Storing kilts for a couple of years

[gilmore]

I am going to put kilts in storage for maybe two years, maybe longer. Anyone have any suggestions as to the best way?

I was thinking of the old roll them up in a lady's stocking/knee high thing, stacking them in a plastic container with a bit of moth repellent, and sealing it with duct tape.

But then I was concerned about having to press them after two years, and thought about basting the pleats now (instead of likely then when they are about to be pressed) and storing them flat on top of each other, with perhaps acid free paper between them. And sealed up air tight lest moth and rust corrupt.

Anyone had any experience with long term kilt storage?

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

I've stored mine folded in half (pleats out), wrapped in acid free tissue paper, and laid flat in a tin trunk with some mothballs for years with no ill-effects. Taken out after three or four years, then hung up over night, they are ready to wear with no ill effects or wrinkles.

I would think that sealing them in a plastic tube may have some adverse effect (the reaction between the plastic tube and the naptha in the moth balls), but have no "science" to back this up.

[george7]

I've always seen the older pipers keep their 'shrunken' kilts in cedar chests.

[Standard]

I read about the method that MacMillan uses, but the cedar chest idea sounds like a good idea too. I know that wool sweaters stored in a cedar chest do very well.

BTW why the long term storage?

[Rex_Tremende]

I sort of think that completely sealing them up is not a very good idea. Somewhere along the way I had heard that keeping clothes in air-tight containers only promotes mildew from whatever spores and moisture there is that gets locked in. Keep the bugs out, but let the air circulate, I think.

Regards,
Rex.

[Bugbear]

I wonder if BT kills moth larvi...

It's too bad you couldn't fill a kilt bag with nitrogen or even helium like a bag of tortilla chips and heat seal it...

What will you be doing for two years, Gilmore, and will we not have you here for that time?

[Abax]

Somewhere along the way I had heard that keeping clothes in air-tight containers only promotes mildew from whatever spores and moisture there is that gets locked in.

Just out of high school, I was a property and evidence specialist for the local police department. Officers would frequently seize articles of clothing they thought were involved in a crime. These clothes weren't soaked in blood or any other obvious fluids, but were simply removed from the suspect and placed in a plastic bag. About a week later, the clothes would smell horrible and quite often were the host for green and gray mold. Unless you can sterilize your clothing and then remove ALL the moisture, DO NOT SEAL IT IN PLASTIC.

The smart officers put even dry clothing in a drying bin (filtered air circulating at room temp) for about a week, then sealed the clothing in paper (either a bag or wrapped in craft paper). The paper provided enough air flow to hinder the formation of growing things. I saw clothes treated like this that were in good shape 20 years later.

I'm no expert in preservation, but I'd suggest a fabric cover. You could easily make one by basting some muslin or an old sheet to the necessary size. Fold the kilt flat with the two front aprons as you'd wear it, then slip the kilt inside and baste it closed. If everything lays flat, you probably don't need to baste the pleats.

Abax

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Basting the stitches before storing the kilt isn't a bad idea. It definitely would help keep all the pleats in place. I'd recommend folding the kilt with the pleats out, not in, as Rathdown describes, again, to keep the pleats neat. Folding with the pleats in tends to wrinkle the pleats more.

If you can store the kilt hanging, rather than lying flat, that would also keep the pleats neat.

And I will only say that cedar smells far better than mothballs. Every year at Burns Dinners I inevitably end up shaking hands with a number of gentlemen who reek of camphor, and I can't help but think "well, someone hasn't worn their kilt since Burns Night last year..." But whichever you use, it ought to be changed once per year.

[ForresterModern]

I am a hanger type like Matt. I have a bunch of kilt hangers from Scotweb that are large enough to accomodate my 45-46 inch waisted kilts without allowing the ends or center to droop, I put two or three each into those inexpensive hanging storage bags available at your local department store (Walmart, Target. etc) for a couple buckes, and hang them either in a closet or one of those moving company wardrobe boxes. Same with my kit jacket/waistcoat sets, except on Order of the GAel hangers or regular suit jacket hangers. I put either a cedar block or one of those lavendar hangers in with each bag. The bags allow the clothes to breath so there is no mildew or moisture problem, but keep out the bugs. The combination of cedar and lavendar is strong enough to keep the moths away, without being so overpowering as the mothballs, and either is far more pleasant to smell than the mothballs. I personally prefer the lavendar, but some might think it a little effeminate to go out smelling of lavendar into the world in a manly kilt. The smells usually dissipate with about 24 hours of hanging in open well ventilated air. So far no holes or other moth evidence, and both kilts and jackets are ready togo at a moments notice, if you don't mind the smells.

[tyger]

Perhaps consider the following:

1- I suggest: clean the kilts, and store them in airtight tupperware-style plastic bins (such as you described earlier), wherein you have placed sufficient dessicant (available at gun shops, home/bath supply stores). That way, mold and bugs simply cannot grow.

2- Carol suggests: COLD STORAGE! (Yep, that is what all women did in the South when I was a kid. In the spring, they put their fur garments in the meat locker at the ice plant in Crowley LA). So, Carol says, wrap the clean kilt in paper, and put it in a refrigerator. Any refer would do. If the power goes out, bugs cannot get in, and the power on is.....inevitable.