# But do you still wear shiny wool?



## The Louche (Jan 30, 2008)

We have had conversations about wool shine a few times before. I'm slowly learning how to deal with/prevent this (to a degree). One thing that I haven't been able to figure out is whether you guys continue to wear stuff that has gotten shiny? It irks me to wear shiny stuff, but I have to do it sometimes or else I'll end up wearing my god stuff so often that it gets shiny too!


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## MinnMD (May 6, 2008)

*No*

I have worn shiny wool in the past, but not anymore. It's a sign of wool past its prime from wear, ironing, etc.

This forum has good information about how to care for wool garments. Brush after each wear. Hang in open before storage in closet. Minimize trips to dry cleaners.

MinnMD


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## The Louche (Jan 30, 2008)

^

Minn, I do all of this. Almost NEVER dryclean my wool. Brush regularly. Still, my wool shines.

Arrrrrrggggggghhhhhh,

TL


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

The Louche said:


> ^
> 
> Minn, I do all of this. Almost NEVER dryclean my wool. Brush regularly. Still, my wool shines.
> 
> ...


Avoid vinyl, smooth leather and polished wood?

Can remember during my school boy days working up a mirror-like shine on my pants from the seats of the old wooden school desks.


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## The Louche (Jan 30, 2008)

Flanderian,

I do - my car has faux-suede inserts on the seats (rest of seat is cloth) and I sit on an upholstered chair at work. I avoid sliding around at all costs as well.


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## SCsailor (Jul 2, 2008)

I continue to wear shiny wool for awhile. I guess it's a judgment call. The elbows on my blazer and suit jackets tend to get shiny first. I'll continue to wear it until it becomes noticeable from a distance of more than 2 feet or so. If it's an obvious high end piece, like an Oxxford, I'll continue to wear it longer than I would a lesser quality piece.


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## Cowtown (Aug 10, 2006)

I have gotten rid of all shiny wool items from my closet. Through the use of steamer, I am hoping to cut down on the use of dry cleaners.


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

The Louche said:


> Flanderian,
> 
> I do - my car has faux-suede inserts on the seats (rest of seat is cloth) and I sit on an upholstered chair at work. I avoid sliding around at all costs as well.


Gee, yours is a tough case! Let's see, softer fabrics shine less, but wear more. A good velcro-type clothes brush can raise the nap on stainless steel. Perhaps a bit of work with that?

Started using a new dry cleaner. They advertise using something like "organic cleaning products." Noticed that the clothing comes back less flattened and stiff, as well as lacking all solvent odor. Think this might also bode well for reducing shine.


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## Bog (May 13, 2007)

Shaggy dog all the way.


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## Zot! (Feb 18, 2008)

Cowtown said:


> I have gotten rid of all shiny wool items from my closet. Through the use of steamer, I am hoping to cut down on the use of dry cleaners.


I cannot recommend these things enough. _Essential_ if you want to preserve your most prized wool garments yet still look crisp each time. A cigar aficionado would never even consider perusing his hobby without owning a humidor. Anybody who owns good wool clothes should feel the same way about having one of these.


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## The Louche (Jan 30, 2008)

Zot! said:


> I cannot recommend these things enough. _Essential_ if you want to preserve your most prized wool garments yet still look crisp each time. A cigar aficionado would never even consider perusing his hobby without owning a humidor. Anybody who owns good wool clothes should feel the same way about having one of these.


yes, Zot!, but dry cleaning isn't my issue. its just plain old shine cause from wear. or will steam reduce shine?


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## Zot! (Feb 18, 2008)

The Louche said:


> yes, Zot!, but dry cleaning isn't my issue. its just plain old shine cause from wear. or will steam reduce shine?


I think we went very quickly to that because dry cleaning is most folks' shine accelerant. As I understand it, shine can't be reversed, only prevented. Wool is, after all, hair. Hair is dead, so any change in its basic structure would probably be permanent. I tend to gravitate towards wool rather than cotton or linen in work clothes, so I have a lot of items to "rotate." That, combined with minimal dry cleaning probably cuts down on shine more than anything else.


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## Cheviot (Feb 16, 2006)

Is it the pressing or the chemical cleaning that causes wool to shine?


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

My favorite navy blazer has developed a very slight shine in the area of the elbows and lower part of the arms. I've spent far too many hours with my arms propped on my desk I guess. Anyway, it's my absolute trimmest fitting blazer in midnight blue so before it gets any worse I have relegated it to purely casual wear with jeans at night. This way I can still wear it and what little shine there is goes unnoticed given the time and circumstances in which I'm wearing it.

Cruiser


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## The Louche (Jan 30, 2008)

*Frustrated*

Forgive me if I am being trite, but let me clarify: I don't dry clean my stuff (unless there is a rare stain), I don't frequent leather or similaraly smooth seating, I don't wear my coat at my desk, I have a large enough rotation for office wear (7 suits) - in short I do none of the shine-inducing things suggested here. I buy good wool (mostly H&S). Still this is an issue on garments less than 2 years old. What the hell is going on!!!??? And back to my original point: DO YOU STILL WEAR SHINY WOOL??


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## Dashiell.Valentine (Dec 18, 2008)

I have the opposite problem. No matter how hard I wear my suits, they simply will not get shiny. :icon_smile_big: Most of them were vintage when I got them and I wear them a lot, too, but there is no shine that I can see.

