Hey Guys,

ONLY if you are brave enough to do this should you attempt it... DO NOT THROW YOUR WOOL KILT IN A REGULAR WASHING MACHINE. IF YOU ARE HESITANT, JUST DRY CLEAN A WOOL KILT.

Now that the 'disclaimer' is out of the way, I want to make a suggestion... Please note that I DO NOT work for Miele and get NO money / 'perks' for this testament...


IF you are in the market for a new Washing Machine (and/or dryer), AND IF you have a lot of nice wool kilts, PLEASE do yourself a favor andf check out the Miele 4800 (or 4840).

Now be prepared... these are NOT CHEAP. With a little help from some gift cards from friends from Xmas and Kelly saving up for a couple months, we got the 4800 model. It cost about $1500 or so, BUT, the money we will save on dry cleaning (not to mention water... it's a front loader) is huge. Take into consideration it's a 5 year ('bumper to bumper') warranty with an expected life of 20+ years and it's not too bad of a price.

The BEST part... they claim 'you can wash an Italian wool suit' in one of these things. Well, I put it to the test. I washed 7 of my wool kilts in it (St. Andrews, Lamont, Law Enforcement, German Heritage, Buchannan, Cameron of Erracht, Firefighters) - 2 loads of 3 and 4 kilts respectively. It does a VERY GENTLE 'hand wash' cycle where the drum rotates about 2 or 3 times per minute (VERY slow). just enough to replicate you hand washing a garment. The reason you CAN'T wash a kilt in a normal washing machine is b/c of the 'agitation' cycle, which rubs the wool together and 'felts' the wool, making your kilt look more like a wool blanket.

I took the kilts out of the machine and 'snapped' them out. I laid them across the couch and straightened the pleats out while still damp. I let them dry over a 24 hour period and brought them into the shop and ironed them this morning.

I am VERY pleased to report that they look 'good as new'. Also, dry cleaning doesn't necessarily get all of the body oils and dirt out of a kilt like wet washing would. This machine did.

Here's the link to the manufacturer's site and the 4800 model:

http://www.miele.com/usa/laundry/was...nav=185&oT=173

I hope this review was helpful.