Tips on how to pack and store a men’s handkerchief

Pocket square storage – Tips on how to pack and store a men’s handkerchief

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Hi. I’m Antonio Centeno with Real Men Real Style. And today I have a question from a reader concerning pocket square storage.

“Hi. I’ve really enjoyed your blog. But I do have a few questions concerning pocket squares. Basically, I’ve bought one and have a couple more on the way but I’m clueless as to how to store them. I know where to put everything else in my wardrobe but for some reason, pocket squares just don’t seem to fit anywhere. Can you give me some help?”

Okay. So, it’s really a pretty easy thing. The big thing with a pocket square is you want to protect it. You don’t it, you know, to have any damage, you know. And these things are small but they’re usually very delicate.

In addition, you want it to be able to be found when you need it. So, the great thing about pocket squares is when it comes to damage, the fabric that they’re made from, it’s usually very hardy. I mean, you’re not going to have to worry about insects seeking it out to eat it and to lay eggs on it, which they do with wool.

So, silk, cotton, polyester – that’s what most pocket squares are made from. The vast majority is silk and cotton. Both of those are very – well, silk is more delicate when it comes to abrasion. But when it comes to any type of insect or anything, you don’t really have to worry so much about silk. Although, I’m not saying store these things outside.

The big thing that you need to worry about is moisture because with a cotton pocket square or anything made from a cellulous plant fiber, if it stays wet, it has the chance that mildew can start up. So, don’t store it in anything plastic.

But here are a couple ideas and my personal favorite and the one is use, is I simply keep a pocket square in all of my jackets whenever they’re hanging. So, basically, I’ve got it ready to go. When I put on a jacket, the pocket square is already there. Maybe it’s not the one I exactly want and I can go and look in some of my other jackets and change it out. But I find that I like to actually – it just works for me. And it’s an instant storage.

I own enough jackets that pretty much I can put a pocket square in most of them. And if I know I’m going to be travelling, then I’ll throw another pocket square on one of the inside pockets of my jacket.

The other option that I’ve seen – I’ve seen men who actually get special wooden containers. They’re not necessarily made for pocket squares. Let’s say they’re more like a jewelry box and they fold their pocket squares and keep them in there. Again, they’re protecting them with a physical, you know, basically a box that’s not allowing anything abrasive to hit them.

But this is a very ornamental, something very nice. I’ve seen this really with men that have great looking closets. And for them they have a little bit of more discretionary budget.

Another option is just putting them in your sock drawer. Most of the items in your sock drawer are probably pretty soft. You probably got your underwear and socks in there. And just fold them up and give them their own little section.

A very innovative approach that I have one gentleman show me is he uses old tissue boxes there. And he keeps his pocket squares in there. And he then he keeps that, actually, in his sock and underwear drawer.

So, a very nice way to section it off. It’s not the most attractive storage but it works perfectly. Because if you think about it, you’ve got a little bit of a paper cardboard around there that will absorb any extra moisture. Although, you shouldn’t be really getting much moisture on the pocket square but let’s say you come out of the rain, you put it in there. It’s going to have a bit of breathe room because he doesn’t fold them in there, so they have a lot of air that can circulate.

And that hopefully gives you some suggestions and some help. And best of luck to you as you start to wear a pocket square. And remember, a pocket square is all about confidence. And we wouldn’t have a breast pocket if it wasn’t meant to be stuffed.

So, this has been Antonio with Real Men Real Style. Have a great day. And I’ll see you in comments or perhaps, peruse or, you know, go around the rest of our blog and check out some of the other great videos. Take care. Bye-bye.

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