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Category: High Maintenance

High Maintenance: Dress Shirts

9
29 January, 2013

If you work a white-collar job your dress shirts may see the most daily use and abuse of any item in your closet. While they may not be worn as often as shoes, they are less resilient and take some serious abuse. Here are a few tips:

Rotation

At minimum you’ll want five shirts. That’s enough that you can wear a new one each day of the work week. From a style perspective it’s better to have ten as it allows you to get a broader spectrum of patterns and colors. However, five is a good start for the average working man.

By having a new shirt for every day you’re able to give them all some time to breathe. Just like your shoes, your shirts need a day off to be able to recuperate from constant contact to your body and exposure to your sweat and natural oils.

Depending on how much or how little you sweat you can get two or three wears out of a shirt – which means you could arguably go two or even three weeks between doing laundry on these. This saves you time and money and also helps keep your shirts lasting longer.

Hanging

Use a wooden hanger (like these). They are wider than wire hangers so it prevents the weight of the shirt from stretching itself out in the shoulders. The cedar can also help keep moths from getting into your wool items in your closet and it also looks better. I’ve found that I take better care of both my clothes and my hangers by using wooden options instead of plastic and wire.

Laundry

I get asked a lot about how often you should wash your shirts. While there is no set rule, it’s better to wash less often than more. Whether it’s dry cleaning, machine washing, or even hand washing – cleaning your clothing speeds up the natural break down of the fibers. It can also affect the vibrancy and the cleanness of the colors. My personal routine is that I only wash my shirts when they stink enough that they need to be. For me this means I can get two, maybe three wears out of each shirt. Some of you will have to wash more and others less.

Remember that dry cleaning can do more damage than other types of washing and should only be done on garments that are dry-clean only. Even then, machine washing on a light cycle on cold and air drying is better for fabric maintenance than periodic dry cleaning.

Ring Around the Collar

Unless you’re new to wearing dress shirts on a daily basis you already know that one of the toughest spots to get clean are the collar and cuffs. These areas see the most skin-to-shirt contact and suffer as a result.

Because these are oil-based stains you want to pre-treat them before throwing your shirts in the wash. The best way to do this is with a heavy-duty stain remover from a company like Shout. For those with lighter stains you can get away with the spray bottle but you with heavier stains will want one that comes with a scrub brush.

If you use the spray bottle you’ll just spray it on the inside of your collar and cuffs before and then rub the fabric together. It doesn’t take a whole lot of effort and you’ll want to remember that breaking stains up is the goal. They won’t be removed until you’ve actually run the shirts through a cycle.

For the heavier stains you’ll rub the brush against the material instead of the shirt against itself. It gives you more leverage and helps manage that meaner muck.

Know also that this can and should be done every other wash or so in your armpits to prevent yellowing stains. Those are a complete pain to get out if they’ve already set in, but prevention makes them much easier to deal with.

Shrinkage

Regardless of whether or not your shirts are sold pre-shrunk, you’re going to see more shrinkage unless you take proper care of them. Heat is what causes cotton to shrink so the best way to prevent it from doing so is washing in cold water and allowing your shirts to air dry.

From personal experience, the hardest thing about air drying is remembering which items need it and which don’t. I recommend doing separate loads of air-dry only clothes so you don’t accidentally throw a shirt in the dryer with your socks and underwear.

Ironing

Yes you need to iron your shirts. Even those that are wrinkle-free or non-iron still look better if they’ve been given a quick run over with the hot metal. It’s pointless to invest time and money into a well-curated wardrobe of things that fit and complement your contrast if the wrinkles make your clothes look sloppy.

No you can’t just iron the part of your shirt that shows up under your jacket. You need to iron the entire thing. You never know when you’ll have to take off your jacket and still keep a clean appearance.

Spot Cleaning

These little stain sticks are one of the best modern inventions ever. You can buy them in packs of three and should keep one in your car, one in your briefcase or office, and one at home. There’s nothing more frustrating than getting a small stain on a freshly cleaned and ironed shirt. Rather than throwing it in the wash and starting the cycle all over again, just treat the spot with one of these sticks.

