tips

[Josh_E]

any tips on washing and caring for kilts

[Shay]

Try searching the forums for words like 'washing' or whatever kind of kilt you have, whether that's wool, polywhatever, or other fabrics- there's alot of information about washing kilts, but it's generally divided into what type of fabric the kilt is made of.

[Barb T.]

If it's a wool trad kilt, you definitely don't want to wash it!

If you take good care of a trad wool, you should be able to wear it _a lot_ without cleaning it (even years of wear). The main thing is to let your kilt air and dry thoroughly after you've worn it instead of hanging it up or putting it into a garment bag immediately. If you sweat in your kilt (which you will), and you don't let it dry and air, it will get pretty foul.

Unless you've spilled India ink on a kilt, most spots (even big ones) can be easily dealt with by using a Q-tip or a washcloth with some Era to blot (not rub) the offending spot and rinse the same way. I've gotten everything from mustard to clown make-up (don't ask) out of even dress tartans using that technique.

I would turn to dry cleaning only as a last resort and would never do it on general principles just because I had a vague notion that it was time that my kilt went to the cleaners. Many a kilt has had the pleats ruined by well-meaning dry cleaners who don't know how to press a kilt. If you absolutely had to have your kilt cleaned, I'd ask them not to press the kilt and do it myself.

Cheers!

Barb

[Rick]

Many a kilt has had the pleats ruined by well-meaning dry cleaners who don't know how to press a kilt. If you absolutely had to have your kilt cleaned, I'd ask them not to press the kilt and do it myself.

Cheers!

Barb

I purchased a kilt off of e-bay a while back. Given the rumours about what is worn or not worn under the kilt, I decided that a trip to the dry cleaners would be prudent. I learned the hard way about how they press pleats. The pleats were splayed and the kilt did not hang right. After a couple of hours of careful pinning and re-pressing, the kilt now looks great.

I recently used Dryel in the dryer to freshen up a wool kilt. Prior to that treatment, I re-basted the pleats. When it came out of the dryer, it not only was better smelling, but it only required touch up ironing and the pleat creases were where they were supposed to be.

Another local dry cleaner where I live offers two services for cleaning of kilts. They have their in-house service which is reasonably fast and not too expensive and they offer a second service at higher cost and longer lead time where they ship the kilt to an expert to do the cleaning. When I dry clean a kilt in the future, I will definitely go for the expert service. However, I will also consider re-basting the pleats. While not fun, the half hour or so spent doing this is better than several hours trying to fix splayed pleats. I will post a review of the "expert" service soon as I have a couple of e-bay kilts on the way.

Rick

[Iñaki]

I think I read somewhere else you had a casual McDonald from Rocky...so here it goes. Machine wash cold water with alike colors or preferebly by itself (no fabric softener) and then hang dry. Pretty simple, ah?

[646guy]

I recently used Dryel in the dryer to freshen up a wool kilt. Prior to that treatment, I re-basted the pleats. When it came out of the dryer, it not only was better smelling, but it only required touch up ironing and the pleat creases were where they were supposed to be.

Oooh....I'm going to remember this one....

[Iolaus]

One of the ladies (and I use that term guardedly, per Shay's request ) posted a link to intructions for cleaning a kilt. One of the things that struck me was the instruction to agitate by hand very gently (read: pat gently while the fabric lies in still, shallow water) because washing wool will "felt" it. I'd never heard that before; I thought all I had to do was avoid heat!

[GlassMan]

I recently used Dryel in the dryer to freshen up a wool kilt. Prior to that treatment, I re-basted the pleats. When it came out of the dryer, it not only was better smelling, but it only required touch up ironing and the pleat creases were where they were supposed to be.

I've used Dryel for my kilts and just used my steamer to touch up the creases afterwards. I didn't bother to rebaste the pleats and it still came out looking great.

[Barb T.]

Felting happens when wool is agitated in water, particularly if you start in hot water (which opens up the little plates along the wool fibers), agitate, and plunge the fabric into cold water, which clamps the little plates down again. It's quite possible to reduce a wool garment to half its size and double its thickness this way. Felting is also why wool socks get that "biscuit texture" when you wear them a lot and sweat in your shoes. It's also how Dachstein mittens are made - the mittens are knitted about 2 feet long and big enough for the Cardiff Giant and then felted to size.

Yes, you could wash a wool kilt very carefully in cold water (in fact, I know people who take a kilt out, hang it on the line and more or less pressure wash it with a hose...). if you do, be sure not to agitate and wring. Lift it very carefully out of the water and roll it inside towels to get most of the moisture out before picking it up.

The "hand" of the fabric will be different after washing, and it's likely to be fuzzier. Wool is also very stretchy fabric, and you need to be really careful about a heavy, wet kilt stretching out of shape if you handle it while it's wet. You also need to be very careful how you press it back into shape. Honestly, I wouldn't wash a kilt any more than I would wash a $500 suit, but there are those more intrepid than I!!!

Barb

[whiteravenJr.]

my rule of thumb is if its a kilt dry clean unless otherwise told