How often do you think about taking care of your jackets? While you are used to throwing your shirts into the laundry machine, jackets need much more than that.
Some of them aren’t even machine washable. Others require special detergents. Meanwhile, some need to be taken care of BEFORE you put them on for the first time.
Jackets are tricky. Especially if they are made of natural materials. By skipping the care part, you may end up with a useless piece of leather or cloth to cry over.
Do you have a favorite jacket? Did you just spend a fortune on a leather coat? Take five minutes to read our care tips. Your jacket will say “thank you”.
1. Read The “Manual”
No one likes reading the care tag on their jackets. It seems to be a waste of time, doesn’t it? Meanwhile, the little tag contains loads of information. What may seem like a washable garment may need dry cleaning. What appears to be something to wash at high temperatures may shrink the second the hot water hits it.
Jackets are often expensive. The ideal one is so hard to find. If you’ve already spent a week searching for the jacket of your dreams, is it so hard to read the label? It may surprise you.
2. Identify The Materials
Depending on which material your jacket is made of, it will have different cleaning instructions. Obviously, leather jackets need different care than cotton jackets do. But are faux leather jackets also different?
And we go back to the tiny tag, which many jacket owners ignore. Find out about the materials to know how to go about care. If you start caring for a fur jacket the same way you do for your cotton coat, you are in trouble.
Of course, it’s easy to tell fur and cotton apart. But are you good at telling the difference between polyester and viscose?
3. Take The Right Approach To Leather
So if you are a happy owner of a leather jacket, should your life turn into a nightmare? Not at all. In fact, cleaning a leather jacket is often much easier than washing other materials. For example, letterman jackets from Varsity Base, are mostly designed to be spot cleaned.
Before putting on a leather jacket for the first time, apply a leather protector. While you can forget to use a protector for a leather jacket, you can’t be forgetful with a suede jacket, which stains easily.
Use a damp cloth to spot clean your leather jackets. Read the label for additional instructions.
4. Hang ‘Em
Do you have too much stuff hanging in your closet? Do you have a tiny locker in school? Are you forgetful? All of the above are lame excuses. Never fold your jackets. Never. Fold. Your. Jackets.
Regardless of the material, they are made of, folding will only make jackets look worse. While with cotton jackets, you can get rid of creases by ironing (which is time-consuming and annoying), a leather jacket doesn’t forgive folding.
Invest in high-quality wooden hangers for your leather jackets.
5. Keep Away From Fire
Did you know that faux leather is highly flammable? While real leather melts, faux leather blazes. If you are planning to go camping and thinking about making a fire, make sure you don’t wear faux leather jackets.
In fact, it’s better to keep them away from hot sunshine as well. So rethink your storage options. All jackets should be hung on hangers and stored away in a dark and cool place.
6. Get Professional Assistance
What do you do when spot cleaning doesn’t help with leather jackets anymore? Or perhaps the jacket came out of the dryer looking like it has been chewed on? The time has come to get professional assistance.
After reading the label carefully and not finding any dry cleaning restrictions, it’s time to visit the cleaners. More often than not dry cleaners can find a solution for your jacket problem.
7. Wash With Similar Materials
If you are washing cotton or polyester jackets, try to wash them with similar materials. This way you can avoid too much static, poor rinsing, and much more.
In fact, sometimes it makes sense to wash only one jacket separately instead of putting it inside the machine with the rest of your laundry.
8. Stick To Air Drying
It’s understandable that you want to have your jacket ready as soon as possible. However, using dryers is not a good idea regardless of the jacket materials. Dryers can ruin the shape of your jacket, making it shrink or add wrinkles, which you can’t deal with because many jackets can’t be ironed.
So forget about the dryer and air-dry your jackets. Always hang them to dry on hangers or spread them flat on a clean surface.
9. Brush it!
If you have a faux fur jacket, it requires special care. You have to brush the fur on a regular basis in order to keep the jacket looking good.
In fact, faux fur jackets are tougher to take care of than real fur. You have to hand wash them. The upside is that hand washing is much cheaper than professional cleaning required for real fur.
10. Use Garment Bags
Garment bags are real saviors. When you need to store your jackets, regardless of their type, use garment bags. These bags don’t just keep the jacket from getting dirty, they save closet space. These bags can maintain the temperature and humidity levels inside them in order to ensure safe storage.
Don’t pack more than one jacket in each garment bag even if it seems big enough for two. The jacket needs some space around it to “breathe”. It’s better to invest in high-quality garment bags in order to help your jacket serve you longer.
Take good care of your jackets, and they will take good care of you!
