In Educating Dry Cleaners and review of Celtic Croft

[Kagetora0511]

Here, in South Florida, no matter how much you think you can trust a Dry Cleaner to get your kilts clean and pressed... Dont Trust Him, be a drill sergeant and get serious with the guy, that is the biggest point I can make here in this post.

OK, here's what has happened, two of my favorite kilts,
Black Watch Economy Kilt from Celtic Croft (50poly/50wool)
St. Patrick Philabeag Kilt from Celtic Croft (50poly/50wool)
have both just been put in the trash.

Why

Two reasons
1. Freakin Dry Cleaners down here didn't know what they were doing at all
2. My lack of knowledge on keeping a Kilt clean, pressed, and well maintained

I work in an Irish Pub, I am a barback, and I wear kilts to work. They make my job fun and a bit more exciting when the nights get wild.

I have found that I need kilts that I can wash and press myself (Stillwater kilts and Sport Kilts) being that working in a bar and restaurant atmosphere gets them dirty and 'disheveled' more easily.

The Dry Cleaners I went to, well I was 'too nice' and forgiving with the guy and I could sense signs from the first time that he was 'messing with me'. Now, he can lose my business.

I have tried repairing the kilts myself, but the fabric is too beat up and disheveled that there's no hope, they have been stretched and yanked and darted in too many ways to count.

I would like to point out that 'Joseph' the lead kilt-maker at Celtic Croft, is the guy I will be relying on to get one of my kilts fixxed up, the sizes are all wrong on it and it needs to just be 'shrunk down'.

Lesson here, I learn by doing, Dry Cleaners can't, Friggin get on their case about anything and everything you see wrong with the kilt, It's their job to get it right.

[Spartan]

Ouch! So noted.

If there is a local pipe band, you might check with them to find out where they have their kilts cleaned.

Irish Pubs are great!

[Pleater]

Once a Polyester has been heated under tension or pressure it is permanently altered - it is simply the nature of the fibre.

You might find that all wool or all cotton kilts are easier to work with, particularly if the material has a hard, smooth finish. Polyester tends to be 'fluffy' and the surface soon starts to look tired, even faded or polished and threadbare.

I have a number of all cotton kilts which are simply pleated onto a waistband, and they can be washed and hung to dry, ironed and then lightly pressed - to get them looking smart they can even be starched.
They are lighter than denim and more flowing, even when starched, so they swing like a proper kilt.

Wool can be easily washable. There are treatments which mean it can be machine washed - but I have never seen any information about whether or not the wool used by the mills is treated to be 'Suoerwash' or not.

If it is 'Superwash' then hand washing in warm water is a better option than drycleaning.

I have found that hanging the kilts to dry is helpful in reducing the amount of work with an iron required.

I only hang them when they are damp, after being left flat to lose water after washing. I use two hangers and turn the kilt several times to speed up the drying and also to preen the pleats into place.

When pressing I use a board - anything that will resist heat and steam long enough to lay the pleat on, and a thin cotton pressing cloth so that the iron is not in direct contact with the kilt.

Pressing a kilt is not difficult but it can be very time consuming at first. The hanging to dry and experience will reduce the time needed, but the fabric of the kilt is quite an important factor.

Anne the Pleater :ootd:

[Wompet]

Sorry to hear about the ruined kilts. I've seen what bad cleaning what do.
For replacements, have you considered USAKilts - machine washable poly-viscose that you can clean at home.

[dowofbuchanan]

wow thats bollocks man ... as long as your not cdo like me i spent 3 hours repleating and reironing ... is that a word ... well thats with a thrifty id hate to see me when i get a tank with thirty or so pleats

[Kagetora0511]

Pleater

Thnx for all the info, now I've got some ideas to work with.

Wompet

I actually already own a PolyVicose Kilt from Sport Kilt, great thing it is, can take all kinds of hell, get washed, quick iron to it and... Wa-La, like new.


I'd have to say that I am most impressed by my Stillwater Kilt, It's very easy to clean and Iron and I can do it all in about an hour.

Just came across a gal I work with named Maggie from Dublin, she's actually Ironed kilts before and is pretty good at it, got her number and have asked her to help show me how to do it, nice girl.

Spartan

There is only one local Pipe band I know of but I can't get any info on how to get in touch with them, they're a fire-fighter pipe band (real badass lookin dudes) that did their march at our Pub for St. Pati's day, one of the real highlights of the whole day, aside from numerous kilt checks, keg runs, and other kinds of madness. Pulled a 20 hour shift that day and slept till 9 pm the next day... in my kilt no less