How often do you purchase an item of clothing, only to discover it’s worn out, torn, or in poor condition a couple of months later? While we have a wide range of clothing options at our disposal, we typically do not take good care of our clothes. This guide will provide some key thoughts on how to make your garments simply last longer.

Why concern yourself with protecting your clothes?

1. Take care of your clothes, and they will look better on you. 

First and foremost, your clothing will just look much better on you. Clothes that are clean and not worn down will quite simply look more flattering. Properly maintaining your wardrobe will help keep your clothes fresh and durable. Whether it’s the polish of a pair of shoes, or a perfectly pleated pair of pants, protecting your clothing will make you look even sharper than you already do.

2. Your clothes will last longer.

Often, it can be a pain looking to replace your favorite pair of jeans, or your favorite blazer. But if you take good care of your clothing, it will definitely last longer. Abusing any type of clothes, even the highest quality garments, will cause them to deteriorate at a faster rate.

3. You will save money.

If your clothes last longer, you will spend less trying to replace your ripped or dated items. Taking care of your items in the short-term, will help you save some cash long-term.

Keeping these reasons to take care of your clothes in mind, here’s a guide on how you can maximize your wardrobe: 

1. Use an Iron.

If you don’t have an Iron, you should get one right away. Obviously, ironing your clothes can be the subtle difference between looking unkempt, and polished. Get rid of those creases!

2. For tougher creases, use a steamer.

For clothes that are more fragile, a steamer will do wonders. Often, it’s difficult to iron a pair of dress pants, or a nice dress shirt. A steamer will help remove creases and folds that are deep, and the risk of accidentally ruining your clothes with an iron (especially if they’re delicate) is minimized.

3. Suit bags will keep the form of your suit when traveling.

Don’t be the guy who throws his suits or dress shirts into his suit case. A suit bag will keep your suit in pristine condition, either when traveling, or put away in your closet.

4. Buy quality wooden hangers.

A wire hanger isn’t good for much. It’ll only crease your clothing, and may even permanently damage your clothing. Instead, invest in some high quality, wooden hangers. While they may be more expensive at the onset, they will pay dividends into the future (a solid wooden hanger should last long, too). Ensure that your expensive suit, is hanging on an equally high-quality hanger.

5. Not all clothing needs to be washed in a machine. Hand washing works wonders.

Sometimes, a tough stain should be gently hand-washed, instead of thrown into a washing machine. Just fill a small tub with water, and rub some detergent into the stained areas (rinse and wring after).

6. Hang dry instead of machine dry.

Machine drying your clothes decreases the longevity of your garments. While it’s obviously very easy to machine dry your clothing, it may be a great idea to hang dry the clothes that are most delicate, and are at most risk of shrinking/falling apart in the dryer. For example, men’s dress socks should ideally be hang dried.

7. Make your shoes last longer with shoe trees.

Most men have thrown out a ruddy and old pair of dress shoes. The same pair that looks like it’s hardly appropriate for your foot. Dress shoes can often become deformed over many uses. To prevent such deformities, a simple shoe tree will do the trick. 

8. A shoe shine kit is an essential shoe-care item.

Keep your shoes clean and polished: not only will your shoes look crisp, but the structure of leather shoes will be greatly maintained, too. Plus, who doesn’t love the ‘new shoe’ look?

There are many ways in which you can take better care of your clothes to make them last longer. Ultimately, taking good care of your clothes will increase their lifespan, it’ll make your clothes look better on you, and it can even save you some money. Treating your clothes well is something that takes little effort, but has a great result. 

Here’s a summary below of all of our tips:

1. Get an iron!
2. Use a steamer for fragile clothing.
3. A suit bag is great for maintaining shape of your suits (while traveling, or in your closet).
4. Wooden hangers will make a huge difference in your closet.
5. Hand washing your clothes is sometimes the better option.
6. Hang drying will increase the longevity of your delicate clothes.
7. Shoe trees will help your shoes keep their form.
8. A shoe care kit will enhance the life of your shoes.

Thanks for reading our guide on how to take care of your clothes!