We have all made mistakes with our laundry, haven’t we? The classic surprise pink underwear because of a red tee shirt hiding amongst a white-only wash, or forgetting a wool sweater in the hot setting of a dryer? Unfortunately, it’s so very easy to do and can render our helpful instructions completely useless at that point.
I am pretty good at keeping my J.Hilburn pieces laundered and on point, and if ever in doubt, a few of my personal tips should help in guiding you to care for your wardrobe easily and effectively.
Depending on how much a you wear your suit, I recommend that a dry clean every 5 to 8 wears is a good idea. I like to steam lightly in between wears occasionally, which helps not only with any wrinkles around the elbow and behind the knees of the pants but helps keep the pieces fresh. I personally avoid the lapels with steam at all cost as they can easily pucker the pick stitch in drier, flatter fabrics. Being rather good with an iron, I prefer to iron the lapel from the back lightly if it gets a crease from packing. Only with a cotton cloth in between the iron and the fabric, and I would only advise this with a very light touch and the correct wool setting on the iron.
Cotton and steamer machines are not the perfect match, and cotton shirts (non-iron aside) much prefer the press of an iron rather than just a steamer, as it tends to add wrinkles unless you can pull on the shirt as you steam to “set” the effects of the steam. Most of our blended fabrics in shirts and knits work perfectly with a light steam, though I love how seemingly wrinkle-free our 4-way stretch and Canclini Performante are.