How to Care for a Wool Coat So It Lasts 10 Winters or More
How to Care for a Wool Coat So It Lasts 10 Winters or More
A wool coat at 460 to 480 grams per square meter is built to be worn for 10 winters, and most of what shortens that life happens at home: the wire hanger, the radiator, the cleaner every three weeks, the summer in a plastic bag. Every Luna coat is dry clean only, once a season or when it needs it. Everything else we make is machine washable on a gentle cycle, which is the opposite rule, and this guide explains both.
Below is the routine our atelier gives clients who buy a coat they intend to keep, step by step, then faux-fur collars, rain and snow, pilling on textured cloth, and what not to do. Every coat is made in small runs in Pozarevac, Serbia, ships from California, and can be returned within 30 days.
Shop the pieces in this story: Winter Coats and Light Coats. Complete size runs are listed first.
Why a coat is dry clean only and a dress is not
A tailored coat is a built object. The Nicole wrap coat has horsehair canvas reinforcing the lapel and a full Bemberg lining; the Selina cape holds its drape on a single hand-finished back seam. Water and agitation would shrink and felt the wool and collapse that structure. Solvent cleans without either, but every visit wears the fiber a little, so the right frequency is once a season, and the right daily care is a brush and a hanger. A dress, a blazer, a blouse, pants, a skirt, or a knit is worn against the body and needs washing often, so Luna cuts them in cloths that go through a gentle cycle at home, are air dried, and are steamed or ironed on low. Our care guide for refined technical satin covers the washable side.
| How often | What |
|---|---|
| After every wear | Brush, air overnight, hang on a wide shaped hanger |
| Same day | Blot a mark with cold water; dry rain or snow at room temperature, then brush |
| Between wears | Steam on low; rest the coat a day |
| Once a season | Dry clean, collar detached |
| Every summer | Store clean, in a cotton bag, with cedar |
| About year four | Re-line |
The care routine, step by step
Brush the coat after wearing
Hang the coat and go over it with a clothes brush, working downward with the nap. Brushing lifts the dust, lint, and street grit that would otherwise be ground into the fiber the next time you sit, and it is the one habit that keeps a black or gray wool from looking tired. A stiff-bristle brush suits a dense wool such as the Selina cape; a soft brush suits a textured or jacquard face.
Air it overnight and rest it a day
Leave the coat on its hanger in open air overnight, away from the closet, so the day’s moisture leaves the wool and the smell of a restaurant goes with it. Wool recovers its loft when it rests; a coat worn every day without a break sags at the elbows within a season. Two coats in rotation last far longer than one.
Hang it on a wide, shaped hanger
A wire hanger prints two dents into the shoulders of a wool coat within a week. Use a wide wooden or padded hanger whose ends reach the shoulder seam, so the horsehair canvas in the lapel and the shape cut into the shoulder are supported, not folded. Belt the coat loosely on the hanger so the front hangs straight.
Steam on low, and never press the face
To take out travel creases, steam the coat on a low setting from a hand’s width away, or hang it in the bathroom while the shower runs. Do not press an iron onto the face of a wool, a jacquard, or a satin-finish cloth, and never touch faux fur with steam or an iron. If a crease needs an iron, use a pressing cloth on the reverse at the lowest wool setting.
Spot-treat marks within 24 hours
Blot a fresh mark with a clean cloth dampened with cold water; do not rub, and do not use detergent on wool. Ivory and beige show wear faster than dark colors regardless of fiber, so the Linea and the Kim reward the same-day habit. A mark that does not lift with water goes to the cleaner with a note of what it is.
Dry clean once a season, or when it needs it
Every Luna coat is dry clean only. Clean it once at the end of the season, or sooner only if it is visibly soiled, because the solvent wears the fiber more than a winter of wearing does. Choose a cleaner who handles eveningwear for a jacquard with metallic threads or a coat with faux fur, and detach a removable collar first.
Handle rain and snow the same day
Wool sheds light rain and a dusting of snow. Shake the coat out, brush snow off before it melts, and hang it to dry at room temperature on its shaped hanger, never on a radiator, near a heater, or in a dryer, which shrink and felt wool. Once dry, brush again. Salt marks from a city sidewalk lift with a cloth dampened with cold water.
Store it clean, in cedar, over summer
Clean the coat before it goes away, because moths are drawn to the soils on a worn coat more than to the wool itself. Detach the faux-fur collar and store it flat in tissue. Hang the coat in a breathable cotton garment bag, never the plastic one from the cleaner, with cedar blocks or a cedar bag in the closet, and brush it when it comes out in October.
