During your laundry day, there are items that you clean routinely, and you ignore others. You forget those that are challenging to clean using your washing machine or do not see the need to clean them. Heavy outerwear like jackets and coats is often overlooked during laundry days, particularly in winter when you wear them daily.
When did you last clean your coat or jacket during cold seasons? And when you did it, did you hire a laundry service or use your washing machine?
Heavy outerwear requires frequent cleaning because it is exposed to many elements when worn daily in the cold season. However, how often should you clean coats and jackets to stay fresh and comfortable? Below are tips to guide you on when to wash your outerwear.
Importance of Cleaning Your Heavy Outerwear
Like your inner clothes and items, outerwear is exposed to many elements from your body and surrounding surfaces. Your coat or jacket directly touches your skin in the neck and cuffs, exposing it to sweat or the perfume you wear. Your inner clothes can also transfer these elements, like sweat, to your outerwear. This is to tell you that coats and jackets are more exposed to your skin than you believe.
External elements play a significant role here. Your heavy jacket is repeatedly exposed to rainfall for months until the cold season ends, potentially leading to mold and unpleasant odors. Additionally, any surfaces you encounter during the day, such as vehicles, benches, or walls, can leave residues on your jacket or coat. If you live in an industrial city with high air pollution, your outerwear will inevitably pick up some of these residues. This underlines the importance of regular cleaning to maintain the quality of your outerwear.
One common misconception is that outerwear only needs cleaning when it is visibly stained or starts to smell. However, coats and jackets, being heavy and difficult to clean, require regular maintenance. Many fear they will damage their expensive outerwear due to a lack of laundry skills. Nevertheless, with the proper guidance and the help of a professional laundry service, you can keep your outerwear in top condition.
The appearance changes if the jacket goes without cleaning for months or even a year. Also, with many residues accumulated on the clothes, you could develop skin allergies, making it essential to keep your coat clean. Here is a guide if you are wondering when it is best to wash your outerwear.
The Fabric is Paramount
The frequency with which you clean your outerwear depends on its fabric type. If you rarely wear down jackets, wool coats, and leather jackets, you should wash them once every winter and twice in winter if you wear them repeatedly.
If you rarely wear rain jackets, clean them monthly. However, if you wear them regularly, visit your washing machine or laundry service twice a month. Besides, waterproof jackets require a long-lasting water-repellent or resistant finish to benefit from the waterproof feature. If you don a fleece jacket in the cold season, clean it after wearing it six times. On the other hand, your blazer or suit jacket should undergo cleaning after donning it at most five times.
Clean the Outerwear Offseason
Jackets and coats are expensive, and you want to prolong their lifespan as much as possible to avoid digging deep into your pockets to buy a new one when the cold season begins. Therefore, you can wait until the off-season or the end of winter to wash and store it while clean. Many people use their heavy outerwear in winter alone, and when the season ends, they store the clothes in the closet and wait for the next cold season. The best time to wash the coat is at the end of the season before storing it. Moths and mold are attracted to stains, dirt, and moisture. Therefore, storing your outerwear without cleaning will have moth holes by the time you wear it the next cold season. If your favorite winter jacket is full of holes, you will not use it. You will be forced to dig deep into your pockets to buy a new one, which is very expensive.
You should consider retaining the services of professional dry cleaners for thorough cleaning and to ensure the outerwear is ready when you need it next. Complete laundry service will wash your heavy outerwear and return it to you in the best condition possible. These experts will save you money and eliminate the risk of damaging your expensive coat or jacket.
Refrain from being tempted to hand wash the heavy outerwear, especially the leather jacket. These require special cleaning to prevent damage, so talk to a professional for the proper treatment. Treat spots and stains with stain removers before washing if you must clean yourself. The choice of detergent also counts. Research the fabric of your outerwear and find a natural detergent that will give you the best result without causing any damage. After cleaning, do not use the dryer. Hang the jacket to dry by itself. However, if you must use the dry, check the outerwear’s care tag to know what you should do or avoid.
Consider Storage
You want to avoid shopping for outerwear at the start of every winter season. The best way to do this is to ensure that after professionals have washed the jacket, it is stored properly for the next cold season. You store outerwear properly by first removing everything that could be in the pockets. Once you have emptied the pockets, fasten the zippers, snap the snaps, and fasten the buttons. You do this to help the coat regain its original shape. Also, attaching the buttons or zippers protects the jackets from tearing.
Your outerwear, particularly leather jackets, requires sufficient space to breathe. Putting them in a plastic bag will deny them the air they need. Therefore, store the outerwear in a plastic bin or fabric bag. When using a bin, reduce the number of jackets in one bin to give them breathing room. After storing it correctly, you can hang the outerwear in your closet as you await the following season.
Find a Reputable Laundry Cleaning Service Near Me
When you want to save time or do not want to disfigure your expensive heavy outerwear, consider retaining the skills of laundry and dry cleaning professionals. At Boca Best Cleaners, we save you the time and hassle of cleaning winter jackets and coats in Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Call us at 561-613-0352 to arrange laundry pickup.