Replacement

At some point you’re going to have to simply replace your shirts. The easiest way to deal with this is to just accept it. There’s only so much prevention you can do and it’s worth getting more years out of each shirt, but they all need to go to the farm eventually. When your whites are grey, your collar stains never seem to go away, the cuffs or collars are frayed, your colors have faded, you have pit stains, or you start to see threads separating it’s time to simply embrace the fact that you need a new shirt.

Just like your shoes, taking care of your shirts does require a bit of an investment in both time and money. However, in the long run, you’re better off dealing with maintenance and the extended use it provides than having to rebuild your shirt wardrobe every year.

PS. I am now selling ad space on the site. If you are interesting, please get in touch via the contact page and I can give you a break down of what the space is and its price.

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High Maintenance

High Maintenance: Shoes

2
6 September, 2012

Other than a suit, one of your biggest investments is going to be your shoes. While I like the idea of having a few casual shoes in rotation, I really believe you only need two or three pairs of dress shoes in your closet. In fact, having more than one pair is the first part of proper shoe maintenance.

Having a second pair allows you to rotate your shoes. Having them all day can be taxing on the leather. They’re wrapped around hot, sweaty feet all day and need some time off to recuperate from the heat and moisture. Having two pairs will allow you to rotate and give each pair a day off, thereby significantly lengthening the life of the shoe.

Shoe Horn

If you’re buying shoes in the proper size and width (yes shoes are also measured in width), they will be a bit tight to get on without some extra help.

21" Shoe Horn Rosewood Stain

A shoe horn will let you slide your feet into your shoes without breaking down the leather on the heel. It’s  a simple purchase but one that goes a long way in helping maintain their quality.

Shoe Trees

The next step of properly caring for your dress shoes are shoe trees. Typically these are made of cedar or plastic and they are inserted into your shoes each night after you take them off. You want to do it right away as your shoes are still warm and the leather is more malleable.

Shoes trees will help the leather retain its shape and prevent any cracking.

Shoe Polish

The next step to taking care of leather is to shine it. Ideally you’d do this every week but once or twice a month is acceptable. Obviously in seasons with crazier weather you’ll want to shine more frequently . Shining your shoes doesn’t just make them look better, it conditions the leather and makes it last longer.

 

Shoe shining techniques are myriad and I won’t go into detail on them here. The basic rules are:

  • Match the polish colors with the color of your leather.
  • Remove the laces to keep them free from polish
  • Apply polish all over the shoes in an even coat. Too little or too much will both have negative effects.
  • Let the polish sit for a few minutes.
  • Take your brush and apply quick, shallow strokes all along the body of the shoe until you get a good, even shine.
  • Repeat until you get them to the shine how you’d like.

You can buy entire caddy kits at a department or shoe-specialty store, or you can pick up a cheap kiwi kit at the local drugstore or off of Amazon. Either one will do the job.

Suede Care

Whether it’s a pair of desert boots or the white bucks that have been on your feet all summer, suede requires some maintenance too. The first and most basic way to approach this is with a suede brush.

For the most part, these come in two different types: plastic and brass. The brass is much more aggressive and I recommend you only use it when you’re trying to tackle serious stains. The plastic brush is typically enough on its own to keep your shoes clean. The ideal is to brush your shoes after every wear. However, you’re not going to do any serious damage if you do it once a week.

The next step up is a suede eraser. This gives a bit more friction and can help you fight the really serious stains. Most drug stores will sell a Kiwi pack that’s the plastic brush and eraser together.

If your suede gets real bad, you can use a sponge and shampoo to remove the stain. Just be careful as too strong a shampoo can also effect the overall quality of the suede.

Rain Control

The last tip I can give for basic shoe maintenance is how to care for them when your shoes get absolutely soaked. You can’t just let them sit out to air dry because it will ruin the shape of the leather. You also can’t do something more creative like use a hair dryer or throw them in the oven for a few minutes because it will dry out and crack the leather. The best way to take care of your soaked shoes is to fill them with newspaper. The consistency of the paper is ideal for absorbing all the moisture and doing it quickly so your shoes retain their shape. Shove in the newspaper and let it sit overnight. If they’re still a little damp in the morning, replace with fresh newspaper and give them a few more hours. You should be good to go after that.

