Safe cleaning and storage of vintage suits

[Atterbury Dodd]

Hello all,
I just got my first 30's suit today, and I need to know how to store it (moth proofing and all that too) and what to look for in a dry-cleaner.

I am not planning on wearing it much. I bought it mainly to have a reproduction copied from it, so it will spend much of the time on a hanger.
My mom hates mothballs, so can I be certain of protecting my 30's suit without? Will cedar work?
I had a nice (new) herringbone tweed sport coat that I was keeping in my closet, and, in spite of being in a place were it was moved often it got a moth hole eaten in it (I had some other cheapy sport coats in the closet that were probably contaminated with moth eggs).

I know I should hang the suit on a suit hanger, but, should I also put a plastic bag over the suit to protect from dust? Or, maybe I should have a sealable plastic covering?

As far as dry-cleaners go: should I go to a special one for a vintage suit? Does a vintage suit need to be cleaned more carefully?
I await the help of the experts

 

[Marcus]

Congrats...I just picked up a suit myself and found this thread very helpful:

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=2653

 

[mrbork]

Tried and true...

To repel moths, silverfish, et al, I highly recommend using cedar blocks and/or lavender(dried, in some sort of mesh bag). It's non-toxic, and does a great job of keeping the pests away; refresh seasonally.

 

[Mr. Rover]

Be careful with too much lavender though- I just read an article in Men's Health or some magazine like that saying that lavender soaps and shampoos increase estrogen levels in men, which were causing breasts, or "man-boobs", to form. I don't know if being surrounded by the pleasant aroma of lavender would have the same effect, though.

 

[Feraud]

Be careful with too much lavender though- I just read an article in Men's Health or some magazine like that saying that lavender soaps and shampoos increase estrogen levels in men, which were causing breasts, or "man-boobs", to form. I don't know if being surrounded by the pleasant aroma of lavender would have the same effect, though.

I too would advise to avoid the lavendar. Man-boobs on a vintage suit would ruin the cut of a vintage suit.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Presuming the suit is quite clean to begin with, take it to a vintage specialist. If it's dirty, the specialists might be too gentle to be able to actually clean the thing. they tend to crap themselves a bit too much about damaging vintage fabric.

As for storage, you can get odourless moth balls these days. personally i love the smell of traditional moth balls . . . mmmmm, chemically.

Yes, put it on a stout wooden hanger and make sure the shoudlers on the hanger aren't too wide - they will cause weird bumps at the top of the arms of your jacket if they're too wide. if i remember aright this is a relatively small jacket, so the shoulder advice is probably pertinent.

And yes, put it in a suit bag.

Even if you won't be wearing it much, take it out periodically - maybe once every two weeks - and air it out, brush it, shake it about, whatever. Moths don't like being disturbed.

A tip - you probably don't have a moth problem. I bet it's carpet beetles: a much more common terror in houses today. Moths need pretty specific environmental conditions to thrive; conditions we have relatively successfully destroyed with modern air conditioning and heating. Carpet beetles just live in your carpets. they LOVE our modern, man-made environment. look out for the husks of the larvae. they're about 2mm long, will be split down the centre, and will be clear with dark brown rings marking the intersegment boundaries. if you see these, you have a carpet beetle problem.

bk

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

Even if you won't be wearing it much, take it out periodically - maybe once every two weeks - and air it out, brush it, shake it about, whatever. Moths don't like being disturbed.

A tip - you probably don't have a moth problem. I bet it's carpet beetles: a much more common terror in houses today. Moths need pretty specific environmental conditions to thrive; conditions we have relatively successfully destroyed with modern air conditioning and heating. Carpet beetles just live in your carpets. they LOVE our modern, man-made environment. look out for the husks of the larvae. they're about 2mm long, will be split down the centre, and will be clear with dark brown rings marking the intersegment boundaries. if you see these, you have a carpet beetle problem.

bk

Kurtz,
I have no air conditioning (in the winter we heat with propane or a wood stove). So would this make it likely that the problem is moths, not carpet beetles? The house I'm living in does have lots of carpet. If it is carpet beetles how can I protect from them?

I guess I should have made this clear, but I live in the country (and Arkansas at that!) and there are dry cleaners, but no vintage specialists(not in easy driving distance any way!). Is there any place I can mail my suit to?

 

[mrbork]

Be careful with too much lavender though- I just read an article in Men's Health or some magazine like that saying that lavender soaps and shampoos increase estrogen levels in men, which were causing breasts, or "man-boobs", to form. I don't know if being surrounded by the pleasant aroma of lavender would have the same effect, though.

I've used lavender EVERYTHING, body and home, for the past fifteen years, and I'm still anatomically correct!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Kurtz,
I have no air conditioning (in the winter we heat with propane or a wood stove). So would this make it likely that the problem is moths, not carpet beetles? The house I'm living in does have lots of carpet. If it is carpet beetles how can I protect from them?

I guess I should have made this clear, but I live in the country (and Arkansas at that!) and there are dry cleaners, but no vintage specialists(not in easy driving distance any way!). Is there any place I can mail my suit to?

What type of wardrobes do you have? (stand alone? Wall mounted? Walk in?)

bk

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

What type of wardrobes do you have? (stand alone? Wall mounted? Walk in?)

bk

Right now I don't even have the suit properly hung up, the reason being that all of the suit hangers are my dads and the shoulders are to long (I am going to order a hanger immediately). I was going to hang it in a closet(walk in, well, sort of--small) covered by an airtight suit bag.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Not airtight. The first thing to do is to clear out the closet. Take everything out. get in there with a vacuum cleaner and very carefully vacuum the floor. If there are any shelves, brush them out before vacuuming. Get right into the corners. This should deal with any lingering moth eggs, etc.

Have you dry cleaned the suit? If not, the first thing i'd d is seal it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer. 3 days in the freezer, one day out, then another 3 in the freezer (deep freeze - probably -20 C; old freezers better than modern). This will kill anything that's lingering in there.

bk