Wool Quality

[Thistle Stop]

Thanks Matt! I agree 100% with what you say!

I added some notes to the end of the post about cleaning tips, to clarify names and sources of a couple of the recommened cleaning agents.

Making a 'sticky' topic about cleaning wool -- and other fibres -- is a good idea. I suppose it's a job for Hank.

[Thistle Stop]

Galant, my husband wears a 16-oz. wool kilt all the time. Not literally every day, but very often and in all sorts of situations.

I posted a picture of him in my gallery -- and one of our cat, sitting on the same kilt, later that day! The picture of Maggie will show you how crisp the pleats stay, after he has worn it all day, sat on it in the car for hours, etc. Alan virtually never needs to iron a wool kilt! (Not that he would do, anyway...)

[MACKAY]

We recently adopted a German Shepard who is now 3 months old. He of course had a few accidents in the house, one involving a bad case of the runs on our white wool living room carpet, in the middle of the floor of course.

My wife used OxyClean, the stuff you see on the Info commercial and now available just about everywhere. After cleaning up the solids, she liberally applied the OxyClean solution and the stain was gone in seconds. We then followed with a basic water wash and used a shop vac to suck up the excess water.

This took all of 10 min, and you cannot see any discoloration in the carpet at all. Just thought that I would pass this on. I have not yet tried this on my wool kilt, but would consider it if the unthinkable happened.

Brian Mackay
"Manu Forti"

[Jimmy Carbomb]

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.

DING!!! DING!!! DING!!!

Thanks for "chiming-in" buddy!

The whole point that was missed in the other thread was that the WEAVE was where the problem was... not the material make-up or anything else. (You can only type it so many times). I've been educated thoroughly in wools over the last 10 months, and have even attended classes on spinning so that I could understand the processes and differences more thoroughly. I also got educated by a PV Mill on what their weaves are.

The care items that Cyndi posted earlier are right on, and the follow-ups and quotes from Matt's site are easy to understand. Don't be afraid of wool. It's your friend.

It's not as "wash-and-wear" as my UtiliKilts, AmeriKilts, BearKilts, or any of my synthetics... but it sure is TOUGH.

~* MODERATOR or Hank *~

Is there a way to get the information on "Kilt Care" that Cyndi posted, plopped into the "Articles" or an "Information" section for easy reference? Thanks!

[bear]

I have made kilts of a whole lot of different fabrics; many weights and weavers of wool, 2 weights and weavers of poly/viscose, many different hemps, polyesters, etc.
I made all these different kinds of kilts but the only fabrics I found I wanted to make and sell kilts with were wool and poly/viscose.
Speaking as one of the few people around who has actually made and worn both wool and poly/viscose kilts for a couple of years, I can tell you straight that there is little difference in making a wool or poly/viscose kilt. There is some difference in the fabric's ability to be stretched into shape. (Wool is better here.)
After two and a half years of wearing these kilts, I have never worn out a kilt. I've never seen the weave come loose, nor have any of my customers mentioned it.
The advantages of a wool kilt is that the fabric swings better and it is the traditional material used for kilts. Until we have poly/viscose kilts that are decades old, we won't know about the wear. Though Andrew is stress testing one with his hikes.
If kilts were a new style of garment just invented, which fabric would be chosen? Try to make this choice without thinking 'tradition.'

[Galant]

Yeah, and this thread protected by Anti-Hijack software, powered by courtesy...there's a reason I started a new thread.

Thanks.

[Riverkilt]

Bear wrote, "If kilts were a new style of garment just invented, which fabric would be chosen? Try to make this choice without thinking 'tradition.'"

Looking at my current collection of kilts guess that would be cotton/poly and cotton. Have 11 Utilikilts, three AmeriKilts, three Pittsburgh Kilts, and two Freedom Kilts.

That's what works for around here.

For fancy wear I have the UK leather and the RK saffron leather, and two traditional wool hand sewns from Kathy's Kilts.

And...two SportKilts, think out of poly of some sort.

I can't say for sure why, over all the hours I've spent on line shopping for kilts and reading reviews of kilts that I've never signed up for a Bear Kilt or a USA Kilt or a Stillwater, et.al. First thing comes to mind is that I've not found a tartan offered that I wanted...that's my fault for wanting the obscure tartans to fit my obscure family clans...

