How often should we wash/dry clean DS's business suit

[kugatukokonoka]

DS's sixth form's dress code is a business suit. We bought two jackets of all year types and one wool blend suit for colder days. Each jacket has two pairs of trousers. The washing instruction says no hand wash/machine wash so dry cleaning only then...

How often should we take them to the dry cleaner? My quick Google research tells me after every 4-5 wears, which means they need to be taken to the dry cleaner every week. That can be quite expensive... I also saw some hand-washing instructions on the internet. Some people seem to suggest it would be better than dry cleaning. I am tempted to save a penny but is it safe...?

I wish I had bought machine washable ones but I didn't think of the maintenance side when we shopped...

DH and I don't wear a suit for work so no clue. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I had a school uniform that could only be dry-cleaned, it went every half-term!

I’d hand wash once a week. I think dry cleaning is a scam!

Given how smelly my DS’s blazer has become this week, either Febreeze or handwashing.

Thank you Ifailed. How many sets did you have? DS could rotate two jackets and four trousers but that means he will wear 17-18 days per jacket and 8-9 days per trousers for the first half term. Would like to clean them more often but two jackets and four trousers to be dry cleaned every half term is already an extra cost so can't increase the frequency, to be honest... Sounds so expensive.

PinkRoses1245 , I wish I could but is it safe? I have never hand-washed a business suit before. I don't want to ruin them though...

AssetTag22 Is his suit hand-washable? DS's suit's washing instruction says no handwashing. Can it still be hand-washed??

I put ‘dry clean only’ items into the delicate wash at home and it’s fine. They come out very wet so shake and hang on hanger.

For any dry clean suits, I used to sponge off any marks & then use the steam setting on the iron, which I would hold just above the fabric, to steam clean the jackets. I would gently hand wash the trousers and dry flat. They were always okay.

Once the suit got a bit old, I might risk washing the jacket as well and they were always fine, but maybe not quite as good a shape as they had been?

Dettol spray and wear is good.

Honestly I ignored the dryclean instructions and washed on a gentle 30 setting every week. After 2 years they still looked pretty much good as new. (And I sold them on vinted, having been honest about how I'd washed them. They were from Next).

I know it's not the point, and I'm sorry, @kugatukokonoka for derailing-but seriously-how ridiculous is this!

Practically-dp used to wear a suit to work, and I think they got dry cleaned every 3 weeks or so?

DS had 2 suits . I dry cleaned them at half term ; in fact he mainly wore one jacket so the second didn't always need cleaning.Change and hang them up after school.

How much does dry cleaning cost? Would it work out cheaper to replace the suits with washable ones? Would also be more convenient, surely?

Thank you Ifailed. How many sets did you have?
My brothers and I had two skirts/trousers and one jacket! Of course everything else, blouses, shirts, socks, jumpers etc were washed at home.

Another instruction I found on the internet was that jackets and trousers should be washed at the same time so they stay the same shade as washing removes some colour...

I have ordered a garment steamer. Maybe that and Dettol and Febreeze will do? Then take them to dry cleaner every half term?