One trait of my suits is that many of them are rough textured or heavy weight. A number are flannel. If you have lots of super 120s or super 150s, etc, I would guess that could be a factor.

For the original question. I suppose that I would continue to wear a shiny suit. But probably not on a special occasion.


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## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

Haven't had the shine problem myself (not a lot of navy worsted trousers) and I rotate my blazers pretty often. As for counteracting the shine, I've heard a couple of recommendations, but, as I said, haven't tried these myself.

1. 1 part vinegar/3 parts water - spray in a fine mist on shiny areas. This will cover the shine for a while, but will need to be reapplied occasionally. The obvious problem with this method is having to air out the pants after spraying otherwise you're walking around smelling a bit like vinegar. Probably best to spray after a day's wear and then hang in the bathroom for a day or two before returning said trousers to the closet.

2. Heavily steam shiny areas and then vigorously brush with a clothing brush to try and lift some of the wool fibers. Again, a temporary fix, but will probably give you a bit more life out of your shiny wool.

3. Obviously, the easiest thing is to always purchase two pairs of trousers with each suit to ensure the suit lasts for a considerable amout of time and try to avoid resting your suit jacket elbows on hard surfaces (wooden/metal desks, etc.)


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## Trip English (Dec 22, 2008)

I've only had the issue on the oldest two blazers in my closet and yes I absolutely continue to wear them. I like the look of well made things aging; clothes or otherwise. There are some pictures of JFK where his suits clearly have a shine to them in some spots. I think it says a lot about the person's character (in a good way) and shows an intimate relationship with the clothes.


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## harvey_birdman (Mar 10, 2008)

DepEnds on the shine and the type of clothes and the occasion. The more formal the clothes the less I will tolerate shine. But on purely casual clothes I have no problem with shine.


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## Joe Beamish (Mar 21, 2008)

I have a cord sack jacket that needs a cleaning. Is dry cleaning the way to go? Should I have it pressed? I'm worried they won't get the 3/2 roll right.


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## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

Joe Beamish said:


> I have a cord sack jacket that needs a cleaning. Is dry cleaning the way to go? Should I have it pressed? I'm worried they won't get the 3/2 roll right.


Sounds a bit crazy, but when I'm trying a new cleaner I go and purchase a beat-up 3/2 sack at a thrift store and have them clean it as a test case. If they clean it well and don't ruin the roll, then I'll give them my better items. Then the thrift store gets their beat up, but clean, 3/2 sack back.

Personally, I wouldn't let a cleaner press a corduroy jacket - my presumption is that they'd press it with way too much pressure and crush the wales. Let them clean it and then you press it yourself.


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## Tom Buchanan (Nov 7, 2005)

If it is a nice suit or peice of clothing, I say wear it.

There is nothing wrong with wearing a well loved piece of clothing.

If you think shiny is bad, look at this description of William F. Buckley Jr.'s tuxedo. Not only was it shiny, but he wore it to the point that it was discolored to brown.

I say wear the shiny wool with confidence.

https://manolomen.com/2008/02/27/a-droit-attire/


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## The Louche (Jan 30, 2008)

That's pretty cool!

I have moved on from the high super numbers, although I understand that high quality wool is high quality wool and super numbers shouldn't have too much affect on shine unless they are taken to extremes.

I also noticed a very slight spot of shine on a blazer of mine last night that was in an area that wouldn't receive any wear at all. Maybe this is just the nature of some wool.


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## Joe Beamish (Mar 21, 2008)

Thanks, Cardinals5. I dropped off the jacket, pointing out the 3/2 roll, and in response they kind of rolled their eyes at me as if to say, "yes, we get it". 

I'll see how it goes.


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## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

Joe Beamish said:


> Thanks, Cardinals5. I dropped off the jacket, pointing out the 3/2 roll, and in response they kind of rolled their eyes at me as if to say, "yes, we get it".
> 
> I'll see how it goes.


Sounds promising, if the cleaners truly "get it" then I think you've found yourself a new cleaner.


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## The Louche (Jan 30, 2008)

Cardinals5 said:


> Sounds promising, if the cleaners truly "get it" then I think you've found yourself a new cleaner.


It must be a really great cleaner to "get it." I've found that cleaners in the DC area are almost always totally ignorant. Only a few of the most classy places in town actually know what they are doing. And this is supposedly one of the most cultured mixing bowls in the world...


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## cmacey (May 3, 2009)

The Louche said:


> We have had conversations about wool shine a few times before. I'm slowly learning how to deal with/prevent this (to a degree). One thing that I haven't been able to figure out is whether you guys continue to wear stuff that has gotten shiny? It irks me to wear shiny stuff, but I have to do it sometimes or else I'll end up wearing my god stuff so often that it gets shiny too!


Only in or around the house. Each year I take stock of my woolen items and replace what needs to be and or keep for home use what is still serviceable but unworthy of public display.


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## VinceRich (Apr 15, 2010)

The Louche said:


> Flanderian,
> 
> I do - my car has faux-suede inserts on the seats (rest of seat is cloth) and I sit on an upholstered chair at work. I avoid sliding around at all costs as well.


You make it sound like such a chore, haha. How many wears do you generally get from your suits before they start to shine unacceptably?


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## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

Instead of thinking of it as shine, think of it as patination -- where's the dam'd emoticon ? ; )


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