Avoiding dry cleaning with suit

[fashionnoob]

Anyone have any tips on removing large amounts of dog hair from a suit without having to take it in for dry cleaning? I'm not sure if a lint remover is safe for this purpose, but am leery about getting any suit dry cleaned.

If I do take it in for dry cleaning, how badly will this affect the suit (it's a BB 1/2 canvassed suit, never been dry cleaned before)? Thanks in advance.

 

[Opermann]

I don't see how a lint remover would be bad. I have the kind that's made of layers of sticky masking tape and I don't see how it could do any damage to a suit. I use it to get cat hair off most of my clothing.

 

[noVA99]

how is dry cleaning a suit bad? I have dry cleaned my suits for 6 years, fused and canvassed, and haven't had any problems. I only dry clean them when I have been sweating in them or if I go to a bar and smoke gets into my clothes.

 

[cvac]

If you don't want to use the sticky tape roll to take off the lint, try a "magic brush" lint brush....that should get a lot of the hair off without damaging the suit and may allow you to bypass the cleaners.

 

[finch]

I only clean my suits if there is a stain/spill or soiled by dirt from the winter etc. Most times I just have them pressed which keeps them crisp and polished. In the case of dog hair those sticky tape rollers work like I charm. I have a Pug and I use my roller on everything to remove pet hair, suits, coats, jacket, sweater etc. There cheap, purchase a couple and keep one at home, car and work!

 

[TheFoo]

Originally Posted by noVA99

how is dry cleaning a suit bad? I have dry cleaned my suits for 6 years, fused and canvassed, and haven't had any problems. I only dry clean them when I have been sweating in them or if I go to a bar and smoke gets into my clothes.

This has been discussed many times before. The heat and chemicals from dry-cleaning strip the wool cloth of your jackets and suits. Over time, they tend to get harder and weaker. If your suit is fused, the heat can cause the glue to bubble.

If your suit isn't stained and the problem is just odor or sweat, I'd try a thorough steaming first. It seems to fix most problems.

 

[gumercindo]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

This has been discussed many times before. The heat and chemicals from dry-cleaning strip the wool cloth of your jackets and suits. Over time, they tend to get harder and weaker. If your suit is fused, the heat can cause the glue to bubble.

If your suit isn't stained and the problem is just odor or sweat, I'd try a thorough steaming first. It seems to fix most problems.

How do you steam a suit?

 

[TheFoo]

You can buy a handheld steamer, use the steam from your iron, or hang it up in the bathroom while you take a shower.

 

[gumercindo]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

You can buy a handheld steamer, use the steam from your iron, or hang it up in the bathroom while you take a shower.

gotcha. I figured, but wasn't sure if there was a more complex way to do it.

 

[Ricardo Malocchio]

For steaming, is there anything else? Should the jacket be hanging on a form-fitted hanger or laid flat? Is the direct steam from an iron potentially too hot?

 

[noVA99]

how many trips to the dry cleaners before your suit begins to deteriorate? I think after the 6 years I have been wearing suits, I may have only dry cleaned any one suit 3 times at most.

 

[HomerJ]

I think you'll want to buy an actual steamer. I killed my last iron by overusing the steam function one day, steaming a few jakets/pants. My dedicated steamer puts out a lot more steam too.

 

[academe]

Originally Posted by mafoofan

This has been discussed many times before. The heat and chemicals from dry-cleaning strip the wool cloth of your jackets and suits. Over time, they tend to get harder and weaker. If your suit is fused, the heat can cause the glue to bubble.

If your suit isn't stained and the problem is just odor or sweat, I'd try a thorough steaming first. It seems to fix most problems.

I believe that liquid carbon dioxide dry cleaning is more gentle on your clothes than traditional dry cleaning that uses organic solvents. It's also a little more environmentally friendly, as it doesn't involve potentially carcinogenic chemicals or ozone-destroying compounds, etc. I suppose the downside is that CO2 is a greenhouse gas...

 

[cvac]

I wanted an inexpensive steamer so I bought the Jiffy Esteam from Allbrands.com for $49 shipped.

It seemed like the best deal I could find and I'm happy with the job it does. It is also fairly small and will easily fit in a suitcase.

You can steam the suit jacket on the hanger, but you'll have to carefully hold the pants or hang them from the cuffs in order to steam them. Make sure you rotate the pants so you can steam the whole thing but be careful not to take out the crease in the trousers. If you need to re-crease them, use a pressing cloth and iron over that, not direct heat from an iron.

I wouldn't try using an iron for steaming.

 

[SuitingStyle]

on an off note, can steaming take out stains, or that can only be done with dry cleaning?