Caring for Your Philippa Pinkney Garments
For decades, tweed has been a much-loved material around the world, being made into skirts, trousers, coats, and more. It is often a statement piece in one’s wardrobe, and rightly so because of its high quality and sometimes bold patterns.
One of the reasons why tweed is such a great material if you’re wanting to live a more sustainable life, is that it’s highly durable and can look after itself as long as you treat it with care. Now, treating it with care doesn’t mean keeping your garment reserved for Sunday’s best, the garments here at Philippa Pinkney are meant to be enjoyed with everyday life! Taking care of your item involves storing your garment correctly, cleaning it only when necessary, and understanding how to freshen your clothes up to keep them looking great. As long as you follow these steps, you’ll keep your tweed items in tip-top condition and extend their life.
Cleaning Your Tweed
We do not recommend you washing tweed items yourself and suggest that you have them dry cleaned for best results. All of our garments are made from pure wool, which means regular washing, or incorrect cleaning could damage the overall look and feel of your clothes. However, if there is a time where dry cleaning is not available, or you do just prefer to homecare for your tweed, here’s how to do it:
1. Using clean, cool water at a maximum of 30ºc, handwash your item with care. We recommend getting your hands on a good quality cashmere shampoo to prevent any unnecessary damage to the fibres. If you are unable to find some, baby shampoo is gentle enough on the fibres for use.
2. Once you have applied the shampoo, you want to gently remove the suds. Do this by carefully squeezing the garment, don’t do this too hard, and be careful as not to stretch or wring the item.
3. Rise through in fresh water until the water runs clear. Refrain from lifting the fabric at this stage, the weight of the water could lead to a distorted shape in the garment.
4. Just like step 2, gently squeeze out the excess water.
5. Get a towel and lay it flat, away from any direct heat sources or sunlight. Lay the garment flat on the towel and reshape it to how it should be. Once you have done this, leave it to dry naturally.
Freshening It Up
In the times where you don’t think your garment is in need of a deep clean, using the good old-fashioned method of steam can bring it back to life. If you find that your garment has become crumpled with wear or from storage, this method also helps.
1. Find a sturdy hanger or lay it flat on a towel if it is hard to hang.
2. Using a steamer, or the steam setting of an iron, lightly steam over the whole garment, focusing on the areas where more attention is needed.
3. Do not touch the item whilst it is still warm, as this could damage the shape, instead, leave the item to cool for 20 minutes and gently check the shape is correct.
It is important to ensure that you don’t steam too close to the garment, or too much in one spot as this could damage the fibres and lead to bald patches or pucker the fabric and ruin the shape. Whilst steaming doesn’t have the same effect as deep cleaning, it can still decrease odour and kill bacteria, keeping it fresher for longer!
Change Your Storage
Always make sure that your clothes are clean before you put them away, if you leave them dirty or with a stain, it could oxidise and become engrained into the fabric, making it even harder to clean next time.
With items like our Canterbury Skirt, fold them up neatly and keep them stored in a drawer for optimum care. However, jackets can be hung on quality hangers, and covered in your closet.
We recommend investing in moth balls or lavender chips to protect against moths, and ensure your tweed lasts its full life.
Here at Philippa Pinkney, we can promise high quality with each and everyone of our items, and we know that they are a strong investment piece to your wardrobe, which is why we want to ensure you know how to care for your items correctly. Feel free to share any tips that you have picked up for caring for tweed below, it would be great to gather new ideas we haven’t tried!