How to make a wool coat last a decade

The Marlowe coat has been in the collection since 2017 and we have customers still wearing their first one. Almost none of them do anything complicated. They simply do four small things, and avoid one big mistake.

The four things

Brush it, do not wash it. Wool is self-cleaning to a remarkable degree. A soft brush down the grain after wearing lifts dust out of the nap and keeps the surface even. Ten seconds, once a week, in the season you wear it.

Hang it on a proper shoulder. Wire hangers distort the shoulder line over a winter. Wide wooden or moulded hangers cost very little and are the single best thing you can do for the shape of a coat.

Let it breathe for a day. Wool fibres recover their crimp when they are allowed to rest. Wearing the same coat five days straight is what makes elbows and seats go shiny.

Deal with the pills. A cashmere or wool-blend coat will pill under the arm in the first month. That is loose fibre working its way out, not a fault. A cashmere comb takes two minutes and stops the pill pulling more fibre with it.

The one big mistake

Dry cleaning too often. The solvent strips the natural lanolin that keeps wool supple, and after three or four cycles the cloth feels thinner and the colour flatter. Once a season, or after a genuine spill, is plenty — and always ask for a press rather than a full clean if that is all the coat needs.