Quote Originally Posted by MHorne39 View Post
Hello all,

I’ve just moved into a new place, and I’m having to adjust my method for cleaning my great kilts. At my old place, I would soak my great kilts in a tub along with some gentle wool wash, hand squeeze it out, and then hang it from a makeshift clothing rack, where the excess water would air dry and drip off onto the ground. However, at my new place, I’m having to dry it inside, so letting the water drip onto the floor isn’t an option as it’s inside the house and in a relatively high traffic area, so re-integrating my drip tray idea isn’t an option either. I had an idea that I would like input on. I was thinking of soaking it in wool wash as normal, hand squeezing it out, and then putting it in the washer only on a delicate spin cycle to hopefully push extra water out without wearing the fabric, and then hang drying it the last of the way and steaming it to knock wrinkles out.

Thoughts/concerns/advice?

This would only be for my wool great kilts, my method for cleaning tailored kilts should still suffice at my new home.
I have tried putting a three yard length of Lochcarron heavyweight 16oz Strome plaiding through a full washing machine wool cycle, with the rinse and final spin on full speed.

The cloth came out fairly near dry - little more than damp, and certainly not dripping - which was then left to dry on a clothes line.

The result was surprising, and not what I expected. I had anticipated distortion or parting of the warp and weft yarns, especially as the cloth has a tuck-in edge rather than a conventional kilting selvedge. But apart from looking like it may benefit from a good steam-pressing, the cloth seemed unaffected by either the hot water agitation during the wash, or the fast final spin.

The fibres lifted slightly during drying, to give a sort of hairy or woolly appearance, but this reduced down to normal with pressing. The result was that I could see no difference between the before and after condition. If left unpressed, the woolly appearance might be more suitable for a great kilt plaid.

Unless your plaiding is mixed fibre, and so likely to be affected by the maching washing agitation and the final spin, you should have no worries with puttiing it through a full cycle. Rinse and spin only should give you no concerns.

Although modern cloths are woven and processed differently, the old tradition of waulking cloth probably gave a harsher process than a modern washing maching is capable of, but the final result was what we still use as a benchmark to judge modern cloths.

NOTE: I say this in regard to plaiding (a plaid as a garment) only - do not put your nicely tailored kilt through a full-wash and spin..!