Cold water wash?

[Ruanaidh]

If you use Eucalan instead of Woolite you can eliminate the rinsing. Soak the kilt in the tub and hang up to dry, no rinsing is required and the Eucalan leaves a wonderful Eucalyptus aroma. Eucalan is not available everywhere so check online.

[MacWage]

OK,

I MEANT a LITTLE squeeze, just enough to get the EXCESS water out AFTER a minute or so of dripping. It should be JUST ENOUGH to keep it from being messy as you take it out to dry.

DON'T WAD the thing up and twist it until DRY! NO!!!!!!!

I'll go back and remove the "wring" as that was not really what I meant. I was thinking of a light gripping. Not enough to WRINKLE the wet thing, just enough to have more water flow out. It SHOULD be LOGICAL (though I probably assume too much).

Sorry for the term, Barb.

[Pleater]

Although it doesn't always suit the local water supply, normal human hair shampoo and conditioner are also good for washing wool.

The water here is very hard, and some shampoos work better than others, but in soft water areas the effect is much better. It helps to use water very slightly above room temperature in hard water areas, rather than straight from the cold tap. The washing water and all the rinses should be the same temperature.

Adding half a cup of white vinegar to the final rinse helps to neutralise any remaining detergent and restores the natural pH of the wool.

To get the water out of a kilt, lay several towels on the floor, put the kilt on top as straight and uncreased as possible, then put several more towels on top, and then roll it up like a swiss roll. You can then compress it - stand on it, barefoot and shuffle gently across it, or just press it under your hands.

Once you have squashed from one end to the other release the kilt and - now that is is much lighter, shimmy the pleats to get them into place, then re roll and press again, using fresh towels if possible.

The kilt should then be dry enough to lay or hang to dry without dripping.

This doesen't seem to hurt garments - I have done this with kilts, cloaks, saris, evening gowns - you just need enough towels and a bit of care. Press your weight down without any twisting of the roll as that can deform the cloth.

[turpin]

OK, being the lazy guy I am, I just bought some Eucalan. Now to put it to use.

[Robinhood]

I remember reading quite a few years ago that Woolite is not
really anything special. It was in a magazine (possibly Consumer
Reports, or Mother Earth News) so it was at least marginally
researched. The author stated that dish washing liquids
would work as well and for significantly less cost.

Rather than be a penny wise and a pound foolish, I chose
to wash one my kilts with genuine Woolite. It is a mistake
I won't repeat. The problem was that I couldn't tolerate
the smell of 7 full yards of scented fabric. It was so bad
that I even re-rinsed the kilt twice and re pressed it. I
still had to hang the kilt out in the breeze for several weeks
before I could stand to wear it.

[James MacMillan]

Everything said above is true in my experience, and I have little to add...but:

Woolite does have a wierd smell. Baby shampoo has worked well for me for years.

During the rinsing stage, make sure that the kilt is really well supported on the line! Like 20 clothespins! Use a garden hose with a spray attachment. If possible dry the kilt flat, as the natural weight of the kilt will stretch itself. Think about putting plastic on your bed, then towells, then the kilt, with the window open. Change the towells every two hours. NO HEAT!!!!! No Sun!!!

Dry clean only as a last resort.

I have dry cleaned only old, really heavily soiled wool kilts. ( I dry clean and wash synthetics all the time.) I talked extensively to the dry cleaners before I allowed them to do the kilt. I basted the kilt before I took it to them, four times across (devide the un-sewn part into thirds) Then I used a comercial product that I can no longer find that was designed for wool suits. The next time I dry-clean this kilt I am going to try the scotchguard made for wool.

[pdcorlis]

Hey Mr. Turpin - how about a photo essay of the process to help the "clan" better understand the process?

Thanks!

[turpin]

Hey Mr. Turpin - how about a photo essay of the process to help the "clan" better understand the process?

Thanks!

When I get to it, I'll try to remember to document the process.

[JimB]

Just adding a few comments...
My wife is a wool spinner and she works with raw wool occasionally. In order to clean the wool prior to spinning she uses Palmolive dish washing detergent. She didn't come up with this on her own, this is what she was taught to use by people who have been doing it for years. Now I'm not recommending that folks use this stuff, but I have come to understand that almost any gentle detergent (and shampoo is really just detergent) is fine for wool. I have used cheap Costco shampoo on my wool suit pants and it has worked fine.
The trick, as others have said is caring for the material while it is wet. Treat it gently. Do NOT agitate. Just squeeze down gently with your hands to get water movement and pump the water though the material. Do not wring. Put it on a towel on a rack and let it dry naturally while smoothing it out.
Vinegar does work very well in the final rinse to get rid of any soap residue. I use it all the time in my regular wash instead of fabric softener.

Just as an aside, when I was in Navy boot camp we washed our 100% wool cracker jack uniforms by hand in large trash cans and hung them over a clothes line. This is how we were taught to do it.
Didn't hurt the wool one bit.

It can be done. Just do it carefully.