AA, that's a good point about the odour being related to the wool itself. It struck me as more chemical than animal, but not being used to the smell of wet wool, it certainly could be.

Barb, thanks, I did remember to use the pressing cloth! Got it wet and wrung it out so it was just damp, placed it on the inside of the kilt and ironed from there. And thanks for the basting tutorial you previously posted on the forum. It was definitely a kilt-saver.

DA, it seems that cleaning a kilt is a risky venture no matter what route you take. I did a lot of research here to determine the best way to handle it. And while I have a dry cleaner I think I can trust to do it well, I wasn't willing to risk it. Plus, I had all the stuff I needed so the price for doing it myself was considerably better ;) It just took a hefty chunk of time and elbow grease. And, again, research to make sure everything was done "right". The tutorials and other threads on the forum were infinitely useful.

All in all, it looks really good. Almost as good as it did the day I got it! I didn't have any trouble with shrinkage or bleeding during the wash. The wool does feel "harder" now than it did prior, though. I assume that's because of the body oils that the detergent stripped out. I remember the wool softening up with use; now I have to use it again to get it soft! I'll look into trying Eucalan next time to see if that helps any.