Posted on October 18 2026
The instinct is that cleaning a garment more often preserves it. With tailoring, the opposite is true.
Dry cleaning uses solvents that strip natural oils from wool. Wool fibres depend on those oils for flexibility and drape. Strip them repeatedly and the fabric becomes dry, brittle and prone to shine, particularly on the seat and elbows.
A good suit should be dry cleaned roughly twice a year. Not twice a month.
What to do instead
Brush it after every wear. A soft natural-bristle clothes brush removes dust and surface grit, which is what actually abrades fibres over time. Thirty seconds, downward strokes, following the nap. This single habit does more for a suit than anything else on this list.
Rest it for 24 hours. Wool needs a full day to release the moisture it absorbs from your body and return to shape. Wearing the same suit on consecutive days is the fastest route to permanent creasing and a worn seat.
If you wear a suit daily, you need three in rotation. Two is workable. One is a suit that will be finished within eighteen months.
Steam, don't press. A handheld steamer relaxes creases without the direct heat of an iron, which can flatten the nap and create shine. Hang the suit in the bathroom while you shower for a lighter version of the same effect.
Spot clean immediately. Blot, never rub. Rubbing pushes the stain into the weave and damages the fibre. Cold water and patience handles most things. If it's oil-based, leave it for a professional and tell them what it was.
The hanger is not a detail
A wire hanger, or a thin wooden one, concentrates the entire weight of the jacket on two narrow points. Over months this creates permanent divots in the shoulder that cannot be pressed out.
Use a broad, contoured hanger that mirrors the shape of your shoulder. It should be wide enough to support the full shoulder seam. This is a genuinely cheap fix for an expensive problem.
Hang trousers from the cuff, not folded over a bar. Gravity pulls the crease straight.
Storage between seasons
Clean the suit before storing it, because moths are attracted to body oils and food residue rather than to the wool itself. A suit put away dirty is the one that comes out with holes.
Use a breathable cotton garment bag, never plastic. Plastic traps moisture and can yellow fabric over a season.
Add cedar rather than mothballs. Cedar blocks need sanding lightly once a year to reactivate the oils.
The repairs worth making
A worn trouser seat, a frayed cuff, a lost button, a torn lining. All of these are fixable, and all of them are far cheaper than a new suit. Bring it in and we'll tell you honestly whether it's worth doing.
Trousers wear out before jackets, which is why buying a suit with two pairs of trousers, where available, roughly doubles its life.
Suits we stand behind
We look after what we sell
If you bought it here, bring it back when it needs attention. We'd rather keep a good suit alive than sell you a replacement.
Browse suits or come see us in Markham.
Common questions
How often should you dry clean a suit?
Two or three times a year for a suit in regular rotation. Dry cleaning is hard on wool. Brushing and steaming handle most of what you'd otherwise clean for.
How do you store a suit properly?
On a broad wooden hanger with room either side, trousers hung by the cuff, and a breathable cover rather than the plastic from the cleaner.
Can you steam a suit at home?
Yes, and you should. A handheld steamer held a few inches away releases creases without pressing shine into the cloth.
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