Caring For Your Closet

Tips I've learned from 20 years of working with clothes.

Rather than encourage you to do a New Year, New Me closet purge - PLEASE DON’T, none of our pants fit well after 6 weeks of holiday indulging - I want to share some of my tips for caring for your closet that I’ve picked up over the years. Most of these are easy to implement, cost effective and many of them you can do yourself.

If you can’t resist, at the very least, a mini purge, consider starting with your sock drawer. Pull out all the items that are goners (beyond repair) in your sock, underwear, t-shirt and workout drawers. This will clear up space and won’t lead to regret. Also consider making a clothing donation of new or gently used, in season items to victims of the fires in Los Angeles; I signed up to be a donor here. You can find a comprehensive list of places ways to help here.

Sweater Care

Wool pills. Period. No matter the quality of the wool, you will get bobbles. There are a few different tools to use, but I prefer a comb for my cashmere and more delicate sweaters, and a sweater shaver for my chunkier knits. With either tool, lay the sweater flat and gently run the comb or shaver over the pilled area to remove the bobbles. A gentle touch is key, so it make take a few swipes.

Any sweater made out of a natural fiber - wool, silk, cotton - can be hand washed and laid flat to dry. Cotton sweaters can absolutely be put in the wash, but I find that if they use natural dye, à la Babaà, the color can bleed significantly, and it’s best to hand wash most of your sweaters.

A bathtub works best; fill with lukewarm/tepid water and add about a tablespoon of unscented detergent. People will tell you to use wool specific detergent, I don’t think it’s necessary, just use your regular detergent sparingly. Submerge the sweater and gently agitate, making sure not to rub the wool together, then let soak for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water, DO NOT WRING. On the floor, place your wet sweater on a clean, dry towel; roll the sweater up in the towel like a taquito, using your body weight to extract the water. Repeat with fresh towels (you may need 2 or 3) until the sweater is barely damp. Lay the sweater flat to dry, use sweater drying rack if you have one, gently adjusting the shape as needed.

I hate the smell of cedar chips. It’s like liquid smoke or truffle oil; nothing beats the real thing. If you don’t have access to your grandmother’s cedar chest, use lavender sachets tucked between your folded sweaters. I have a collection handmade sachets that I use, but I recently ordered pouches and loose, dried lavender to make more for my closet. I try to use one sachet for every 2 to 3 sweaters. I also hang a few of them by their drawstring on hangers in all the closets. If you find moth larvae on your wool clothes, act fast; Larvae can be killed in the freezer, so stick them in a ziplock and put it in your freezer for 72 hours. Repeat this process if needed.

Stain Removal Tricks

I’ve tried all the stain removers. Every. Single. One. Dawn dish soap is the only thing that effectively gets out the greasy stains my kids get from using their clothes as napkins. I also find that it gets out tomato sauce, it might take a few tries, but I swear by it. Pre-treat the stain with Dawn, let it sit for at least an hour, then run on a regular wash cycle. If the stain is still visible after washing, repeat the treatment and wash again. Do not put the item in the dryer until you know the stain is gone, or as gone as it’s going to get, the heat from drying can seal the stain in. If I’m unsure if the stain is gone, I’ll line dry just in case.

Items that are severely stained or have yellowed from sweat and wear benefit from a presoak. Mix one scoop of unscented Oxilean into sink or bucket of hot water. Normally I soak the item until the water reaches room temp, but sometimes I’ll soak an it for a day or two. Treat any lingering stains with Dawn, wash normally and line dry.

I also always keep a Tide pen in my car, my purse, on my desk, in the bathroom, every room of the house really. They’re handy to treat small stains that don’t warrant a full outfit change.

Shoe Maintenance

If you don’t already have one, find yourself a reliable cobbler, STAT. They will prolong the life of your shoes and bags by years, as well as restore vintage purchases to like-new condition. Rather than wait until your leather soled shoes have holes in them, I suggest taking them in either immediately after you purchase them or after one or two seasons of wear to have topies put on. A topy is a rubber sole that will protect your shoe, add traction and extend it’s lifespan. They come in a handful of neutral colors, so the cobbler can make them blend in as much as possible.

Other maintenance will need to happen after more wear, such as replacing the heel on flat boots or loafers, or the heel cap on a pair of pumps. When my dog, who is only sometimes a menace, went through his chewing phase, my cobbler was able to replace the tiny bow on my Loeffler Randall ballet flats. I also recommend that at the end of any given season, you give your shoes a once over and take them in for any needed repairs before you put them away for next year.

Your cobbler should also be able to repair bags and other small leather goods; repairing busted seams, replacing zippers, shortening straps, etc. When in doubt, take your item in and ask, a good cobbler will find a solution.

Trust Your Tailor

Get yourself a trusted tailor. You want someone who knows their shit. A good tailor will have opinions; they should be honest about what they can and cannot do with an item, and sometimes, even tell you no. They will be able to alter, repair and rework pieces to fit your body, giving items a new life. Bring up the minor tweaks and details, they can often be fixed. I recently took in an old (18 years?) Isabel Marant leather skirt as well as my favorite pair of vintage Levi’s to be repaired. I’ve been wearing both nonstop since getting them back.

It’s always easier to take something in rather than out, so if you find the perfect pair of pants that fit your hips and butt, but are big in the waist? Take it to the tailor to have the waist taken in. The blazer of your dreams that fits in the shoulders but is big in the bust? Take it to the tailor to have it taken in. The exception to this rule is men’s suiting: there should be a solid inch seam allowance (the bit of fabric between the stitching and the edge) in the center back seam of dress pants and a half inch each in the center back, side back and side seams of a suit jacket

Dry Cleaning Tips

Most natural fibers can either be hand washed or machine washed on delicate, and hung to dry. But if you don’t have the patience or you’re dealing with a tailored piece (jackets, suits, coats, trousers, etc.) then you need to find an organic dry cleaner.

I suggest opting out of the plastic garment bags most dry cleaners use and investing in a reusable dry cleaning garment bag, most dry cleaners sell them, just be sure to bring it when you take your clothes in. If you are like me and like to risk it with no bag, more power to you. If you don’t opt out of the plastic, or they accidentally give you one, remember to remove your items immediately when you get home as moisture can get trapped in the plastic and cause mold to grow. Yuck.

Similar to your shoes, take your winter coats in to be cleaned at the end of the season, so that they will be fresh and ready to go in the fall.

If you’re lucky, your dry cleaner may have access to a mender. This is someone who can mend sweaters, wool suits, jackets and knitwear by darning and patching. Sadly, this is a dying skill, so they are harder to come by. If you happen to know of one in the Portland area, let me know!

That’s my Ted Talk on caring for your closet. Did I miss anything? Ask me questions in the comments. More fashion-y things coming next week.

Bye for now,
Fanny