During our busy lives caring for our wardrobe often ends up low down on our priority list. However, following the simple steps below will provide your clothing with tender loving care so as to extend the life and condition of your clothing,. This will result in you getting the optimum value out of your purchase.
Suits
A well made suit is without a shadow of a doubt a work of art and a great investment. By following these simple steps your garment will look and feel great over the span of its wearable life, offering you complete satisfaction.
When you remove your suit jacket, use a good quality hanger, with plenty of support for the shoulders, this will keep the shoulders of the jacket in their correct shape. Use a clamp style hanger with clips to hang up the trousers from the bottoms down. This will ensure that the trousers will maintain their creases. The humidity caused by wear will dissipate whilst airing the suit outside of the wardrobe.
If you discover that your suit is badly creased, then hang the garments near your bathroom and let the natural steam of the shower aid the recovery of the cloth. Steam is also excellent for freshening up the fibres of your suit.
Once dry, take a clothes brush and lightly brush the cloth to remove any dirt and restore the pile of the fabricz. NEVER rub cloth that is wet, always brush when dry.
Always cover your suits with a garment cover and store in a well ventilated clean wardrobe.
Lavender or cedar wood products are a great way to prevent any moth problems, that may occur.
Dry cleaning – A suit need only be dry cleaned a maximum of twice a year, by a reputable dry cleaner. Garment pressing should always be left to an expert, as incorrect ironing can affect the lifespan of your suit.
Shirts
Shirts made of luxury cotton feel amazing to wear and have the wonderful feeling of a natural product next to your skin. We recommend that you wash our shirts in mesh laundry bags, which allow the item to be thoroughly cleaned whilst protecting the fibres from the metal drum of the machine. Always use a good detergent.
If you find that your shirt is excessively dirty, it is often advisable to apply some warm lathered natural soap to the affected areas, before putting it in the washing machine.
Generally speaking all shirts can be washed between 30- 60 degrees centigrade and are usually machine washable, however you should always check the label when washing a garment, and if the garment is handwash only do not risk using your washing machine.
When washing, always separate white garments from dark garments and where colours are involved, try to put like colours together when performing a wash cycle.
Finally we recommend using a low to medium spin cycle and then hanging the garment up to dry before it is steam ironed.
Ties
A good quality silk tie should always recover once unknotted and hung up or rolled. If you follow these practical tips, your tie will give you many years of service .
If you happen to stain your tie, immediately send it to a reputable dry cleaner but never attempt to remove the stain yourself or wash it . Washing a silk tie is guaranteed to shrink and ruin it !
Shoes
A stylish properly constructed pair of shoes sets off your outfit whilst giving you the satisfaction of comfort and elegance. Shoes made of any natural product must be cared for to prevent the leathers cracking or the suede becoming brittle.
A brand new pair of leather soled shoes must be worn for a minimum of 3-4 wears in the dry crisp weather. The effect of doing this is to firstly ’breaks them in’, but most importantly the grit, dirt and muck from the roads and streets which you walk on will ’bed in’ to the soles so as to form a protective layer, repelling water during those occasions when you wear them in wet conditions.
Always invest in a pair of cedar wood shoe trees for every pair of shoes that you own. The fresh smell of the cedar firstly de-odourises the shoes whilst secondly draws out the inevitable moisture caused by wear. Finally, cedar wood shoe trees also keep your shoes in great shape and prevent excess creasing from occurring to thw leather.
Use the best products for polishing your shoes. Leather is a natural product and needs to be fed with cream and nourishing the leather prevents cracking. Choose a cream that is of the same shade as the shoe colour, if in doubt opt for a slightly lighter cream but never choose a darker tone. We recommend you polish your shoes with cream for the first 5-6 times in order to really feed and nourish the leather. If you like the deeply shone appearance then a wax can be applied thereafter and buffed briskly with a natural horsehair brush .
As a rule we suggest using cream far more than wax.
In general it is best to avoid exposure of your shoes to heavy downpours of rain, due to the damage this can cause. Of course given the inclement weather in UK, during the winter especially, it is practically impossible to avoid wet conditions. If you have been caught in a shower, remove the shoes after arriving indoors and gently pat your shoes dry with some tissues. Then stuff the shoes with newspaper to draw the damp out. NEVER place the shoes next to a radiator to dry.
When dry, you may find white ‘salt’stains have appeared on the shoes. If this occurs, use saddle soap to remove the stains. Firstly place newspaper inside the shoes, then take a damp sponge and dip this in the soap, then gently rub over the shoes with a minor lather to remove the stains. Once your shoes are dry, polish again as above, using a cream. If required, then use a wax to produce a shine.
Suede shoes can always be restored with the assistance of a light brushing with a suede brush, this should always be carried out once dry to prevent the risk of colour damage.
We recommend that all shoes when not in use should be stored away from strong sunlight and covered with shoe bags provided.