It would be a waste and a shame to invest in a pair or two of well-made, goodyear-welted dress shoes only to have them ruined by improper maintenance. Expensive dress shoes are the kind of clothing item you only have to buy once and can wear for the rest of your life – provided you take care of them.

PS. Did you know I do private style consultations? I can help you dress better according to your budget and your needs.

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Clothing, High Maintenance cedar shoe trees, classic mens style, Men's Style, menswear

High Maintenance

16 August, 2012

It does a man absolutely no good to curate a flattering wardrobe if it doesn’t look good on him because he has failed to maintain the cleanliness and quality of his clothing. Like I talk about in my philosophy and have addressed in countless other conversations and articles – the purpose of a man dressing well is to communicate his self-respect and command the respect of others. Women dress well for beauty, men dress well for respect.

A man cannot command that respect if he proves he is sloppy in his habits. In fact, as outlined in the Way of Men, Mastery is one of the four primary masculine virtues; and mastery over the world begins with mastery of oneself.

It’s not good contrast Game to have a well-made suit that’s wrinkled and covered in food crumbs. So, as part of buying your clothing, you also need to purchase the tools to maintain it. There’s too much information for me to put it all in one post, so I’ll break it down over the next few weeks by each article of clothing. Today we’re going to start with suits.

Cedar Chest

Having cedar in your closet or storage chest is the most important thing you can do to take care of your suits. It has a faint smell that isn’t just pleasing to people, it masks the scent of wool and helps deter moths from eating your suit. There’s nothing more frustrating than dropping more than $500 on a suit, having it tailored to fit you perfectly, and then pulling it out of storage the next year to find a hole in the shoulder from a month munching on it all winter long.

If you buy suits in seasonal weights and fabrics then you will obviously only be wearing them during a certain time of year. A tropical-weight wool suit in a nice tan color will look silly during the winter so you’ll want to keep it in storage. The best way to do that is with a cedar chest.

A cedar chest will keep your clothing dry and free up some closet space along with deterring moths from trying to going at it for six months. These come in almost any style and color you want and should set you back anywhere between $150 and $300. Your need will depend on a lot of things like climate and the number of suits that you have, but if you do any storage of wool clothing, one of these is a must.

Cedar Blocks

Pretty basic here. You keep these in your closet to help protect your clothing that’s in regular rotation.

If you have a chest and keep it anywhere besides your closet, moths are still going to try to eat the wool you have hanging up. So grab a few slabs of cedar from either a department store or the home improvement store to help keep the bugs at bay.

Hangers

That wire hanger you get from the dry cleaners just isn’t going to cut it when it comes to hanging your suits. There is too little surface area in relation to the extra weight of a jacket so it will alter the shape of the coat and even cut into the foam of your shoulder pads. A better option is to upgrade to wooden hangers.

 

The material is obviously a lot more forgiving than the metal of wire hangers and they’re made wider than your average plastic hanger, thereby giving you more surface area to spread the weight of the jacket over – helping it keep its shape. They also will look a lot more refined and masculine hanging in your closet. The type and color of the wood will vary and you can even get these in cedar to help further deter moths from attacking your clothing that isn’t in storage.

Suit Brush

On top of storage concerns, your suit is going to need some daily maintenance. Obviously you can’t just throw one of these in the washer if it gets dirty and having a suit regularly dry cleaned is going to end up doing some serious damage to the color of the suit, the integrity of the fibers, and its overall shape as well. Just like your health, prevention is the best cure when it comes to a suit. Buy a suit brush that has a lint patch on one side and regular brush fibers on the other.

Use the brush side every morning before you put your suit on and every night after it’s back on its hanger but before you put it away. It’s a quick, simple process that will keep your suit looking its best. If you have dandruff or dry skin, or tend to get smaller crumbs on your suit that the brush won’t pick up, just turn it over and use the lint patch. I have an extra one of these that I keep in my desk at work so I can keep on top of any extra lint that attaches itself to my lapels.

Your last-ditch effort for things like stains is to take your suit to the dry cleaner but you want to do this as rarely as possible.

Any other tips you guys have used to keep your suits clean?

PS. The month is more than halfway over so take advantage of the reduced price on Basic Consultations before they go back up.

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