Take Good Care

You may be asking yourself, “is she serious with the theme of this post”? Well, yes of course I am and I will tell you why. Taking care of the items in your closet is just as important as the process of finding them.

The last few posts have covered elements of discovering your personal style and building a quality, balanced wardrobe that will survive the test of time. But once you have found or even rediscovered these special items, how do you maintain them to ensure they last?

What better time to explore this question than the beginning of August, when we can comfortably hang out in our air conditioned closet to escape the heat. In fact, the temperatures we are currently experiencing outside are a great reason to pay closer attention to how you are preserving your most cherished pieces. Cracks in your leather goods, wear or discoloration on your jewelry, and sweat stains on your clothing are all cases of prolonged exposure to outside (or even inside) high temperatures and high humidity. The cooler months bring similar challenges, with dry air and fridgid temperatures that can also effect the longevity of our leather goods. As the seasons change, the conditions inside of our closets do too, and we need to be mindful of how to best store away pieces when not in use. So, you can appreciate why taking precautions inside and outside for valuable or well invested pieces is important!

While this guide is not comprehensive, it will provide you with a good idea of how to start taking care of the items in your closet, no matter what the season. Lets dive in.

Dust and Garment Bags - Safe Keeping from Storage to Travel

Those felt like bags that tend to appear with our shoe, coat, or jewelry purchases have more utility than you might think. So, don’t throw them out or get rid of them anymore! These bags, often made of breathable cotton or other fabric, should be used as normal covers for handbags, belts, jackets, coats, jewelry, and other small leather goods when not in use. If you have a handbag in heavier rotation, you can also stuff the dust bag inside the interior to help maintain its shape while it is sitting on a closet shelf. Never, ever store any of these items in plastic, although exceptions can me made for some man-made fabric based clothing. Plastic is not breathable, and will cause all forms of leather to crack or mold, and cotton clothing to discolor. There are other great reasons to maintain these little coverings, too. If you are ever going to resale your items, they will always be worth more if you have their original storage bag. Additionally, they are fantastic for keeping your items packed away and protected properly when traveling.

Leather Care for All - Treatment and Conditioning are Key

For your handbags, belts, boots, and other small leather goods, it is important to invest in a good leather cleaner and conditioner. You should aim to condition your leather goods at least once a year to keep them from drying out, which creates cracks and tears in the leather that are often unfixable. If you already have an item with cracks, conditioning it on a regular basis can help prevent them from expanding. Conditioners can also help remove stains caused by color transfer or from contact with liquids. Some leather conditioners have pigmentation to help maintain the vibrancy of the leather’s dye, which is particularly helpful for belts and boots that get a lot of wear and tear. For example, I typically wipe down my good boots with pigmented black leather conditioner before I put them into storage at the beginning of Spring. This helps treat scuffs and markings, and keeps them from drying out in the closet during the warmer months. Always test the conditioner on a small part of the item and be gentle in your approach - avoid rubbing the surface too harshly and remember a little bit goes a long way.

If you are caring for a more expensive item, you may want to take it directly to a leather specialist who can lend their expertise. My approach would be to call a major department store or local designer boutique to inquire about who they would recommend in your area. Be sure to do your homework and read reviews.

Safeguard Your Sparkle - The Ins and Outs of Maintaining your Jewelry

Sweat, body oil, perfume, lotion, and now hand sanitizer (thanks, COVID) - it’s more complicated than ever to maintain your jewelry. Let’s break it down by type.

