In general, kilt maintenance need not be either difficult or expensive. The important thing is to get at soil promptly; don't let it sit until it stains or attracts moths. Any kilt should be examined for soil and cleaned appropriately immediately after each wearing.

Most soil can be removed by careful brushing; sometimes a little assistance from a damp sponge or cloth may be required. Be very careful with liquids; they can make the soil penetrate the fibers and bond chemically with them.

My main objection to washing with water (and to dry cleaning) is that it eliminates any pleats that are not sewn in, and re-pleating and pressing is a large enough job that I don't enjoy it.

I note that some kilt makers advise that a woolen kilt should always be dry cleaned, and others that it should never be dry cleaned. I think the difference is that some kilt makers live in towns small enough that their cleaners do their own work and value individual customers enough to learn how to do kilts properly, while others live in cities where the cleaners send all their work out to a central facility whose operators don't care a bit about what the ultimate customers want.

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