The short answer
To store a suit long-term, have it cleaned, then hang it on a wide, shaped wooden hanger inside a breathable cotton or canvas garment bag. Keep it somewhere cool, dark and dry, ideally below 60% relative humidity, with space around it. Add cedar or lavender as a mild deterrent, use pheromone traps to check for moths, and inspect it every month or two.
- Clean every suit before storage: moth larvae prefer soiled wool.
- Use wide, shaped wooden hangers sized to the jacket; hang trousers by the hems or over a felted bar.
- Choose breathable cotton or canvas bags; never store suits in the dry cleaner's plastic.
- Keep relative humidity between 40% and 60%; mold and moths thrive above about 65%.
- Cedar and lavender only deter; cleaning, closed bags and regular checks do the real work.
- In the tropics, store suits in an air-conditioned room or run a dehumidifier.
In this guide
- How do you prepare a suit for long-term storage?
- What kind of hanger is best for storing suits?
- Should you store suits in plastic garment bags?
- How do you protect stored suits from moths?
- What humidity is best for storing suits?
- How do you store suits in a hot, humid climate?
- Should you hang or fold suits for storage?
- How often should you check stored suits?
- Common storage mistakes
- Questions people ask
Most damage to stored suits happens quietly. Moth larvae feed on a jacket left in the dark for months, mildew spreads through wool kept in a damp room, and a thin hanger pushes dents into the shoulders. All of it is avoidable. Storing suits well is a short routine: clean the suit, hang it properly, bag it in something that breathes, keep the air dry and look at it now and then. Here is how to do each step, including what changes in a hot, humid climate.
Storing suits at a glance
- Before storage
- Clean, empty the pockets, make small repairs
- Jacket hanger
- Wide, shaped wooden hanger, usually 17 to 19 inches (43 to 48 cm)
- Trousers
- Clamp hanger by the hems, or folded over a felted bar
- Bag
- Breathable cotton or canvas, zipped, one suit per bag
- Air
- Cool, dark and dry, ideally 40% to 60% relative humidity
- Checks
- Every month or two: air, brush, look for damage
How do you prepare a suit for long-term storage?
Preparation matters more than any product you put in the wardrobe. A clean, dry, mended suit gives moths and mold very little to work with.
Getting a suit ready to store
- 1
Clean it
If you have worn the suit since its last clean, have it dry cleaned before it goes away. Food, sweat and body oils attract moth larvae, and dry cleaning kills any eggs and larvae already there. Clean the jacket and trousers together so they fade evenly.
Tip: If the suit is genuinely clean, a thorough brushing and airing is enough. See how often to dry clean a suit.
- 2
Take off the plastic
Remove the dry cleaner's plastic cover as soon as you get home and let the suit hang in open air for a day. This lets any remaining moisture and solvent smell escape before the suit is bagged.
- 3
Empty the pockets
Take out everything, including pocket squares, lapel pins and the belt from the trousers. Anything left in a pocket stretches it and presses its outline into the fabric over months.
- 4
Make small repairs
Re-sew loose buttons and get open seams fixed now. Small faults get worse in storage and are easy to forget by the next season.
- 5
Brush it
Give the whole suit a final brushing with a natural-bristle brush, working along the seams, under the collar and inside the trouser turn-ups. Brushing removes dust and destroys moth eggs.
What kind of hanger is best for storing suits?
For jackets, use a wide wooden hanger with shaped, rounded shoulder ends, sized to the jacket. The ends should fill the shoulders and stop just inside the top of the sleeve, so the jacket's weight rests on its shoulder structure. Most men's suit hangers are about 17 to 19 inches (43 to 48 cm) wide. In long storage, a poor hanger does slow, lasting damage: wire and thin plastic hangers dent the shoulders and let the chest sag out of shape.
- Jacket: wide, shaped wooden hanger; fasten one button so the fronts hang straight.
- Trousers: hang upside down by the hems from a clamp hanger, or fold along the crease over a felted or non-slip bar.
- Waistcoat: on the jacket hanger, under the jacket, or on its own shaped hanger.