Gold Plated - As a yellow gold girl myself, I love gold plated jewelry as a less expensive alternative to the real deal. But, lately I have come to realize how this type of material may be less than desirable in a COVID world. You should try to avoid washing your hands, bathing, and contacting alcohol based liquids (read hand sanitizer) when wearing gold plated jewelry. Obviously this presents a huge problem for rings. While you might think only alcohol or harsh chemicals can affect your gold plated jewelry, unfortunately, the same is true for perfumes, lotions, and even the natural oils on our skin. Before putting on and taking off your gold plated jewelry, you should have clean hands. When you are done wearing them for the day, wipe each piece down with a soft cloth before putting them away. The felt bags that come with your jewelry or the cleaning cloths that come with your sunglasses are great options for this. You can also find chemically treated felt wipes on Amazon that help maintain shine. This practice should also be followed for plated metal chain straps on your handbags. Yes, way.
Sterling Silver - Solid ‘925’ silver is the wear resistant cousin of gold plated items and another cost effective alternative to solid gold. Silver is hearty and mostly scratch resistant, withstanding sweat, moisture, and the usual clanking. Although it can oxidize and tarnish over time, you can easily fix any discoloration with a sterling silver cleaner that can be found at the grocery store. All you need to do is wipe the jewelry clean with a paper towel, rinse with warm water, and lay to dry. Small dents or scratches can be helped with what is called a ‘sunshine’ cloth that has a fine abrasive surface, kind of like tiny sandpaper, that can help smooth out imperfections. But, be careful not to rub so hard that you remove any protective coating off of your piece.
Solid Gold - Real, solid gold is the Hercules of jewelry and can withstand a ton of wear and tear. My favorite tool to care for these items is a ‘sunshine’ cloth, referenced above, that will keep surface scratches to a minimum and also wipe the piece clean. But use caution, as real gold pieces will almost always have a protective clear finish and you do not want to scrub or rub that off! You can also buy a jewelry cleaning machine. However, I have found that most liquid cleaners work just fine with hand washing in warm water. Unlike gold plated items, you don’t have to worry about water, perfumes, oils, hand sanitizer, or the like. Given COVID, this type of jewelry will quickly become your everyday workhorse. In fact, I have slowly been transitioning to primarily wearing my solid gold pieces, especially given the sweat factor in D.C. during the summer months. Solid gold basics are actually pretty easy to find and more cost effective than you think. Check out Macy’s, TJMaxx, and our very own local store, She’s Unique boutique. Just make sure you are purchasing pieces that are classic shapes, so you can wear them for years to come.

Fabric Care - Wait, Clothes Need Care?

In earlier posts, I talked about the importance of buying clothes made of quality, natural fabrics. In terms of cleaning, these fabrics tend to be more delicate and often cannot be tossed into the washer and dryer with your pajamas.

Silk, linen, wool, and other delicate fabrics, even some finicky synthetics, should be dry cleaned. Instead of running to a dry cleaner every week, I am an avid user of Dryel and also a fantastic company called The Laundress, whose products will allow you to wash most delicate fabrics right in your washing machine. Aside from their gentle detergents, The Laundress offers fun mesh washing bags that you can place your delicate items in to ensure they aren’t tossed around too harshly in the washing machine. Check them out! Cottons are another category of fabrics that can be washed on a gentle cycle with cold water and hung to dry. For athleisure wear, I usually run the ‘quick wash’ or ‘delicate’ cycle setting on the washing machine and dry them on extra low for no more than 25 minutes to prevent their synthetic fibers from breaking down. Ensuring you don’t over dry your athletic clothing will help to avoid them from making an odd cracking sound when stretched or feeling like they expand immediately when worn, which usually means the fibers have been damaged from heat.

For off season storage of any of your clothing items, make sure they are placed in a cool, dry area and inside of breathable garment bags. This will protect your clothes from moths, mildew, stuffy odors, and discoloration when they are not being worn. It will also help you stay organized.

Fin!

Aside from taking care of your most loved pieces for personal reasons, maintaining their quality and condition are also important for resale purposes and eventually handing cherished items down to other family members. If we are going to spend a lot of time and effort thinking about how to find the items that best serve us in our closets, isn’t it worth taking care of them so they can be enjoyed as long as possible? Hopefully this guide inspires you to start a new routine that protects the items you truly value.

Be sure to explore the pictures and captions below to get more details on how I care for my items.

If you have any questions, reach out using the contact page or drop a comment.

“Clothes could have more meaning and longevity if we think less about owning the latest or cheapest thing and develop more of a relationship with the things we wear.”

— Elizabeth L. Cline