How to Clean Dress Pants

By: Kimbry Parker

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Dress pants can be made from a variety of fabrics, including linen, polyester, wool, and blends. Regardless of the fabric, your dress pants require periodic cleaning. Although it’s not necessary to clean your dress pants each time you wear them – you can wear them several times before actually cleaning them – when it is time to wash, hand-wash them to be on the safe side and prevent damage.

Step 1

Fill a clean tub or sink with lukewarm water. Add delicate laundry detergent to the water and mix it up well. Refer to the detergent’s label for the exact amount to use, as this can differ among brands.

Step 2

Put the dress pants into the water. Swish them around gently for about three minutes. Don’t be too aggressive when swishing, as this can cause the fabric to shrink or become damaged.

Step 3

Discard the water and rinse any soap residue from the tub or sink. Fill the tub or sink with clean lukewarm water.

Step 4

Place the dress pants back into the water. Swish them around for another couple minutes to remove all the soap.

Step 5

Squeeze the dress pants gently to remove as much water as possible. Avoid wringing them out, or you risk damaging the fabric.

Step 6

Lay the pants onto clean towels. Overlap the towels as necessary so every part of the pants is on the towel.

Step 7

Roll the pants and the towel up to remove any moisture still on the fabric. Unroll the towel and repeat this process one more time with dry towels. Lay the pants flat on another clean towel or on a drying rack to air dry. If drying the pants on a towel, flip them over after the front side is dry to allow the back to dry.