horizontal crease at mid-leg is close to impossible to remove from wool.
A cover, yes, but which one
A plastic cover, the one from the dry cleaner, is the worst possible choice: it stops the wool breathing, holds moisture and yellows pale cloths. It is made for a journey, not for a summer.
A cotton cover, breathable and opaque, keeps out dust and light while letting air move. Light matters more than people think: three months of indirect exposure are enough to fade a navy lapel. That is the job of a cloth garment cover.
Clean before, not after
A suit is put away clean. The invisible marks, perspiration, traces of a meal, fragrance, are precisely what attracts moths, and they oxidise over time: a light mark becomes a ring in three months.
But cleaning does not mean dry cleaning as a matter of course. Dry cleaning tires the fibres and accelerates the ageing of fused fronts. A thorough brushing, forty-eight hours of airing and a steam press are enough most of the time; the dry cleaner is kept for real stains. The detail is under caring for a suit.
« Take care of the small things and the big things take care of themselves. »
Key points
Storing a woollen for three months.
- A wide, thickened hanger, never a thin one
- Hang trousers from the cuffs, not folded over a bar
- A breathable cotton cover, never the dry cleaner's plastic
- Store away from light, even indirect
- Brush and air for forty-eight hours before putting away
- Keep dry cleaning for real stains
- Cedar or lavender against moths, never touching the cloth
Three months of careful storage are worth a season of garment life. It is the least spectacular gesture in garment care, and the one that shows most on the first cold day.
