Cover photo credit: Kirby Allison
Take care of your clothes and they will take care of you.
In this article, I offer you a list of five accessories that will help your favorite pieces stay beautiful over time.
On the one hand, I'm going to mention some basic points that may be obvious to some but are always good to remember. On the other hand, I'm also going to go a little further by giving you some advice that you may not have thought of.
1. The shoe tree
Mr. Shoe Trees
You probably already know this accessory to put in your shoes and which fulfills several missions:
- It absorbs moisture, whether it is rainwater or the perspiration of your foot. The shoe tree thus prevents the leather from softening
- It limits walking creases
- It maintains the shape of your shoe to prevent it from deforming, rolling forward
Shoe trees wouldn't hurt on Allen Edmonds with his creases and curls at the ends.
We advise you to choose solid shoe trees made of cedar wood .
A full shoe tree
A shoe stretcher, not full
Plastic shoe trees are not really recommended. except in one case: to take shoes on a trip. Indeed, plastic is lighter than wood which is practical for mobility.
full plastic shoe trees . It can be useful
Here's how to use them properly: put the shoe trees on immediately after wearing your shoes and leave them for at least 24 hours , ideally 48 hours. This is the time needed for them to work effectively.
Once this time has passed, you can remove them and put them on another pair of shoes.
So you can deduce that there is no need to necessarily have a pair of shoe trees for each pair of shoes.
If you are able to have shoe trees for all your shoes, that is ideal. If not, you can rotate by inserting shoe trees into shoes you have just worn and taking them from shoes that have not been worn for several days.
You will find shoe trees almost everywhere in stores, whether in specialist shoe care stores such as Monsieur Chaussure or Valmour or directly from shoe brands .
The average price is between €30 and €40 . Unless you have a specific need or are keen to purchase shoe trees with the right shape from a high-end brand, there is no need to spend much more.
2. The hanger
Pierre Button / EyeEm for Getty Images
There are three main materials for hangers: wire, wood, and plastic. Choose wood whenever possible.
A hanger can have several thicknesses : it can be thin, medium thick or thick.
A wooden hanger with wide shoulders for hanging a structured coat or jacket. Kirby Allison
Put away the tops
The main rule for storing coats, jackets and windbreakers is quite obvious and is to match the thickness of your garment to the thickness of your hanger.
If you have a fairly heavy coat or jacket with padding at the shoulders, choose a thick hanger as shown just above.
For a medium-weight coat (such as a raincoat) or a blazer with little or no structure, a medium-thick hanger may be sufficient.
For your shirts , a thin or medium-thick hanger will suffice, and without taking up too much space. As such, I do not particularly advise you to store your shirts flat in a wardrobe, because in addition to making creases, the collars of your shirts will be crushed, flattened under the pile. At a pinch, why not for casual shirts, with fairly flexible collars that accept creases better.
On the other hand, we strongly advise against hanging your knitted clothes on hangers , whatever they may be. . The weight of the knit can cause the knit to stretch at the shoulders of your garment. This is especially true if the knit is heavy or if the knit is airy, quite open.
Store your stitches flat, folded.
Poh Kim Yeoh for Getty Images
Put away the stockings
The general rule is quite simple:
- Put away your casual pants flat in your closet
- Put away your dress pants on hanger
Julien on his blog Stiff Collar . You can remember this drawing:
Two hangers, two ways to store your pants
Here, you must remember to fold the pants along the central crease , at an angle:
Here we can clearly see the central fold that goes down the leg...
...the pants are therefore folded diagonally, following this crease. Drake's
Hangers can be found at very variable prices, but if you take wooden hangers, I see that they can cost from €5 to €30.
For very nice hangers, you can look at the American brand Kirby Allison , formerly Hanger Projects. Note that the brand is distributed by the French distributor Valmour. This will be more practical than ordering directly from the brand's website.
3. The storage cover
Drake's Cover
I'm talking about a suit cover type product here.
In addition to being able to be used to transport clothes, a storage bag is used to:
- Protect your clothes from sunlight, and therefore prevent them from fading. You can use it for clothes hanging in a wardrobe exposed to sunlight
- Protect your clothes from dust , for example for coats that would remain stored without moving during spring and summer
You will mostly find covers made of synthetic materials such as polyester or cotton. Try to choose cotton if possible.
You can easily find this accessory in stores, but if you're looking for something more upscale, I haven't seen many other than at Drake's like in the photo above, or, again, Kirby Allison.
4. The lint shaver
A sweater that pills is not necessarily a poor quality sweater .
It is even sometimes normal. Michel explains it very well in the article he wrote on this subject:
Against lint, he recommends the lint shaver . The model that you will find most easily is a Philips, which will cost you between 10 and 15€.
I would add a tip for use regarding this accessory: do not press on your garment with this device, you risk making holes . Use it gently on the surface, as if you were caressing the material.
An alternative is the lint comb . This is a manual accessory, a little less aggressive than the electric lint shaver.
In this regard, the Atelier Particulier brand recently released one.
Available here
5. Moth repellent
Source
To our great misfortune, moths love to nibble on our favorite clothes made of wool or more fragile, precious materials.
Eric Brasseur for Getty Images
Because prevention is better than cure, I invite you to place an anti-moth product where your woolen clothes are stored: in a closet, a jacket pocket or a storage box for example.
There are two approaches:
- Chemical moth repellents such as aerosol insecticides
- Natural moth repellents like cedar balls or a sachet of lavender flowers. If you have extra cedar wood shoe trees lying around, chances are they will have the same effect as cedar balls.
As far as I know, both methods work pretty well. So, you may want to opt for a natural moth repellent.
Another method to prevent moths from attacking your winter knitwear would be to store them in vacuum boxes during the spring/summer season. You will save space too.
We put our clothes in these boxes ...
...and we suck in the air.
And if one of your sweaters has been attacked by moths, it can be fixed :
To continue the reflection, I invite you to take a look at the following contents:
