Washing, basting, and pressing for the first time

[lethearen]

A couple days ago marked my first venture into laundering a wool kilt. Washing was easy! Throw it in a tub with some Woolite, swish swish rinse rinse hang. Though the smell of the Woolite is off-putting, the process worked really well. Wasn't as dirty as I'd have expected, either.

But I was really amazed at how much the pleats softened! So pressing is in order. I just spent the past hour basting it, and getting ready to press. I'm rather frightened that I'm about to ruin it! Just have to get the nerve up to put it to the heat

[auld argonian]

I doubt that it was the smell of the Woolite...most likely it was the smell of wet wool that struck you as...unusual.

Hunt down a bottle of the Eucalan if you think that the Woolite isn't what you had hoped. Be warned, though, that even though the Eucalan is lightly and unobjectionably scented, it's probably the wet wool that you're smelling.

Best

AA

[Barb T]

Just remember to put a press cloth between your iron and the wool.

[D.A. Guertin]

By all means PLEASE correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'd been led to believe that laundering a wool kilt was the ultimate no-no... Issues with shrinkage and such, leaching of dyes, along with basting and pressing...

[auld argonian]

Actually, D.A., most of the kiltmakers with the heavy credentials seem to agree that washing beats dry cleaning. One of the reasons often cited is that dry cleaning removes the essential oils from the wool. Having a lot of Shetland Sweaters that have been dry cleaned over the years, I have to agree with this observation. Some of the wool washing aids claim that they contain lanolin and that they are actually "therapeutic" for wool...not being the testing lab technician, I can't agree or disagree with this.

Add to this the number of tales that we've heard of dry cleaners totally screwing up on the pressing and there's a compelling argument for careful washing, drying and pressing. Procedures have been discussed here several times...just do a search.

Best

AA

[lethearen]

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.

[denmcdough]

Wow, you're brave to wash the kilt! I have a new tank, and I do not look forward to the day it has to be cleaned. On the other hand, my wife has a family kilt, made especially for her, that is close to thirty years old and has never been cleaned. Granted, she only wears it a dozen times a year, but it still looks great.