tips

[longshadows]

I use Woolite or a gentle washing liquid, COLD water and the "Gentle" fabric setting on my washer. There is minimal agitation. I stop if after the rinse cycle, but before the spin (even though the spin on this setting is quite minimal). In other words the kilt is "sopping wet" when I remove it from the washer.

I run a heavy dowel (broom handle) through all of the belt loops, pull it tight along the dowel and then suspend the length of dowel from the rafters in my cellar or out doors, to "drip dry." I take a few minutes to stretch and smooth the pleats back into shape and go about my business. As all my kilts (so far) are synthetic fabrics or synthetic blends, they dry over night in the cellar. If you hang them outdoors, you may want to find a shady spot, so the sun won't fade any of the colors.

UKs have no belt loop at one end, so that end does droop, but a clip can be attached to hold it up level with the rest of the kilt's waist.

On kils with few or no belt loops, it's more of a challange. The heavy weight of the sodden kilt (especially if it is wool) will usually pull out from most skirt hanger clips. So, some construction of a dowel, to which you've attached a few heavy-duty clips (available at Home Depot or most good hardware stores). You could even use a low cealing in the basement and attach heavy-duty clips along an overhead beam, to which you could simply clip the wet kilt when it comes out of the wash and not bother with running a dowel through belt loops. (This scenario requires that you don't care if you basement floor gets wet, however.)

They look great, it costs nothing but a few minutes and you don't have to plan your wardrobe on the cleaner's schedule.

I can't see why wool wouldn't work the same way.

Regards,

[Hamish]

There is no way that I would wash a kilt - it is dry cleaning almost every time, and even then, only when absolutely necessary. Of all the 59 kilts in my Kollection, the only ones to have been washed are my Workman's Utilikilts. These get muddy from gardening, so a quick wash freshens them up nicely - but they require a lot of careful ironing after almost every wearing!

[Southern Breeze]

I handwash my Stillwaters and put them in the dryer. I've also had to wash several of the wool kilts that I bought to get rid of odors. I let them drip dry for several hours then put them in the dryer on low to finish.
Before you have a heart attack over that last statement, let me say that I have one of the Maytag cabinet dryers. Here's a link for anyone not familier with them:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/bestmayt...eeldrcamc.html

[Kilted KT]

Easiest thing to do is contact your local pipe and drum corps, asking where they get their kilts dry cleaned. Otherwise you risk ruining it.

[Barb T]

Before you have a heart attack over that last statement, let me say that I have one of the Maytag cabinet dryers. Here's a link for anyone not familier with them:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/bestmay...neeldrcamc.html

Wow - never seen one of those. Looks like a _great_ invention!

B

[auld argonian]

Yah! I can't wait until the current washer and dryer finally break down so that I can spend $2K on a new set! The front loading tumble washers seem to be squeezing out the traditional ones.

But those dryer cabinets are the answer to a lot of prayers.

Best

AA

[Kiltedfirepiper]

I haev two %100 wool kilts (13-16 oz ) and I hand wash them w/woolite in the tub with cold water....it basiclt is me soaking the kilt in the water/woolite mix(about 1 cap full) in about 6" of water and I lift the kilt in and out of the water about 20 times, the draining the water out and refilling w/fresh clean water( trust me the old water is DIRTY after you do this )
and repeating the process ( in and out probably about 30-40 times ) then I use 2 "skirt hangers to hang it to dry at that time I also run the pleats between 2 fingers to clean up the pleats and make sure they're straight and let it hang till dry in the bathroom ( in denver AND Tucson this only takes about 1-1/2 days ) and I havent had ONE problem with it looking any different ( stretched, pilling, felting ....ANYTHING ) I do this one to twice a year and the only thing I notice thats different is the colors look brighter!

just doing the in and out of the water you'd be supprised how much dirt you get out of a kilt ....no need to agitate,wring(sp) roll up into a ball Ect.
after drying it WILL be a little stiff but wear it once and that will dissapear too


Scott

[Oswulf]

Our tax return this year went to a new set of Whirlpool front loaders. They are pretty nifty in a lot of ways, though damn expensive. The dryer is one of the regular tumble dry type, but it has a shelf you can stick in it for flat drying wool goodies. That said, I don't think I'm gonna risk it with my wool kilts, even though the gentle cycle on the washer is real gentle. (it just kinda gets the clothes damp and then does a series of half turns in either direction, not like agitation at all.) I think they'll work great for wool sweaters and pants, but I doubt I'll risk kilts in 'em.

Oswulf

[Rick]

Another local dry cleaner where I live offers two services for cleaning of kilts. They have their in-house service which is reasonably fast and not too expensive and they offer a second service at higher cost and longer lead time where they ship the kilt to an expert to do the cleaning. When I dry clean a kilt in the future, I will definitely go for the expert service. However, I will also consider re-basting the pleats. While not fun, the half hour or so spent doing this is better than several hours trying to fix splayed pleats. I will post a review of the "expert" service soon as I have a couple of e-bay kilts on the way.

Rick

OK, I could not wait to wear the kilt (~8 yard, MacInnes Ancient, 13 Oz). It arrived on Thursday. I based down the pleats at three points and took it to the dry cleaners on Friday and asked for it back that evening (standard service). I instructed them not to press the kilt. Friday evening, I picked up the kilt, and while they had indeed not pressed it, it had minimal signs of wrinkling. I then pressed it while still basted using a wet press cloth and a steam iron. After taking out my basting stitches, the pleats were exactly where they were supposed to be and it fit perfectly.

Rick

[Barb T]

That's the way to do it!! If anyone wants quick instructions on how to baste a kilt, let me know.

Barb