Washing/drying a Poly kilt

[2nd to One]

Hello all!
I am wanting to wash and repress my polyviscose kilt, and I was wondering what your preferred methods are. Any thoughts would be most welcome!
~2nd

[The Wizard of BC]

Sir,
Is your kilt an actual Polyester/Rayon fabric or is it something else.

The washing and care would be slightly different depending on the actual fiber content.

[gpmeakin]

$6.50 dry cleaners

[Riverkilt]

I've had 25 polyviscose kilts (all from USA Kilts) - if yours is too....I just wash them on gentle cycle in the washing machine - they're bullet proof.

I don't iron or press them though. Hang them and clip weighted clips to the pleats so they hang dry straight. When dry just touch up with a hand steamer.

I never use anything but a steamer on my polyviscose kilts.

I make the clips from extra hanger clips I buy by the bag at the big box store, then duct tape a half ounce lead fishing weight to each side of the clip. But that one ounce of weight tugging each pleat straight while it drys works beautifully.

Easy to make up enough weighted clips while watching a ball game. Takes less time to clip them on than to set up an ironing board and wait for the iron to heat. No kilt wrestling on the ironing board.

But main thing - washing machine on gentle cycle is fine for TRUE polyviscose (poly/rayon) fabric like from Marton Mills.

[2nd to One]

My tartan was form Marton Mills, so I'm guessing my question about washing is answered. This is good to go on at the moment.
So, Riverkilt, do you baste your pleats or no?
Thanks, guys, for your input!

[English Bloke]

I have a supposedly polyviscose, imported kilt. It's solid black. The advice I got before I washed mine was "just throw it in the machine, it'll be fine". So I washed it on a gentle cycle with a nice dollop of fabric conditioner in the rinse... and then tried to press it without basting (the only thing I can baste is a chicken). It is now shot to bits. It also seems to weigh less which I assume is the loss of the teflon coating due to the conditioner. It is lovely and soft mind. I wouldn't say it's unwearable but I wouldn't leave the house in it. Proceed with caution is my advice... and don't use conditioner.

[Pleater]

Rayon is very fragile when wet, so hanging weights on it, or even swooshing your fingers along each crease to straighten them is really not advisable. It can cause the fabric to break along the fold lines.

Just lay the kilt on a couple of layers of towels and let the moisture soak away before even thinking of hanging it up. In fact it might be safer to just change the towels and dry it flat, turning it over regularly. Only when it is almost dry hang it up with weights if you must. A light misting with warm water will soften any areas which are dryer than others and let the weights do their work.

Ironing man made fibres is problematic too - it is easy to polish the surface or to set a fold into the surface layer due to there being the edge of a pleat beneath it, so you need a padded board, to place each pleat upon so there is a flat surface behind it, and a dry cloth to put between the iron and the fabric.

You need to iron with just enough heat to smooth the fabric, as you can melt the ends of the fibres so the fabric becomes prickly, or melt it completely so it becomes goo stuck to the sole of the iron.

Anne the Pleater

[Mike in Dayton]

I lay my PV kilts flat to dry on a carpeted floor. I carefully position the pleats where they belong and let it dry. I rarely have to touch it up and if I do a steamer works well. Never use a fabric softener on kilts that have a Teflon coating. The fabric softener will strip off the coating.

Mike

[AKScott]

Thanks for your tips so far folks, please chime in if you have more to add about not wool kilts.

[Andrewson]

don't use conditioner.

Fortunately I read (here on XMarks) to avoid conditioner when cleaning my PV kilts so I went to the trouble of carefully washing out the washing machine to make sure there were no traces of conditioner left in the dispenser before I started. I then just threw the kilt in for a gentle cold water wash (no heating) using a liquid wool detergent. After a normal spin I hang the kilt outside on a line for a few hours before sharpening up the pleats with a steam iron applied through a protective cloth. The pleats don't usually need much treatment; they emerge from the wash in very well defined condition.

Now that my wife no longer uses fabric conditioner for any wash, I don't even need to do the preliminary wash out.

My PV kilts have been through this process many times and are still looking as good as new.

Bob