can you tell real wool from fake wool

**swampfox** · 31st December 10, 10:40 AM

from what my mom told me she didnt pay too much for it cause it was used but looking at it it really looks brand new so i dunno.... the size is way too small for me so it gives me motivation to lose weight, but i also got a clan gunn crest sword kilt pin and some cream colored hose lol she got me a sporran with a cantle but i dont think im gonna wear it lol it looks really cheap and flimsy lol.

it was a christmas present so i cant complain.

**BoldHighlander** · 31st December 10, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by Canuck of NI

If you can find a seam on the back of the kilt and isolate or extract a few threads, try exposing them to a small flame. If they burn and char, it's wool (or at least some natural material). If they melt, it's not wool. If the kilt goes up in flames, hey Dude, it was your idea in the first place! -but it wouldn't have been a safe garment to wear anyway.

That's why we discouraged synthetic materials in historical reenacting (campfires and all)!

**MacBean** · 31st December 10, 05:40 PM

Originally Posted by swampfox

from what my mom told me she didnt pay too much for it cause it was used but looking at it it really looks brand new so i dunno.... the size is way too small for me so it gives me motivation to lose weight, but i also got a clan gunn crest sword kilt pin and some cream colored hose lol she got me a sporran with a cantle but i dont think im gonna wear it lol it looks really cheap and flimsy lol.

it was a christmas present so i cant complain.

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/amse/2009/147175.html
As a chemist, all problems appear to be chemical in nature to me! I seem to remember that the classic test for wool is to dissolve a few hairs in NaOH (concentrated lye). Wool, being keratin protein hydrolyzes into peptides and amino acids (dissolve away) while synthetic polymers and cotton don't.

**auld argonian** · 1st January 11, 09:06 AM

There are some wool/poly blends out there and, while they're not just wool, they don't suck...I suppose that it depends on the proportions of the blend.

I have a one-off prototype from Stillwater that's a wool/poly blend and while it's not quite as nice as worsted wool, it's a degree or two nicer than the acrylic...certainly an adequate material.

Best

AA

**ANCIENT OGILVIE HUNTING** · 1st January 11, 05:13 PM

Re The Singh Brothers '''''''''''''''''''''''The SinghS seem to have cornered the market for Highland clothing in Scotland and have bought up half the shops on the Royal Mile and every other area in Scotland
they also trade on ebay ............using the name .HERITAGE OF SCOTLAND.COM
MUCH CHEAPNESS,.......... QUALITY ? YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR ...........

When it comes to Kilt's an old saying comes to mind.
.NEVER MIND THE QUALITY FEEL THE WIDTH

link to above...............http://www.heritageofscotland.com/

**KWD** · 1st January 11, 06:16 PM

So http://www.heritageofscotland.com/ is Junk?

**ANCIENT OGILVIE HUNTING** · 1st January 11, 10:19 PM

I'm not one to use high price tags as a surrogate indicator of quality
but as I said earlier " YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR "
I personally have bought from this company's store in Fife and been more than satisfied with what i have purchased.

**OC Richard** · 2nd January 11, 06:21 AM

this thread made me laugh!

or rather the mental image that popped into my head, of taking a new kilt, crumpling it up, lighting it on fire, throwing lye and chlorine on it...

**Tartan Tess** · 2nd January 11, 06:50 AM

I am making band kilts out of tartan from Heritage of Scotland. I have no complaints about it.
When the band member's had the same tartan from Lochcarron and Heritage on the table, they chose Heritage because it was a better price and there wasn't a 14 week wait. And we are talking modern mackenzie, not some off the wall tartan. Looks, feels and presses the same to me....but I am ALWAYS learning here.

**Pleater** · 2nd January 11, 07:24 AM

Originally Posted by MacBean

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/amse/2009/147175.html
As a chemist, all problems appear to be chemical in nature to me! I seem to remember that the classic test for wool is to dissolve a few hairs in NaOH (concentrated lye). Wool, being keratin protein hydrolyzes into peptides and amino acids (dissolve away) while synthetic polymers and cotton don't.

That is probably the classic test, though the household one is that wool dissolves in chlorine bleach,

I have heard of old Christening robes which were carefully perserved against moths for decades being brought out and then bleached in an attempt to change the natural cream colour to sparkling white. All that was left in the morning was the buttons.

A small thread from a garment and tied onto a piece of cotton can be left in bleach and then examined - what is left, if anything, is the 'not wool' portion of the fibres.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: