You found your wardrobe hero pieces – a crisp balloon-sleeved top, vintage-wash jeans and a Prince-of-Wales-check blazer that makes you fee like Tess McGill after she lands a corner office. Now take care of your clothes so don’t end up all the way back at Step 1 of this guide. 
 

null

 

Step 3: Take Care

 

Laundry & Dry Cleaning

Lindsay Boyd, co-founder of luxe garment care brand The Launderss, on how too…

Not overdo it. “You don’t need to wash your jeans and sweaters after just one wear (or even two).” Try: Spot-treat stains, and spray with an antibacterial fabric refresher.

Take care of that fancy Equipment blouse. “Silk items will say ‘Dry clean only’ when they can, in fact, be washed at home.” Dry cleaning natural fibres can set in odours and stains. Try: Wash in a gentle cycle, and skip the dryer. When it comes to heat, it’s the dryer, not the water temperature, that’s most damaging to clothes.

Deal with pilling on knits—yes, it happens to expensive sweaters too. “Pilling doesn’t mean the sweater wasn’t manufactured properly; it’s just a natural quality of the yarn and happens from wear.” Try: Brush knits with a pumice stone, and use a scented wool-and-cashmere spray to refresh between washes.

Make your blazers meeting-ready again. “You have to get suit jackets cleaned professionally because of the shoulder pads and interfacing in the garment, but the fabric itself is washable.” Try: Treat the inside lining with antibacterial spray, and spot-treat stains—they might not come out on the first try, but that’s okay. “Don’t get defeated. If a stain sits for a while, you may have to do it twice.” Finally, steam—never iron—a blazer. (It can break down the structure.)       
 

null

 

Ironing

 
Jonah Creed, of Creeds Dry Cleaning in Toronto, on how to iron like your grandma would

1. Hang dry the item as soon as it’s out of the wash to get some of the wrinkles out.
2. Use a spray bottle to mist fabric as you iron.
3. Tackle the collar, cuffs and plackets (the layered fabric near the buttons) first. The fabric on these parts of a shirt is usually reinforced and won’t wrinkle as much,
so if you get them over with, you likely won’t have to go over them again.
4. Iron around the buttons and hooks so they don’t weaken or melt.
5. Resist the urge to over-iron; it can make clothes look shiny (a.k.a. cheap).