How to care for your necktie

If you take good care of your necktie, it will last a long time. Especially if you bought a custom tie from Lindman New York.

This blog post provides you with a few tips as well as advice regarding how to best care for your tie.

Reverse Steps When Untying

To ensure that your Lindman New York necktie will last, make sure you untie it correctly.  Though it might seem natural to simply pull the tail (the shorter end) through the knot, doing so will quickly stretch out and misshape both the lining and the exterior fabric. The best way, the only way really, to untie a necktie is to first loosen the knot and then pull the blade (the longer end) through. In other words, the revers of how you tied it. 

Please, never leave your necktie knotted.  It will rob you of the sensual pleasure of tying it. And by keeping your tie knotted, you misshapen the blade and create hard to get out wrinkles. 

Hang Your Tie

The best way to store your necktie is to hang it.  By hanging the necktie, gravity will help to return it to its original shape. Though there are various fancy ways of hanging and organizing your tie collection, a wooden hanger works well.  

Remove Wrinkles

Once you have untied your tie, place it between you index and middle fingers and pull through.  This will help to smooth out any wrinkles in both the lining and shell fabric.  

Steam helps to relax the fabric and thus also the wrinkles.  You can use the steam from an iron or you can also hang the necktie in the bathroom while you take a shower.

Unless you know what you are doing, we don't recommend that you iron your necktie.  If you use too much heat or press too hard, you will purge life and luster from the fabric.  This is especially true of silk.  If you want to iron a necktie made of cotton or linen, you should always use a press cloth—a piece of fabric that you place between the necktie and the iron.  We recommend silk organza. 

Remove Stains

The easiest and fastest way to ruin a necktie is to stain it.  Thus you want to do what you can to avoid spilling and dripping.  When eating, tuck your tie into your shirt or use a tie bar. Still, accidents do happen.

If you get a stain, act as quickly as possible. Blot the stain with a cloth immediately–never try to rub it out. If the stain is water-soluble, use seltzer water, club soda, or tonic. If the stain is oil-based, apply talcum powder or cornstarch to lift the stain off the tie. Let the powder sit for a few hours and then brush it off and clean with a soft cloth. Depending on the stain, you may need to repeat this process one or two more times to completely lift the stain.

If you have tried all of these steps and the stain is still there, then you might consider taking it to a dry cleaner.  The problem with dry cleaners, however, is that they will press the life out of your necktie. Thus only go to a dry cleaner who promises not to press it.  

If you take good care of your necktie, it will last a long time. Especially if you bought a custom tie by Lindman New York.