Trench Coat Care: Cleaning Before Fall Rain

Trench coat care is one of the few places where cleaning a garment makes it more water resistant rather than less. A cotton gabardine trench sheds rain because of a tight weave and a water repellent finish at the surface, and both are defeated by the same thing: embedded dirt. Soil and body oils in the fibers wick water inward, which is why a coat that shrugged off a downpour in March soaks through by October.

When Should You Clean a Trench Coat?

Clean a trench coat at the end of the season you wore it, and again in September if it sat through a humid Hamptons summer in a closet, before the first stretch of nor'easter weather. The collar, cuffs, and inside of the front placket are where oils build up invisibly, and those are the areas that fail first in rain. A coat worn two or three times a week through spring needs cleaning even if it looks clean, because the soil that matters is not the kind you can see. Dry cleaning at Sweetwater's Cleaners starts at $57.50 for a coat, each one inspected, spot treated, and hand pressed individually.

Does Dry Cleaning Remove a Coat's Water Repellency?

Dry cleaning does gradually reduce the original water repellent finish, which is why that finish is best understood as a consumable rather than a permanent property of the coat. Solvent lifts oils and dirt out of the weave and restores the fabric's own performance, but it wears down the treatment applied at the mill. A soiled coat with an intact finish performs worse in rain than a clean coat with a worn one, so clean it when it needs it and have the finish evaluated at the same time.

What Should You Do After Wearing a Trench Coat in the Rain?

Hang a wet trench on a broad wooden hanger in open air, away from radiators and direct sun, and let it dry slowly over several hours. Heat is the enemy of a rain-soaked coat: it sets water marks into gabardine and shrinks cotton unevenly along the seams.

• Empty the pockets before hanging. Wet fabric stretches under weight, and a loaded pocket distorts the front panel permanently.
• Unbuckle the belt and hang it separately so the coat dries flat rather than cinched into a crease at the waist.
• Shake standing water out of the storm flap and cuff straps, where it pools and leaves tide lines.
• Let mud dry completely, then brush it off with a soft brush. Wiping wet mud grinds it into the weave.
• Never machine dry or use a hair dryer. That heat sets water marks permanently.
• Address salt spray within a day. Coastal air leaves salt that crystallizes in the fibers and cuts them as the coat moves.

How Does Hand Pressing Matter on a Trench Coat?

A trench coat carries more constructed detail than almost any other piece of outerwear, and hand pressing keeps that detail from being flattened. The storm flap, collar stand, shoulder yoke, and buckled cuff straps all sit at different levels. Machine pressing shapes a garment between two heated forms that apply uniform pressure across the whole surface, crushing those layers into one plane. Hand pressing works the iron and steam around each element so the coat keeps its dimension. Every garment at Sweetwater's Cleaners is hand pressed, which is what French-style dry cleaning means.

When Does a Trench Coat Need Repair Instead of Cleaning?

Bring a trench coat to a tailor when the lining has torn at the armhole, a buckle has pulled loose, or the belt has frayed at the punched holes. Those are alterations, not cleaning problems, and fall is when they surface. Sweetwater's Cleaners handles alterations and tailoring at our Wainscott shop, with hems from $35 to $95 and lining repair quoted after inspection. Snags and small holes can often be rewoven, starting at $20 for a pinhole.

The fall calendar for trench coat care is short. Clean it in September while the weather is still dry, dry it slowly after every soaking, handle mud dry rather than wet, and send any loose buckle or torn lining in on the same visit. Sweetwater's Cleaners cleans and hand presses outerwear at our Wainscott shop on the Montauk Highway in the Hamptons, where all work is performed onsite.