Wow, Cyndi, thanks for all those stain removal tips! I need to print them out and post them up by my laundry!

Wool is awesome, and there is no better cloth under the sun for kilts, if you ask me.

1. It is traditional. Kilts have, so far as we know, always been made of wool.
2. It is breathable, durable, and excellent for all weather. Prior to the advent of synthetic alternatives, wool was the cloth of choice for outdoor activities. It breathes. It is fairly water proof. And (especially the twill weave) last forever.
3. My friend Bob Martin (from whom I got the advice on how to clean your kilt that Cyndi quoted) has worn a kilt every day, for all occasions, for nearly 30 years. He mows his lawn in a kilt. He changes the oil in his car in a kilt, etc. He also is an artist, and paints with oil paints in his kilt. In other words, he has gotten his kilts dirty. One thing is that if you are going to wear the kilt to this extent, you probably have more than one -- so keep one reserved, neat and clean, for those formal occasions. But really, with Cyndi's spot cleaning advice, washing the kilt yourself, as I described, and perhaps the occasional dry cleaning, you won't have much to worry about.
4. We have kilts in our museum that are 200 years old. There is nothing wrong with the wool. I could take them out of the cases and wear them today if I wanted to. Some of the stitching could perhaps stand to be reenforced (if one were to actually wear such historic artifacts, that is). But there is nothing wrong with the wool. In my career I have handled many kilts from people that were a generation old or more. What needs to be replaced on these kilts, if anything, is the leather from the straps. I rarely, if ever, have seen damage in the cloth itself, and that has been from moths.

Now there is wool and there is wool. In another thread someone said something like, "If 12 oz wool is ok for a kilt, why not 12 oz poly-vis?" Well, the two don't equate. Heck, I've seen 12 oz wool from one mill and it didn't compare with 12 oz wool from another. There is more to the fabric quality than how much it weighs. There is the type of wool used. There is the way it is spun. There is the way it is woven. So all this is to say that there are variables, even in wool. I always recommend one get the heaviest weight availble in your tartan that you can afford, and I stick with that advice. Especially now, as a kilt maker with experience making kilts from various weights.

I was just telling someone yesterday how much I enjoy making a kilt out of a good, solid, 16 oz worsted wool. The fabric just is easier to work with. And it is much easier for me to make it into a great looking kilt. It feels better when you wear it. It will keep pleats sharper and longer. And it will last forever.

Aye,
Matt