Suit Care For Pet Households

One of the greatest joys of owning a custom suit is being able to look your best every time you walk out your front door in the morning.  But of course, like any good thing, keeping a wardrobe full of custom suits comes with its own necessary burdens, as well.  By itself, each trip to the dry cleaners or steam iron replacement purchase doesn't seem like much, especially when you compare it to a typical monthly utility bill.  But if you were to add up those trips and purchases over time, whether you're looking at time or money spent, that numerical figure might surprise you.

            Figures will vary according to the source, but the typical household in the U.S. spends anywhere between $500 and $1500 on dry cleaning costs annually.  That's not exactly pocket change, even for those with comfortable incomes.  Thankfully, there are creative ways to reduce this figure without resorting to wearing the same suit over and over again until your employer tells you to go home and take a shower.

            While it might seem counterintuitive, owning multiple suits will save you laundry trips, and depending on the local dry cleaning business in your neighborhood, you might even get discounts for bringing in multiple items at a time.  Each suit will also wear out at a much slower rate than they would if you owned fewer suits, thereby extending each one's longevity.

            Hanging your suits up after each use will also reduce the number of times you'll have to iron, launder, or dry clean them.  As an added bonus, a little proper storage goes a long way.  Your suits are less likely to come into contact with any dust, dirt, or unwanted grime when they're safely hanging up in your closet with protective coverings rather than crumpled up next to your nightstand or strewn about all over your living room furnishings.

            That being said, even when you dot your Is and cross all of your Ts, there are things you might have to do that go beyond regular dry cleaning trips and keeping your suits safely on your closet rack, especially if you have non-human members of your household.  If you haven't gathered it already, yes, we're talking about your pets.

            While we're always ecstatic to greet them after a long day at the office, we might not be so thrilled all the time with how much pet hair and animal dander can get stuck to not only our clothes but also pretty much everything.  But these extra considerations are well worth the companionship, and in this article we'll iron out what you can do to keep your formal wear looking neat and sharp if you're one of the lucky ones who happen to live in a pet household.

--Maintenance, Not Just For Your Suits--

            Here at Enzo Custom, we can never stress enough the importance of properly maintaining your wardrobe.  By taking care of your shirts, suits, jackets, trousers, and other articles of formal wear, everything in your closet will last longer and you'll spend less time going to the dry cleaners and your tailor.  But in pet households, maintenance shouldn't stop at your closet door.  Keeping up with maintenance and routine cleaning of your entire home will undoubtedly give you more peace of mind.

            We've all been guilty of it at some point or another.  It's very easy to use a long and intense workweek as an excuse to spend your weekend doing nothing but vegging out on the couch in front of the TV and sleeping in.  But rather than doing that all weekend, it would be wise to take at least some of that free time to dust off that vacuum cleaner in your utility closet and get reacquainted.   Even if you're a strictly shoes-off kind of person and you're very careful not to spill anything on your living room carpet, your dogs and cats will shed.  And they'll shed a lot, especially during the summer months.  Unfortunately for you, a majority of what they shed will end up on the carpet sooner or later, through no fault of their own.  And much of that can make its way onto your work clothes, as even the smallest of air currents can transport large amounts of pet hair great distances throughout your living space.  While vacuuming your floors weekly won't get rid of every single strand of pet hair in your home, it will reduce it to more manageable levels.

            Clean carpets and floors will translate into cleaner air that's free of dust and pet debris, along with anything they might track in from the outside when you take them for a walk or let them roam freely in your yard.

            While regular vacuuming can prevent pet hair from accumulating, proper maintenance doesn't just stop there.  Routine dusting of bookshelves, ceiling fan blades, cabinets, and counter spaces in conjunction with vacuuming will keep your home mostly free and clear of pet debris, thereby reducing the chances that your formal wear and suits will take on the same color as your pet's fur in a matter of days.  We totally understand that vacuuming and dusting are about as exhilarating as getting a root canal at the dentist, but these chores will go a long way in keeping your formal wear clean and sharp.  It would be frivolous and unnecessary to do these routine tasks every day, but doing them at least once a week—or once every two weeks at a bare minimum—should be sufficient enough.

            Bear in mind that if you're lucky enough not to have any carpet in your home at all, keeping your living space free and clear of pet fur will be easier, whether you're dealing with hardwood, tile, or linoleum.  Some people find sweeping and mopping hard surfaces in lieu of vacuuming to be comparatively effortless, but if you go this route, at least make sure you're keeping to a regular schedule you can follow.  As with vacuuming carpet, once every week or every two should do the trick.

--Other Less Obvious Considerations--

            When it comes to your pets, your home furnishings can act like magnets for anything that they shed or track in from the outside.  This is especially true for things like couches, chairs, bedspreads, or anything else made from cloth fabric.  While it's tempting to immediately plop down on your sofa after the workday is over, you're better off taking the extra minute or two to hang up your formal wear before you do.  In addition to this easy step, just as you would pay closer attention to vacuuming your floors, you might also want to take a vacuum extender and go over the couch cushions from time to time.  Doing so will keep your suits and dress shirts from coming into contact with anything that your pet sheds or tracks in.

            The same general principle applies to your vehicle, as well.  If the interior of your vehicle has cloth seats, you may want to hang up your jacket on the way to the office and put it on only after you've arrived at your destination.  Over time, getting in and out of your car will transport any pet hair from your home into your seats and potentially onto your office attire.  In between full-service car washes where they may vacuum the interior of your vehicle, consider purchasing a pet roller that can pick up any excess pet hair from your seats, as using one is a very quick and effective way in reducing the amount of debris that ends up on your work clothes.  For practical purposes, it's best to keep one in your car and another one inside your home, as you can use them on just about anything, including your interior furnishings when you want to stay on top of routine maintenance between more thorough weekly cleaning sessions.

            One of the easiest ways to ensure that your suits remain free and clear of pet hair and other debris is to do the rest of your laundry more frequently than you would otherwise.  This includes bedding, towels, everyday informal wear, and linens.  As we've stressed before, pet hair can get into everything, and by maintaining a higher standard of cleanliness, you'll reduce the amount of stray floating debris that can be transferred to other materials very easily, even when you think you're being extra careful.

            Just as most people would agree that cleaning and vacuuming is not exactly a Saturday afternoon at an amusement park, neither is changing out your air conditioning/HVAC filters in your home.  But staying on top of this task will also reduce the amount of stray pet hair that's easily transferred from your furnishings to your wardrobe.  As different climates require different standards when it comes to changing your air conditioning filters, it's hard to pin down exactly how many times you should do this every year.  The general rule of thumb is at least once every three months, but if you live in a pet household, you should do this more frequently, perhaps one and a half times as often as you otherwise would.

            One last tip to keep in mind is for cat owners specifically.  Lots of people tend to have an out-of-sight-out-of-mind mentality for litter box placement, leading them to think that placing it in a closet is a great idea.  We would recommend against doing this and instead opt for an area of your home that's more open, such as a kitchen or laundry room so long as you have adequate space.  This will not only make cleaning easier but also prevent any sand from being anywhere near your formal wear.  Your cat will be happier too, as they won't feel so confined.

While caring for your wardrobe and your pets simultaneously is a challenge sometimes, it's certainly not impossible, and following these pointers will continue to keep you looking sharp and your pets happy and healthy.