Synthetic material kilt with wrinkle

[Rick Y]

Not knowing any better, I bought my first kilt at a highland games from about the cheapest place I found. I have no idea if it is PV or acrylic and no idea of how to tell. The only thing the label says is machine wash warm, cool iron, dry clean perchlor only. However, it has a wrinkle that runs across several pleats and I can not get it out. I tried ironing with a cloth between kilt and iron and on low heat. No joy. Somewhat nervous about getting too hot and melting something! Any advice?

[bluebonnet]

I use Mary Ellen's Best press spray to get out stubborn wrinkles in all my fabrics (quilting, dressmaking etc). This stuff relaxes the fabric and makes ironing easier. It doesn't leave any residue either like some sprays tend to do.

[Rick Y]

Worth trying! Thanks.

[KSmedic]

Downy Wrinkle Releaser might work, as well. I use it on my 100% polyester uniform shirts for work with good results. It's just a very dilute fabric softener, so if you don't want to buy a bottle, you can find a "recipe" on line with no problem.

[The Wizard of BC]

If your kilt is either acrylic or Poly/Rayon it will make little difference in the temperature needed to let a wrinkle drop out.

The secret is not to iron but to steam the fabric. The temperature of steam is always the same and always well below the melting temperature of the synthetics used in kilts.

If your iron has a button that lets you do shots of steam all the better. Just hang the kilt up using two hangers. Grab the hem at the offending pleats and pull down very gently. Then holding your iron about 1-2 inches away from the fabric shoot jets of steam into the area of the wrinkles.

The idea is to heat up the fabric so don't worry about too much steam. After 15-20 seconds of heat you should see the wrinkle start to loosen. Remove the heat and keeping just a small amount of downward pressure let the kilt cool completely.

Your wrinkle should be gone.

[Tobus]

Steve is, of course, correct. Steam is what you need. If you were ironing it with a dry iron and a dry cloth, it wasn't doing what you needed. And while you can just use steam from the iron's reservoir, another trick is to use a dry iron but a moist cloth. Arrange the pleats flat on the ironing board, lay the damp cloth over them, and use the iron over that, at a temperature hot enough to cause the moisture in the cloth to turn to steam. It will press the steam into the cloth, relieving the wrinkles. The cloth serves a dual purpose here: supplying the moisture for the steam, as well as acting as a barrier between the metal face of the iron and the kilt fabric (to avoid any potential melting issues).

I can always tell when someone has applied a hot iron to a synthetic fabric directly, as it causes the fabric to turn a bit glossy. But the moist cloth solves that.

[Rick Y]

Gentlemen, you are miracle workers! Wrinkle is gone, depression is lifted, and elation is filling the ether around me. Many thanks!!