Tight collars
You paid a lot for that good dress shirt and now the collar's too tight. No, you haven't put on weight. “It happens to every shirt,” says Nick Fazzari who, with his father, Salvatore, runs Toronto's Collar Magic. “There are millions of shirts out there that can't be worn because the collars shrink over time,” he says.
But there's no need to throw out a perfectly good shirt. Send it to a specialty business such as Collar Magic (www.collarmagic.com) that can restore the collar to its original size. Fazzari won't say how they do it; that's a secret, but he will say it's a “tailoring procedure.” For $15.75 a shirt, the Fazzaris will adjust the collar, launder and hand-press the garment.
Chair caning
That old chair frame is good, but the woven seat is toast. A seat weaver such as Toronto's Donna Kim (www.eoyseat.com) can help. She specializes in restoring cane, rush and wicker chair seats.
“I weave to perfection,” says Kim, who describes her work as a “craft” and charges $76 and up.
If yours doesn't seem worth that much, consider fixing it yourself. Lee Valley Tools (www.leevalley.com) sells an array of seat caning materials. And books, such as The Complete Guide to Chair Caning by Jim Widess ($24.95), are available through www.amazon.com.
Dented silver
With the price of silver soaring, it's time to consider fixing those battered platters and dented urns your aunt left you. A silver expert is the place to go. Lorne McGowan, manager of Birks in Toronto (www.birks.com), says the store will replate, hammer out dents, solder and repair everything from old trophies to silver salt cellars. “Some people are doing very well selling in the secondary market,” he says. One caveat: McGowan says the silver replating process is not environmentally sound.
Foggy crystal
If your best crystal has gone cloudy from hard water and the chemicals in your dish detergent, it can be salvaged by soaking the glass in undiluted white vinegar for an hour and then washing by hand in warm soapy water, say the experts at ehow.com. If that doesn't work, try rinsing the interior with fresh lemon juice and rubbing the exterior with a lemon half. For narrow-mouthed decanters and vases, pour in white vinegar and uncooked rice, then shake gently. Birks' Lorne McGowan says the cloudy appearance does not mean the crystal is abraded. “Crystal is very hard to scratch,” he says. And remember, the best way to keep it crystal clear is to always wash it by hand.
Broken luggage
If you've got the travel bug, your luggage has probably been treated even worse than you by the airlines. A luggage-repair shop, such as Evex Luggage Repair (905-236-7900), can get it airworthy again. The Toronto company repairs handles, wheels and zippers and replaces panels and straps on all kinds of bags and baggage. Similar services exist in most major cities. Evex general manager Alex Schlosser also let us in on a secret: If your bags get damaged, make a claim with the airline. It will probably pay for fixes.
Mirror resilvering
When the silver backing on your best bevelled mirror begins to dull or chip, your self-image will suffer, too. A resilvering business, such as Fricks Glass and Mirror Resilvering in Vancouver (www.fricksresilvering.com), will restore the shine using a process that has been around for more than 100 years. Resilvering costs about $25 a square foot and Fricks is one of the few places that offer the service these days because of the complex chemistry involved. Mirror lovers from across Canada can send their antique mirrors to the outfit for repair.
Chipped china
Unless it's made of potato, a chip is never a good thing. Especially when it's a chip in your Calvin Klein Cargo Raisin saucer. Jackie Chiesa, manager of William Ashley China (www.williamashley.com) in Toronto, advises that many art restoration businesses repair china and crystal but that, once a chip is fixed, the piece should not be overused; relegate it to home decoration.