- Avoid: wire hangers, thin plastic hangers and hanging loops, which pull the collar out of shape over time.
Should you store suits in plastic garment bags?
No. The thin plastic covers from the dry cleaner are made for the trip home, not for storage. Plastic traps moisture against the fabric, which can lead to mildew and musty smells, and the open bottom does not keep moths out. Use a breathable bag instead: cotton, canvas or linen, fully zipped, with room for the jacket's shoulders. Non-woven fabric bags are a cheaper option that still lets air through.
Cotton or canvas bag
Best choice
- Breathes, so moisture escapes
- Blocks dust and light
- Fully zipped bags keep moths out
- Lasts for years and can be washed
Non-woven fabric bag
Budget choice
- Breathes reasonably well
- Light and cheap
- Tears more easily
- Fine for occasional storage
Dry cleaner's plastic
Remove at home
- Traps moisture against wool
- Can cause mildew and odors
- Open bottom lets moths in
- Use only to carry the suit home
Garment bag or sealed box?
For suits, hanging in a breathable bag is the default, because it keeps the jacket's shape and avoids fold lines. Sealed, airtight containers give the strongest protection against moths, and pest experts recommend them for clean woolens in long storage. The catch is moisture: a sealed box traps whatever humidity is inside. Use one only for clean, completely dry items, in a dry room, with tissue paper padding any folds. In a humid climate, prefer bags and dry air.
How do you protect stored suits from moths?
Clothes moth larvae eat wool, cashmere, mohair and silk, and they prefer soiled fabric in dark, undisturbed places, which is a fair description of a stored suit. Protection comes from four habits: store suits clean, keep them in closed bags, check them regularly and use traps to warn you early. Scented deterrents help only at the margins. Our guide to moth holes and invisible reweaving covers what to do if you find damage.
| Kills moths | Keeps moths off | Lasts | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dry cleaning before storage | |||
| Zipped, tightly woven bag | |||
| Airtight container | |||
| Cedar blocks or hangers | |||
| Lavender sachets | |||
| Pheromone traps | |||
| Freezing an infested item |
Do cedar and lavender keep moths away?
A little. Oil from aromatic cedar can kill small moth larvae but not large ones, and its effect fades over several years; sanding the wood lightly brings back some of the scent. On their own, cedar closets and chests are seldom effective against clothes moths. Lavender and other herbal oils have a pleasant smell, but how well they work is poorly understood. Use them as extras, never as your only protection.
Should you use mothballs?
Mothballs, flakes and crystals contain naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene. Their vapors kill moths only in an airtight container at the dose on the label; in an open wardrobe they barely deter adults while larvae keep feeding. They also leave a strong smell in wool that takes days of airing to remove, and paradichlorobenzene can soften plastic buttons, hangers and bags. For most people, clean suits in closed bags are the better answer.
What humidity is best for storing suits?
Textile conservators advise keeping stored textiles at 40% to 60% relative humidity (RH), in a cool room of about 60 to 70°F (15 to 20°C). Above about 65% RH, especially with poor air circulation, mold can grow and most insect pests thrive. Below 60% RH with good air movement, mold growth is unlikely. Avoid quick swings between damp and dry air too: repeated cycles do more harm over time than a steady level.
Scale from 0% RH to 100% RH. Best for storage: 40 to 60% RH. Mold and moth risk: 65 to 100% RH. Bangkok annual average, about 73%: at 73% RH.
A cheap digital hygrometer tells you where your wardrobe stands. Check it in the wettest month of the year, not the driest. Basements, garages and rooms against cold outside walls are usually the dampest places in a home; attics are often the hottest. Neither is a good place for suits.
How do you store suits in a hot, humid climate?
In the tropics, humidity is the bigger threat. Average relative humidity in Bangkok runs from about 66% in December to about 79% in September, or about 73% across the year. That is above the level where mold grows for most of the year, and it suits moths too. A suit stored in an unconditioned wardrobe for a rainy season can come out spotted with mildew. The fix is to dry the air around your suits.
