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Cashmere Wool Cotton Shirts Silk Ties Silver Leather

Cashmere

The best way to make sure cashmere garments last is to handle them carefully. Cashmere should be cared for like any other fine woollen. To keep them looking new, follow these steps:

Washing

• Hand wash with cool water (up to 35ºC / 95ºF), using only pure soap.
• Rinse thoroughly in cool water.
• Squeeze out excess water by hand or gentle spin. Do not wring.
• Lay out flat to dry in shape.
• Do not dry in direct heat or strong sunlight.
• Press using cool iron (wool setting) and damp cloth.

General Care

• Fold knitwear with tissue and store flat in a drawer. To avoid a line running down the middle, fold each side of the body inward by a third, smooth the arms down, and fold in half.
• Never hang cashmere knitwear, it will cause shoulder dimples, and the pull of gravity will distort the overall shape.
• Give knitwear garments a rest between wearings for at least 24 hours; wrinkles should vanish.
• Treat stains as quickly as possible; rinse immediately with cold water; hot water may set the stain. If garments get wet, allow to dry away from direct heat, and then brush with the nap.
• Where relevant, at season's end, clean and store garments in an un-crowded garment bag in a cool, dry place; fold knitwear and store in a chest or drawer; moth crystals or spray will help protect garments from moths.

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Wool

A few simple measures after every wear will keep your wool garment in great shape:

Washing

• With wool it is vital that you always read carefully the washing instructions that come with the garment. These are usually found on a label inside the garment or on a ticket attached to the outside. They will vary depending on the type of wool product purchased. Some require hand washing or dry cleaning only; others will tolerate machine washing and tumble drying.

General Care

• Always empty any pockets after use otherwise they could end up bulging or sagging.
• Gently brush any surface soil that might become a permanent stain later on. Dust and dirt can dull the appearance of fine wool fabrics.
• Treat stains immediately – Rinse small stains with cold water, seltzer and blot dry with a clean cloth, never with paper towels. For more serious stains a specialist proprietary cleaner should be used, taking care to follow the instructions.
• Dry away from heat – If a woollen garment gets wet, dry it immediately away from direct heat and never in front of a fire, on a radiator or in strong sunlight. Do not tumble dry the garment unless the label says you can.
• Woollens benefit immensely from regular airing. After wearing, knitwear can be laid out on a bed for an hour or so to get rid of any odours, such as cigarette smoke.
• For long-term storage, dry clean first to keep moths at bay. This removes the body oils they're attracted to. All types of wool can be folded and stored with mothballs. Woven garments can also be hung in special garment bags for storage. Never cram the garments into a confined space.
• For short term storage always hang woven garments on good hangers (preferably padded) in a cool, fresh place with enough space to allow creases to drop out. Never hang knitwear, always fold it and store in a draw or cupboard that affords reasonable breathing space.
• Rest Garments between wearings – Try to wait at least 24 hours before the next wearing and try to avoid wearing the same garment for two consecutive days. This gives the natural resilience and spring in the wool fibre time to recover.

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Cotton Shirts

Washing

• Before washing undo all buttons, this will lessen the strain on the stitches holding the buttons on to the shirt.
• Also remember to remove the collar stiffeners before washing. This will avoid uneven wear on the points of the collar. It also means you won’t have to search in the bottom of the drum, or amongst the rest of the wash, should they fall out. Certainly remove all collar stays before sending shirts to the dry-cleaners; otherwise you might never see them again!
• Turn all shirts inside-out. This both protects the Mother of Pearl buttons from chipping on the steel drum and allows the cleaning agents direct access to underarms stains.
• Wash in water at a temperature of 40ºC to 60ºC (104ºF to 140ºF) taking care to read the garment washing instructions for directions to the contrary.
• Line dry or dry in an airing cupboard, this will lengthen the lifespan of the shirt. Do not tumble dry as the steel drum tends to wear out the points of the collar and cuffs.

Ironing

• A pure cotton shirt is best ironed while still slightly damp from the wash. This is much easier than using a fine spray to dampen it once it has already dried. However, a fine spray might still be required if the shirt has dried-out unevenly.
• In general lay the part of the shirt about to be pressed on a sturdy flat ironing board, using a dry iron (no steam) press the fabric until dry and crease free. Remember to set the iron’s temperature dial to ‘cotton’. Please ensure that you do not iron over the garment label as this is not made from cotton and may be damaged when using the 'cotton' setting.
• The general order to ironing a shirt is: collar, cuffs, sleeves, yokes (shoulders), front panels and ending with the back panel. Then finally revisit any part of the shirt that may have creased while ironing.
• The collar should be damp on both sides. Firstly, iron the back of the collar and band until relatively flat and dry. You may need to pull gently at one end of the collar as you are pressing. Next, turn the collar over and repeat the procedure, ironing from the collar point to the centre, this will minimise unsightly creasing on the collar edge. Try not to use too much pressure when ironing the collar tips; these are the part most susceptible to wear when ironing.
• Never iron a collar with the collar stays inserted. This will cause serious wear to the cloth on the points of the collar.
• Cuffs should always be ironed unbuttoned or unfolded and in a similar fashion to the collar (i.e. both sides). Ironing a double cuff in the folded position can lead to lines and splitting over time. Again, try not to exert too much pressure when ironing over the cuff points or edges.
• Iron from the top of the sleeve down to the cuff, creating a crease if desired.
• Finally iron the two front panels and then the back of the shirt. The shirt should be unbuttoned at all times when ironing.
• The perennial question is whether one needs to iron both sides of a shirt. The answer is best discovered by personal experimentation. Although a good heat reflective ironing board cover should only require you to iron both sides of the collars and cuffs, which by their nature are the thickest parts of the garment.
• Finally once ironed slip the shirt onto a hanger, fasten the top button, and leave it to air. This will allow the final vestige of moisture to evaporate and minimise creasing.

