Which mills offer Scotchguard/fabric protection?

[Jimmy the Celt]

I searched the forum but could not find a definitive post or thread. I have so far favoured Lochcarron and yes, I have dripped a few times on my beautiful wool tartans. I am getting ready to order a new kilt and am taking this into consideration.

By the bye, it has now been over a year since I wore trousers! No pants for me, thank you Nothing like the freedom a kilt can offer.

[Todd Bradshaw]

You might consider buying whatever fabric you like and spraying the kilt yourself. Scotchguard or 303 Fabric Guard are probably the best combinations of soil and water resistance which also contain excellent UV absorbers. Regardless of who applies them (weaver, finisher, kiltmaker or owner) these things will slowly lose their effectiveness over time and need to be periodically reapplied anyway, so it doesn't hurt to know how to do it yourself (it's easy). In the Texas sun and with everyday kilt wearing the UV absorbers might be the most important of all. They convert UV into heat, so that the radiation dissipates into the atmosphere, rather than deteriorating and fading the cloth. As they do so, the absorbers slowly get used up, and maintaining protection requires occasional renewal.

[Mike S]

I'm fairly certain that I read on their site that Marton Mills applies a treatment in the manner of Scotchguard on their fabrics.

[Jimmy the Celt]

Thanks for the replies. It sounds like applying Scotchguard myself is the way to go to keep my kilts in good repair for a lifetime of use.

[Geoff Withnell]

Marton Mills PV fabric has a Teflon coating. It is dang near indestructible, if you take care not dry clean it, or use fabric softener, which will remove the Teflon. Any number of the XMarks vendors including our host Steve at Freedom Kilts, or Rocky at USAKilts can fix you up with a kilt made from this fabric. There is a rather impressive set of pictures of what this fabric can do in this thread:
http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/f...durable-90714/

[S Mitchell]

House of Edgar has a range of heavyweight tartan fabrics, the Nevis tartans, treated for stain resistance.

I've field tested it (at the pub, accidents happen!) and it works well.

[Jimmy the Celt]

Thanks for the link; I almost want to get a PV kilt now I have an older USAK casual (ten years old now) that is now too large for me after significant weight loss. I wore it a lot, no pilling, easy to care for (the pleats did tend to curl if not ironed after washing). I have a couple of acrylics and a Sport Kilt but almost never wear them anymore. After wearing 16 oz wool tartans, well, I guess I am kind of hooked on wool. But I might still get a semi-trad or casual, even though they seem a bit light to me now. After moving to Texas from California I find that a heavier kilt is a good thing with the near constant wind; the Sport Kilt is so light it has led to a couple of 'Marilyn Monroe moments'