A well-made suit is a small piece of architecture — canvassed chests, hand-pad-stitched lapels, half-lined sleeves, individually fitted shoulders. The whole thing is engineered to drape, move, and recover. Store it badly and you undo all that work in a single summer.
What you'll need
- Tyvek Garment Bag — the breathable alternative to plastic dry-cleaner covers
- Wide padded hangers — to support the shoulder shape
- Natural-bristle clothes brush — for daily brushing after wear
- Constrain Moth Spray — to treat the wardrobe space before hanging
- Pheromone Moth Traps — to catch any infestation early
The good news is that looking after a suit properly is mostly about restraint. You don't need to fuss over it — you need to give it the right hanger, the right cover, and the right amount of rest. Here is how.
The two big mistakes
The first is wearing the same suit two days running. Worsted wool is a remarkable fibre, with an extraordinary ability to recover its shape — but only if you give it 24 hours of rest between wears. The fibres need time to release moisture from your body and spring back. Wear it back-to-back and the trousers go baggy at the knees, the jacket loses its line, and the cloth tires far faster than it should.
The second is storing it on a flimsy hanger inside a plastic dry-cleaning bag. The hanger pulls the shoulder out of shape; the plastic traps moisture and releases plasticisers that yellow the lining and dull the cloth. Both are easy to fix.
Step one: brush after every wear
The easiest, cheapest care ritual in tailoring. A soft natural-bristle clothes brush lifts the day's dust, dandruff, and microscopic food particles out of the weave before they settle in. Brush downward in the direction of the nap, paying attention to the lapels, collar, shoulders, and the small of the back.
Brushing also reduces how often the suit needs dry cleaning, which is a very good thing — dry cleaning chemicals are harsh, and over-cleaning a suit is one of the fastest ways to age it prematurely.
Step two: rest the suit between wears
Hang it on a proper hanger somewhere with a little air circulation — outside the wardrobe is even better — and leave it for 24 hours before putting it away. This lets moisture evaporate and the fibres relax back into shape. If the suit got particularly damp (rain, a long commute), let it air for 48 hours.
Step three: use a proper hanger
This is non-negotiable. Wire and thin plastic hangers create permanent dimples and distortion in canvassed shoulders. What you want is a wide, supportive, contoured hanger that follows the natural shoulder line — broad at the shoulder ends, ideally with a slight forward curve. Our padded hangers are shaped to do exactly this, spreading the weight of the cloth rather than pinching it.
Hang the trousers separately by the cuffs from a clip hanger if you can — this lets gravity pull out any creases overnight. Otherwise, fold them once over the trouser bar.
Step four: cover with Tyvek, not plastic
The plastic dry-cleaning bag has to come off. It traps residual solvent vapours, prevents the cloth from breathing, and yellows linings over time. Throw it away the day you get the suit home.
For long-term storage — anything more than a couple of weeks — slip the suit into a Tyvek garment bag. Tyvek is the material conservators trust to protect historic textiles in museum collections: chemically inert, breathable, water-resistant, dust-proof, and excellent at blocking light. It keeps moths out, lets the cloth breathe, and won't release anything onto the lining.
For day-to-day use between wears, a Tyvek cover is overkill — but for any suit going into longer storage, especially seasonal pieces (a heavy tweed put away for summer, or a lightweight linen put away for winter), it is exactly the right choice.
Step five: store properly between seasons
Suits you only wear half the year deserve special care. Before they go into storage:
- Have them dry cleaned, or at least thoroughly brushed and aired. Anything stored dirty becomes moth bait.
- Slip on a Tyvek garment bag.
- Hang on a wide, supportive hanger, with the trousers either folded over the bar or hung separately.
- Move them to a cool, dark, dry part of the wardrobe with a little space around them — never crammed.
Step six: protect against moths
Wool is the favourite food of clothes moth larvae. A pristine bespoke suit is, to a moth, an excellent buffet. The simplest defence is a discreet pheromone moth trap on a shelf or hung inside the wardrobe — it monitors for adult males and tells you the moment something is wrong.
Once a year — usually in spring, before the warmer months — take everything out, vacuum the wardrobe, and lightly spray the empty interior with Constrain Moth Spray. It is pH-neutral, water-based, and odourless once dry, and it leaves a residual barrier that stops moths landing for up to nine months. Let it dry fully before putting your suits back.
If you are storing matching shoes alongside the suit, keep them in an acid-free shoe box rather than loose at the bottom of the wardrobe.
Step seven: travelling with a suit
A Tyvek garment bag works just as well on a hanger in a hotel wardrobe as it does at home. It is lighter than fabric covers and won't crease the suit if it gets folded into a suitcase. Hang the suit in the steamy bathroom for ten minutes after you arrive and the wrinkles fall out by themselves — no iron required.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I dry-clean a suit?
As rarely as possible. A well-brushed, well-aired suit can go a year or more between cleans. Spot-clean small marks, brush after every wear, and only send it in when it actually needs it.
Can I store a suit folded?
For short trips, yes — folded carefully into a Tyvek bag with the lapels rolled rather than creased. For long-term storage, hang it on a wide, supportive hanger.
What's wrong with the cotton garment bag I have?
Nothing dreadful. Cotton is much better than plastic. Tyvek is just better still — denser, more pest-resistant, and chemically inert.
Should I use cedar in the wardrobe?
Cedar smells nice and gives mild moth deterrence for the first few months. It is not a substitute for monitoring or proper storage — but it is not actively harmful either.
Treat a good suit well and it will outlast most of the things in your wardrobe. Treat it badly and you have bought yourself an expensive disappointment.