Silk Ties

Cleaning

• Silk ties should never be washed in, or exposed to, water.
• Silk ties should be dry cleaned.
• We recommend that you use a specialist dry cleaner, particularly when the tie has a stain that needs to be removed.

Emergency Cleaning

We have all done it. A tie ruined by the errant splash of virgin olive oil whilst dining.

In an emergency:

• Act quickly
• In a restaurant – For grease based stains try covering the mark with fine salt allowing it to absorb the grease for a few minutes before gently brushing the salt away. Ask the waiter if he has anything. You might be pleasantly surprised to find that the restaurant carries a small stock of stain removers, particularly in hotel restaurants.
• At home – Always ensure that you have a proprietary brand of silk cleaner to hand and follow the instructions. A small financial outlay here can often save a tie when the milk from a rushed breakfast deviates from its intended course.
• To remove a stain fully you might have to send the tie to a professional cleaner.

General Care

• When removing your tie, never pull the tie at one end through the knot, this causes the lining and stitching to buckle, always untie the knot as carefully as you would when putting it on.
• Ties are best stored in a loose roll, created by rolling the tie around your hand starting with the narrow end. Ties should be stored loosely to avoid wrinkling.
• Although most people do, it is not advised to hang ties when storing them. Gravity takes over and creases can often result (particularly when ties are hung over a wardrobe tie rail - en masse).
• For quality silk ties a small outlay on a specialized fabric protection spray can pay dividends.
• Try to rest ties between wearings. Silk like all natural fabrics benefits from a rest.

Silver

Cleaning

• Clean your silver jewellery / accessories with a mild soap and water solution, and dry with a soft cloth. Pure soap works best. For more stubborn dirt, you can use a soft toothbrush.
• Dry silver items thoroughly after any rinsing. Water contains chlorine, which will discolour your silver.
• After cleaning and drying, a gentle rub with a proprietary silver polishing cloth will extend the time between cleanings.
• Silver becomes tarnished because it reacts with chemicals in the air, particularly sulphur. To remove tarnish, line a pot with aluminium cooking foil. Add baking soda and hot (not boiling) water to the pot. Put your silver jewellery in the solution being sure the silver is in contact with the aluminium. Leave the jewellery in the solution until the tarnish is gone. This process shouldn’t take very long.
• Store your silver in a cool, dry place if possible. If you wrap each item in a soft piece of felt or cloth, it will prevent scratches and help reduce tarnishing. There are tarnish-preventive bags that can be effective, especially if you live in a moist, corrosive atmosphere. Turnbull & Asser cufflinks are supplied in their own presentation boxes. These form ideal storage units.
• For larger silver objects buy products meant for cleaning silver. Do not use a general cleaner; you won’t know whether some of the contents will tarnish the silver.
• Again on larger objects tape over the hallmarks before cleaning. Worn hallmarks can detract from future value.
• Use only soft cloths (lint free) or fine sponges to clean items.
• Clean in a circular direction.

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Leather

The most common stains to remove from leather goods are finger handling marks, but simple regular treatment will prevent them from building up into unsightly stained areas.

The kind of cleaning treatment you should use depends as always on the type of leather the object is made from.

Grain leather

• Regularly dust or brush with a soft brush, or wipe clean with a slightly damp cloth.
• Treatment with proprietary cleaners or polishers should be carried out adhering strictly to the manufacturers' instructions. Never use excessive quantities - the less the better.
• Once a year the leather should be wiped with a cloth slightly dampened with white spirit to cleanse the leather surface thoroughly from old and discoloured detritus. It should then be given a very light treatment with a proprietary polish, and finally rubbed up with a soft clean cloth.
  

Suede leather

• Brush regularly with a soft suede brush or rub gently with a plastic foam block.
• Minor stains and marks may be removed with a hard rubber eraser, or by touching up the surface with a fine emery paper.
• The leather should retain its colour and appearance if it is regularly treated with a fluorocarbon aerosol spray product. These make the leather water repellent, and offer protection from grease and dust.
  
  

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