Quality silk ties, especially those from Italy or France, can be pretty expensive. That’s why it’s important that you know how to take good care of them. After all, you wouldn’t want to be able to wear your silk tie only once before you have to toss it out. That would almost be like flushing money down the toilet.

Need some care tips for your ties? Here are three main basics you should know:

1. Folding

It is important that you untie your necktie after every use. Okay, gentlemen, I know sometimes, it’s much easier to simply tear it off your neck and throw it in the laundry bin as is, but if you want your ties to last for years, you’ll only need to follow these simple steps. First, you loosen your tie. Then you pull the loop over your head. Once it’s in your hand, you can then untie it completely. Wrap your tie around your hand, then take it off your hand, and keep it bundled this way for the rest of the night.

2. Ironing

I have a friend who can’t live his life without ironing his socks and neckties. I’ve told him a hundred times that creases in ties come out naturally (and who sees your socks?!), but as of the moment he still refuses to listen. If you’re like him and insist on ironing your ties, keep these in mind:

o Never iron directly. Put a clean cotton or linen cloth on top of the silk tie before applying the iron. Don’t completely flatten it out. Neckties are supposed to be tubular.
o It would be much better to steam it instead. Leave your tie hanging in the bathroom while you take a warm bath. That ought to get the creases out. Or you could also opt to pass the iron over the tie without actually touching it, to let the steam pass over.

3. Storing

You can hang ties in your closet by using regular hangers or special tie hangers. You can also opt to keep them lying down in a drawer (folded in half or wrapped up like in number 1). If you’re like the friend I mentioned earlier, you can arrange your ties by color or pattern. You can even go all out and have separate categories for different fabrics. But if you just want to keep it simple, the only thing you really have to do is make sure there’s enough space for air to circulate in your closet.