Faux-fur collars and cuffs
Luna does not use animal fur. The faux fur on our coats is cleaned like a fine textile, not like a wool. Where the collar detaches, take it off before the coat is cleaned and before it is stored. The Lucy wool coat in black has a large detachable faux-fur collar that ties with pompoms at the front, the Lucy in red the same in red, and the Selina red coat a removable faux-fur shawl collar. Store a detached collar flat in tissue, not hanging, so the pile keeps its direction.
Where the fur is fixed, as with the shawl collar and cuffs on the Paula textured coat, wipe it with a cloth dampened with cold water and a little mild soap, let it air dry away from heat, and brush it gently once dry. Never steam it, never iron it, never machine wash it, and never spray perfume over it; perfume goes on before the coat does. At the cleaner, say the coat has faux fur.
Pilling on textured cloth
Pilling is friction, not a fault. It appears where a bag strap rubs a shoulder, under the arm, and at the cuff. Smooth, dense long-fiber wool such as the Nicole and the Lucy pills least. Textured cloths, the astrakhan-like surface of the Paula, the wavy texture of the Isidora in mocha, the textured ivory of the Linea, will show a little surface fuzz at friction points after a season, and that is normal. Remove pills with a sweater comb drawn lightly in one direction. Do not use a blade shaver on a textured, jacquard, or metallic-thread face, because it cuts the woven texture along with the pill.
What not to do
- Do not hang a wool coat on a wire or thin plastic hanger, or on a hook by the collar.
- Do not dry it on a radiator, near a heater, with a hair dryer, or in a dryer.
- Do not store it in the plastic bag from the cleaner; it traps moisture and the solvent smell.
- Do not press an iron onto the face of wool, jacquard, or a satin-finish cloth, and never onto faux fur.
- Do not dry clean after every few wears; brush and air instead.
- Do not store it dirty, and do not store it without cedar.
When the lining wears: re-lining at year four
A Bemberg lining takes the friction of a blazer sleeve every day, and on a coat worn 100 days a winter it will show wear before the wool does. The Nicole is built to be re-lined at about year four, by any good tailor, for roughly 15 percent of the coat’s price, which extends its life by another five years or so. That is the practical difference between a coat at 480 grams and one at 300: the cloth outlives the lining, so the lining is worth replacing.
Check the lining each fall at the underarm and the hem, and have a loose button resewn before it is lost. The guide to wool coat warmth by temperature explains the cloth weights this care protects, and how to read a fabric label the fiber facts behind them.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I dry clean a wool coat?
Once at the end of the season, or sooner only if it is visibly soiled. Every Luna coat is dry clean only, and every visit to the cleaner wears the fiber a little, so a coat that is brushed after wearing and aired overnight needs the cleaner once a year. Ask for a cleaner who handles eveningwear if the coat has faux fur or metallic jacquard threads.
Can I machine wash a wool coat?
No. A tailored wool coat has horsehair canvas in the lapel, a Bemberg lining, and shape cut into the shoulder, and water with agitation shrinks and felts the wool and collapses the structure. Every other Luna piece, dresses, blazers, blouses, pants, skirts, and knitwear, is machine washable on a gentle cycle, air dried, and steamed on low.
How do I clean a faux-fur collar?
Detach it if it detaches, as on the Lucy coats and the Selina red coat, and store it flat in tissue. Wipe the fur with a cloth dampened with cold water and a little mild soap, let it air dry away from heat, and brush it gently once dry. Never steam, iron, or machine wash faux fur. Fixed collars and cuffs, as on the Paula, are cleaned the same way on the coat.
What do I do if my wool coat gets wet in the rain?
Shake it out, hang it on its shaped hanger at room temperature, let it dry on its own, then brush it. Never put a wool coat on a radiator, near a heater, or in a dryer, which shrink and felt wool. Salt marks lift with a cloth dampened with cold water. The Clara navy trench has 13 percent nylon in the wool for water resistance through moderate rain.
Why are Luna dresses machine washable when the coats are not?
Because they are built differently. A coat is canvassed, lined, and shaped at the shoulder, and it is worn over clothes rather than against the skin, so it needs cleaning rarely and gently. A dress or a blazer touches the body and needs washing often, so we cut them in cloths that go through a gentle cycle at home, air dry, and steam on low, with no solvent bath and no trip to the cleaner.
What to do next
Buy a wide shaped hanger and a soft clothes brush this week, and a cedar bag before spring. Book the cleaner once, in March, not once a month. If you are choosing the coat this routine will protect, start in the winter coats collection, where the cloth weight and fiber content are on every product page, and read the care line before the price. A coat cared for this way will still be the coat you reach for in 10 winters.
