Tips on storing kilts in suitcase

[Grae]

I was wondering if anyone has tips on the best way to store / pack a kilt in suitcase/ trunk. I don't mean a packing a kilt for travel (kilt roll technique) but rather for storage. Is best to lie kilt with flat pleats up? or pleats down? or folding kilt in half? I recall people saying they stored their kilts in a cedar (?) chest and wondered how it is best to store kilts flat so the pleats are not crumpled) camphor etc will need to be put in suitcase to prevent moth attack. Any tips /experience on this welcomed!

[OftKilted]

It sounds like you are asking about archival storage of woolen materials.

I'm personally twitchy about the mothballs/moth crystals idea. However I don't need to do archival storage of my kilts. They get way too much use. However ... When I am storing them (not on a hanger) I use the typical suitcase roll style. (someone makes a kilt roll bag actually).

I just can't see mothballs etc being good long term for the material. (Mothballs are bad, if you are using moth crystals which are slightly less bad you put them in a piece of nylon pantyhose and then store with the clothes in question. This keeps the moth crystals off the fabric.)

M.A.C. Newsome might the among best people to ask as he is with the Scottish Tartan Museum.

[Schiehallion]

I hang mine on kilt hangers, have cedarwood rings with long and short strings hanging inside and outside of the hanging kilt as well as cedarwood cubes in the bottom of the bag which is a jacket/suit zip bag folded over at the top and hung in the wardrobe. To identify which kilt is which I have a tartan tag on the zipper. I have 5 kilts and wear them frequently so I have little need to store them for long periods. The same goes for Argyll, Crail jackets and my Prince Charlie.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

For personal use/storage at home, I recommend hanging rather than storing flat. Hanging the kilt allows any minor wrinkles to fall out, and prevents the pleats from being creased or further wrinkled as might happen if one were to fold the kilt and store in a drawer, etc.

However, for archival purposes, what we do at the museum is to use a large, flat archival box, large enough to lay the kilt flat in.

Now you are not going to find one so large that you can lay the entire kilt flat inside, so you will need to fold it into thirds (as when you are wearing it, aprons overlapping). Place acid-free tissue paper in between the folds, then pack acid free tissue around the kilt itself in the box.

[ForresterModern]

Hang them on quality hangers (I prefer those from Scotweb or Celtic Croft) in a cedar lined closet, or in that is not available in hanging clothes wardrobes or garment bags with cedar or mothballs or even lavendar, depending on your desire for strength of effectiveness and residual odors after removal from storage. Rolled or folded is fine for transport afterwhich they will usually need a good steaming or potentially a pressing to clear out the wrinkle, but if left in that condition for long periods someo f the creases and wrinkles may be come nearly permanent.

[Chas]

When our parents and grandparents went travelling they used what is called a steamer trunk. The clothes were hung up and all their accessories were stored in drawers.



Genuine vintage steamer trunks are now almost unobtainable. I would have thought that a large suit-case on end would, with a little modification, serve the same purpose.

[Grae]

Thank you for you input and collective wisdom.

[jhockin]

for another viewpoint, on the best way to store your kilt(s), check out what Robert MacDonald (a member, and former kiltmaker, for the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada) has to say, on his website, at:

http://www.westcoastkilts.com/kilt-c...toringyourkilt