Or, maybe its my latent fear that the lighter poly kilts would look too skirt-like. The solid UKs fit with the jeans and chinos bifurcated look, the leather stands alone, the wool fills the traditional bill.

So, even though I've come close a number of times I've yet to plunk down the money for poly kilts (other than the SportKilts) and chosen instead to go with camos and solids...I'm just realizing this and wondering why that is....??

If a kiltmaker made me a free gift of a poly kilt in a tartan I liked I'm not even sure I would wear it much...up here in the dirt and dust and sand the solid cotton/polys seem heartier...and the solid color or camo looks just seem to go better. When it came time to wear a tartan kilt to the highland games how could I not wear a traditional wool and strut my "gang colors?"

I'm not for or against either...just looking back at what I've done and wondering why?

If I lived in a large city my selections might be very different...

Imagining for a moment I were moving to the city I know I'd still wear my black UK workman's, my three UK mockers, the tan UK original and the Arizona Flag Tri-color from PK on special occasions. Don't think the camos would work for city wear...but that's my brain...and its often in question...

I think I'd feel more comfortable in a poly kilt in the city.

Jeez, what a bunch of rambling...home sick with the crud today..sinus pressing on the brain pan too hard.

Bye,

Ron

[Thistle Stop]

I hope you feel better soon, Ron.

Sending you some...



:::::CYBER CHICKEN SOUP!:::::

[Alan H]

If kilts were invented today they'd be sold by The Gap, Banana Republic, K-Mart, Mervyn's, Nike and Sears. Oh, and possibly REI. Giorgio Armani and Ralph Lauren would sell upscale ones.

So, for what they'd be made of, go to those stores and see what men's clothes are made of. What do men wear? Blue Jeans and Dockers, or the Gap's home brew of the same thing. How abaout Carhart work pants? Ditto for Old Navy, or whatever you want to pick. There are essentially no wool garments found in those stores, with the exception of REI. Can you go to Sears and find a nice pair of wool slacks? Nope. Ain't gonna happen. Kilts sold in those stores, which is where 95 percent of American men get their clothes, will be made out of the materials found there already. Polyester, cotton, acrylic and blends.

Go to a Nike store and imagine what a "Just do it" workout swoosh kilt would look like. It would be made of rayon. It would have an embroidered signature of some pro player on it or be made in the local basketball or hockey teams logo, licensed from the NBA or the NHL. It would cost $40. It would be pretty much like the Sport Kilts that we all love to hate, or the Lip Service kilts that everyone loathes.

The upper echelon of "nice" kilts, the ones you'd pay $100 - $150 for would be found in upper class men's clothing stores, sort of the Scottish equivalent of Armani or Ralph Lauren or Nieman Marcus. The Mens section in Macy's would carry them. Those are Bear Kilts and USA Kilts. The medium-end of those are not made of wool, but they'remade of something significantly nicer than poly-cotton or rayon. In other words...a Bear Kilt in poly-viscose. The "exclusive" section in the Macy's mens store or in the Armani outlet would carry $300-$400 wool kilts... Bear Kilts in wool or USA Kilts traditionals. Maybe a speciality shop would carry Balmoral Highlandwear $400 casual kilts in wool. Maybe.

When you go to a custom tailor where you pay $1,000 and more for a suit made to fit you, THAT is where the handmade $500 wool kilts that everyone loves to love would be found. However, are those clothes that regular people just wear around every day?

[Alan H]

I really hope that the whole X Marks kilt thing works out, because I want a beautiful, hand-made wool kilts made for me. I think that's a fantastic thing, and I'm looking forward to it. I will wear it, of course, but I will treat it with care and go to pains not to ruin it. I can't carry around a ten pound stain removal kit with me wherever I go, and if I wear it "around" I'm going to dump coffee on it, sooner or later.

I want to take care of my wonderful handmade kilt...treat the garment with respect, treat the care and time that went into it's construction with respect.

"Respect" doesn't equal "frozen away in my closet, never to see the light of day", you know? But it also doesn't mean wearing it to Fraternity parties where beer gets airborne on a regular basis.