Tropical storage checklist
- Keep suits in a room that is air-conditioned regularly. Air conditioning removes moisture as well as heat.
- In rooms without regular air conditioning, run a dehumidifier and aim for about 50% relative humidity.
- Put moisture absorbers (silica gel or calcium chloride tubs) inside closed wardrobes and replace them when they fill.
- Never bag or store a suit that is still damp from rain or sweat. Let it hang in open air overnight first.
- Use breathable bags only. Plastic traps humid air and condensation against the fabric.
- Leave space between garments and open the wardrobe often so air moves.
- Air and brush stored suits every few weeks in the rainy season, not just every month or two.
Should you hang or fold suits for storage?
Hang them. A suit jacket is shaped around the shoulders and chest, and months on a good hanger keep that shape, while months folded set creases into the lapels and fronts. Trousers can hang or be folded along their creases over a bar. If you must fold a suit for storage, for example to fit a trunk, fold it along the lines described in our guide to packing a suit, pad each fold with tissue paper, and unfold and refold it along slightly different lines every few months.
How often should you check stored suits?
Every month or two, and every few weeks in a humid season. Moths favor undisturbed places, so simply taking suits out, moving them and brushing them breaks the cycle. Regular checks also catch problems while they are small: one moth hole rather than ten, a faint musty smell rather than visible mildew.
The regular check
- Take each suit out of its bag and hang it in daylight for an hour or two.
- Look for holes, thin patches, silky webbing and fine pellets, especially under the collar and in the seams.
- Smell it. A musty smell means the air is too damp.
- Brush it thoroughly before it goes back in the bag.
- Check the pheromone traps and the hygrometer, and empty or replace moisture absorbers.
Common storage mistakes
- Putting a worn suit away for the season without cleaning it.
- Leaving it in the dry cleaner's plastic cover.
- Using wire or thin plastic hangers.
- Packing suits tightly together on the rail so no air moves.
- Storing suits in a damp basement, a hot attic or against a cold outside wall.
- Relying on cedar or lavender alone to stop moths.
- Scattering mothballs loose in an open wardrobe.
- Forgetting about the suits until the next season.
Storage is the long pause in a suit's life; daily care is the rest of it. Our guide to how to care for a suit covers rotation, brushing and pressing, and cleaning a suit at home handles small marks before they set.
Questions people ask
Should suits be stored in plastic bags?
Suits should not be stored in thin plastic bags such as dry cleaner covers. Plastic traps moisture against the wool, which can cause mildew and musty smells, and open-bottomed covers do not keep moths out. Store suits in breathable cotton, canvas or non-woven fabric garment bags instead.
How do you keep moths out of a closet?
To keep moths out of a closet, store woolens clean, keep them in zipped garment bags, and vacuum the closet floor, corners and shelves regularly. Hang pheromone traps to catch male moths and warn you early. Take stored clothes out every month or two to air and brush them, because moths prefer undisturbed places.
How do you store a suit in a humid climate?
In a humid climate, store suits in a room that is air-conditioned regularly or run a dehumidifier at about 50% relative humidity. Use breathable garment bags, never plastic, and add moisture absorbers to closed wardrobes. Let suits dry fully before storing them and air them every few weeks in the rainy season.
Is it better to hang or fold suits for storage?
It is better to hang suits for storage. A suit jacket keeps its shoulder and chest shape on a wide, shaped hanger, while months of folding set creases into the lapels and fronts. Trousers can hang by the hems or be folded along the crease over a padded or felted bar.
Do I need to dry clean a suit before storing it?
A suit should be cleaned before long-term storage if you have worn it since its last clean. Moth larvae prefer wool with food, sweat or body oils on it, and dry cleaning also kills any eggs and larvae already present. A suit that is genuinely clean only needs a thorough brushing and airing.
What humidity should a closet be for clothes?
A closet for clothes should ideally stay between 40% and 60% relative humidity. Above about 65%, mold can grow on textiles and insect pests thrive, especially with poor air circulation. A small digital hygrometer shows the humidity, and a dehumidifier or moisture absorbers bring it down.
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