Garment Storage: The Mistakes That Ruin Clothes Over Time

Storage damage is among the most common reasons fine garments deteriorate. It is also among the most preventable. The damage tends to accumulate slowly and invisibly, so by the time it is noticeable, it is often significant.

The Most Common Storage Mistakes

Storing Garments in Plastic Dry Cleaning Bags

Dry cleaning bags are designed to protect garments during transport from the cleaner to your home. They are not designed for storage. Plastic traps moisture and prevents fabric from breathing, which creates conditions for yellowing, mildew, and a persistent musty odor. Remove the bag before you put anything away.

Hanging Knits

Gravity works against knitted garments when they are hung. Over time, the weight of the fabric pulls downward, stretching the shoulders and lengthening the body of the piece. Cashmere, merino, and other fine knits should always be folded and stored flat, either in a drawer or on a shelf.

Using Wire Hangers for Tailored Garments

Wire hangers are too narrow to support the shoulder of a tailored jacket or coat. The weight of the garment concentrates at two small points, creating pressure marks and distorting the shoulder over time. Use padded or contoured hangers for anything structured.

Storing Dirty Garments

This is the most consequential mistake. Body oils, perspiration, food residue, and environmental soiling that are left in fabric during storage will oxidize and set, often becoming permanent. Sugar-based stains from champagne and wine are invisible when dry but yellow badly over months. Moths are attracted to soiling in fabric, not to the fiber itself. A garment stored dirty is at risk in multiple ways.

Storing in Sealed Plastic Boxes or Bags

The same principle as plastic dry cleaning bags applies to sealed plastic containers. Fabric needs to breathe. Use breathable cotton storage bags, acid-free boxes, or simply fold garments into a clean drawer with cedar or lavender nearby for moth deterrence.

What Good Storage Looks Like

The foundation is clean, dry garments stored in breathable containers away from direct light and heat. Knits folded flat. Tailored pieces on proper hangers. Leather and suede in fabric bags with some conditioning applied before storage. Down stored uncompressed.

Seasonal changes are an opportunity to reassess: bring out the pieces you are putting into rotation, inspect them for any storage damage, and have anything that needs attention cleaned or repaired before you start wearing it again.

Cold Storage for Valuable Pieces

For very fine or valuable garments, including furs, couture pieces, and heirloom textiles, cold storage offers an additional level of protection. At Sweetwater's, cold storage starts at $115 per season and maintains garments at a controlled temperature and humidity level that prevents the deterioration that even good home storage cannot entirely prevent.