Vacuum Cleaner?

[Bugbear]

Do any of you all use vacuum cleaners on your kilts and other wool/kilt related items? Something like a Dust Buster or the hose attachment on a regular vacuum; just wondering if it is safe for the kilt and other items.

It's a haboob issue...

[piperdbh]

It should be safe on a kilt, but I wouldn't try to clean a horsehair sporran with it.

[Riverkilt]

Maybe vacuum with a brush attachment but I sure wouldn't want the fabric sucked up the hose a bit. Probably would pull the weave out of shape.

I just hand brush after wearing my kilts.

Then I use a steamer to reset the pleats and kill the micro critters that may have set up housekeeping during the last outing.

[chrisupyonder]

Maybe vacuum with a brush attachment but I sure wouldn't want the fabric sucked up the hose a bit. Probably would pull the weave out of shape.

I just hand brush after wearing my kilts.

Then I use a steamer to reset the pleats and kill the micro critters that may have set up housekeeping during the last outing.

I also use a small brush attachment but could you explain the use of a steamer, what type etc. and does it clean the kilt?

Chris.

[piperdbh]

I also use a small brush attachment but could you explain the use of a steamer, what type etc. and does it clean the kilt?

Chris.

I won't try to speak for Ron, but I've seen where others members will have a steamer, similar to the type used in clothing stores, that steams wrinkles out of clothes. Here's a picture of one model:

There are smaller, hand-held versions of this machine, too.

[Tobus]

Maybe vacuum with a brush attachment but I sure wouldn't want the fabric sucked up the hose a bit. Probably would pull the weave out of shape.

I just hand brush after wearing.

Is there any concern about long-term wear on the fabric from all that friction of brushing? Will it cause pilling, frizzing, or fraying over the course of many years? I want to be sure my good wool kilts could be heirlooms in 30 or 40 years. Will brushing or vacuuming with a brush attachment affect this?

[Bugbear]

Is there any concern about long-term wear on the fabric from all that friction of brushing? Will it cause pilling, frizzing, or fraying over the course of many years? I want to be sure my good wool kilts could be heirlooms in 30 or 40 years. Will brushing or vacuuming with a brush attachment affect this?

I think brushing is fine, for wool, Tobus. This is only from what I have read on the forum and some clothing care sites; I'm ignorant... In one of my threads, Nanook said a goat hair brush, or something like that, should be used.

I was really just wondering if the vacuum cleaner would damage the kilt in some way that I don't understand. I guess it would if it sucked the kilt down the hose.

I did clean around the mouth area of the Dust Buster before using it on the kilt; might have had dirt or something on it.

[Bugbear]

I think Riverkilt has a heavy-duty Jiffy steamer.

[Riverkilt]

Aye, I have the Jiffy like in the pic above and also have the ESteam portable for travel. Any portable steamer form a big box store or an infomercial will do but I prefer the Jiffy line because they are so well made.

Steamers eliminate wrinkles from wool and PV kilts. Work on cotton and cotton/poly too.

I love them so much I use them to steam shirts instead of iron them. Faster, easier.


http://www.jiffysteamer.com/

[Celtoi Annie]

My experience with wool in the humid, hot south is we air it out on the line, spritz it with water before bed and put in the freezer over night. Then pull it out the next morning and on a very hard wooden board, iron the dickens out of it. You will get a pleat as sharp as a knife that will not fall out. This I learned from my Scotish Grandmother.

We reenact the civil war era in 100% wool pants, even in summer. When we need to wash the pants, we use orvis soap. It is made especially for wool. Wash on cold, line dry until just damp and then stick in the freezer.

I do this for the poly viscose kilt I made for my son and I have not had to repleat the pleats. He has been wearing it solid for 2 weeks now. I need to take it and wash it while he is asleep. He treats it like a security blanket.