Is It Time to Dry Clean Your Winter Coat?

With winter in full swing, you’re likely bundling up to stay nice and warm while outside. With so much exposure to the elements, your winter coat might take on stains and odors, ones that are best left to dry cleaning laundry services rather than your washer or dryer. Know that Stitch It is here to take optimum care of your winter coat so it always looks and performs its best no matter how deep the mercury plummets.

Fur Coats

If your favorite winter coat is made of fur, it has special oils in it that provide it with that gloss you likely love. The downside of that shine is that it acts as a magnet to dust, which can make your coat look drab by sucking up all that oil. By taking your fur coat to be dry cleaned during the spring or summer months, you clean it of any dust that might already be on it from when you wore it last, and you protect it while it’s in storage, better ensuring it looks brand new when you’re ready to wear it for the winter.

Down-Filled Coats

Winter coats that have down in them should be well taken care of so that they can continue to provide the reliable protection for which they’ve become so popular. Tossing your down-filled coat into the washer is likely to displace the down and negatively impact its ability to keep you warm. Letting a dry cleaner handle the job for you, on the other hand, keeps the down safe and your coat looking great year after year.

Wool Coats

When it comes to wool, it’s best to have winter coats dry cleaned twice a year at the end and the beginning of the coldest months of the year. Dry cleaners know how to keep from harming your coat from the warm water and detergents common to regular household washers. When the weather starts to warm up, be sure you store your wool coat in a garment bag to protect it from insects like moths.

Suede and Leather Coats

Much like fur coats, leather coats have oil that provides them with a nice sheen, one that can be washed away by common washer detergents. Besides robbing your leather or suede winter coat of its natural shine, washer detergent can also weaken the material and make it more susceptible to tearing. What’s more is that you’ll want to be consistent when it comes to cleaning suede and leather coats. The longer they’re left uncared for, the harder it usually is to safely lift off layers of dirt and staining.

If you have a winter coat you plan on wearing this year, or if you’d just like a few great tips for taking optimum care of your new winter coat, do yourself a favor and turn to the professionals. Turn to us here at Stitch It for professional dry cleaning services and additional strategies you can use at home on your own to preserve the look and performance of your coat this and every other year.