It's difficult to create a formal appearance when wearing a pair of lint-covered trousers. Even if your dress shirt is clean and pressed, and you're wearing a high-quality suit jacket with a pair of matching trousers, lint will create a messy, unflattering appearance. The good news is that you can often protect your suit trousers from lint by following a few simple steps.
Choose Lint-Free Fabrics
First, try choosing a pair of suit trousers made of a lint-free fabric. Not all fabrics are susceptible to lint. In fact, many will repel lint so that it doesn't stick to them. Some excellent lint-free fabrics to consider for your trousers include cotton, linen, nylon, terry cloth and wool. For the summer months, linen is excellent choice because it's both lint free and lightweight. For the cooler winter months, consider a thicker fabric like wool. Regardless, though, you can't go wrong with any of these lint-free fabrics for your suit trousers.
Don't Sit Down After Getting Dressed
While easier said than done for many men, you should avoid sitting down after getting dressed in the morning. How does this keep your trousers lint free exactly? Well, lint usually comes from inside the home. Even if you don't realize it, your home is probably covered in dust, pet hair (if you own a pet), human hair and other debris. If you sit down on your living room couch before leaving for work in the morning, some of this debris will make its way onto your trousers. But if you avoid sitting down, this shouldn't be a problem.
Vacuum Your House
Of course, you can also minimize the amount of lint that your suit trousers attract by vacuuming your house on a regular basis. The more you vacuum, the less dust and debris will accumulate on your floors. And with less dust and debris, your trousers will remain protected from lint. This alone isn't a foolproof way to eliminate all lint on your trousers. When used in conjunction with the other tips listed here, vacuuming your house on a regular basis will help keep your trousers lint free.
Rub With a Dryer Sheet
Are you running late for work and need to remove lint from your suit trousers? Here's an idea: take a dryer sheet (or two), and rub it across the surface of your trousers. In addition to discharging static electricity, this will remove lint and debris. It's not a bad idea to keep a box of dryer sheets in your car or office desk for this very reason. If you ever discover lint on your trousers, you can easily clean them using this trick. And considering that dryer sheets cost just a few bucks for an entire box, this isn't going to hurt your finances.
Choose Darker Trousers
The color of your suit trousers isn't going to affect the amount of lint they attract. It will, however, affect the visibility of lint. Generally speaker, lint is more visible on lighter-colored suit trousers than darker-colored trousers. Therefore, it's recommended that you wear dark trousers. Whether it's charcoal gray, black or navy, wearing dark suit trousers will conceal lint to create a cleaner and more formal appearance. The worst color to wear for lint is white, as white trousers reveal even the smallest piece of lint. So, steer clear of white and other light trousers and, instead, choose a darker pair of trousers.
Clean After Wearing
It's a good idea to clean your suit trousers each time after you wear them. Conventional wisdom should lead you to believe that the more you wear your trousers, the more lint they'll accumulate. If you wear your trousers three days in a row without washing or cleaning them, they will probably show a significant amount of lint. This problem is easily prevented, however, by cleaning your trousers after wearing them. Refer to the care label on your suit trousers for more information on how to clean them. For some trousers, you can clean them in the washing machine just like most other garments. For other trousers, you'll need to take them to a local dry cleaners. Always follow the manufacturer's recommendations as specified on the care label.
Use a Lint Roller
Perhaps the easiest and most effective way to eliminate lint from a pair of suit trousers is to use a lint roller. This cylindrical tool is essentially a roll of tape with adhesive on one side. As you run the lint roller across your suit trousers, the adhesive side of the tape catches lint to clean the fabric. You can find lint rollers available for sale at most retail apparel and home goods stores for about $2 bucks a piece, which is a small price to pay considering the convenience they offer.
Use Tape
Of course, if you don't have access to a lint roller, you can always use a roll of tape to clean lint from your suit trousers. Just cut a small- or medium-sized strip of tape and press the adhesive side against your suit trousers. Like a lint roller, the tape will catch and hold any lint.
Anti-Static Products
Finally, consider using an anti-static product on your suit trousers. Lint typically "sticks" to trousers and other garments because of static electricity. When your trousers develop an electrostatic charge, dust, hair and lint will stick to the surface. You can easily prevent this from happening, however, by using an anti-static product. There are dozens of anti-static sprays, for instance, that neutralize static electricity.
It's frustrating when you get dressed in the morning, only to discover that your suit trousers are covered in lint. Before changing into a new pair of trousers, though, you should try the tips listed here. With a little work, you can eliminate and protect your suit trousers from lint.
