PV material and Perma Pleating

[Alan H]

PV is a blend of polyester and viscose. Now, we have to be careful about calling it a synthetic, because viscose is actually reprocessed cellulose, which is pretty darned natural. Then again, it's not wool, either, so I dunno..

Whatever the case, Kilt Wilter is spot on about Acrylic NOT being the material to wear when it's hot. I have two Stillwater kilts and I love them, but they're sweat city in hot weather. When it's hot I opt for my PV philabeg kilt from USA Kilts.

Marton Mills is one of the several big weaving companies in Scotland along with Locharron, House of Edgar, Glen Affric, Strathmore and so on. Marton Mills produces a lot of the wool tartans that you'll find on any of the tartan finders, or by looking though the Kilt Store link at the top of the X Marks page. However, they also produce a line of tartans, about 60 of them, in 10.5 ounce polyester-viscose.

Because of the reduced expense, relative durability of the cloth, and machine-washability, the Marton Mills polyester-viscose is quite popular with casual kilt makers. Other companies also make polyester-viscose tartans. For example. N. Batley, Ltd. makes a line of polyester-viscose.

However, not all PV is made the same. Marton Mills PV is somewhat heavier-weight than N. Batley's PV. That's good for kilts, but might not be good for other things. It all depend on what you want.

There's someone else that makes PV tartan material, because I just bought 3.8 meters of it off of ebay in Gray Stewart, and neither Marton Mills nor N. Batley make a Gray Stewart PV. Who it is, though, I have no idea.

For a truly traditional kilt, most serious kiltmakers won't use PV. However, for a casual kilt, one you can wash and one that's really good in hot weather, or for someone who can't wear wool, poly-viscose is a very good alternative. Look at it this way.... for a kilt you can just throw on and wear around, for one that costs between $100-$150, a kilt that you can stip off and throw in the washing machine and then iron yourself in ten minutes, polyester-viscose is a great choice. Would I wear a polyster-viscose kilt to a very formal occasion that will be packed with knowledgeable kilt-wearers? No. Do I wear mine to work, around town, to Highland Games and so on? You bet.

There are also polyester-wool blends out there, so if you're looking for alternatives, PV is not the only one.

[RockyR]

PV will be lighter than wool if the PV in question is a lighter fabric that the wool. It's a simple matter of weight. A 13 oz PV will be heavier than an 11 oz wool.

Correct... it's like the trick question... which is heavier, a ton of lead or a ton of feathers... they're both a ton.

PV is an 11 oz fabric while most wool kilts are made from a minimum of 13 oz wool.

As for whether one is cooler than the other, all other things being equal I would expect that a wool, which is a natural fabric and breaths very well, would be cooler than a synthetic like PV.

Kevin

Actually, we've found that to be untrue. PV breathes EXTREMELY well. It's not the polyesther you know from "Saturday Night Fever". It's woven with Viscose (to my understanding it's a tree fiber) and is very breathable. I wear SEVERAL different kilts in several materials and weights. I have a few PV Semi Traditionals, 2 13 oz wool kilts, 3 16 oz wool kilts and USED to have an 11 oz kilt. I've worked many outdoor festivals in the hot sun in late summer and found that I am overheating in my wool kilts. My PV is the perfect weight and fabric type for those festivals... it pulls the sweat away from my skin and evaporates (the sweat... not the kilt).

All business aside... if I were to PERSONALLY buy a kilt for ease of care to wear in a hot climate, PV is the way to go. That's why we USE it for the lower end kilts in our business (keep in mind we DO sell WOOL kilts in our Premier model)... Cotton Poly is generally made too light (6 to 8 oz) for a "real" kilt and Acrylic or straight Poly material is too hot and difficult to iron.

I'd be happy to answer any more questions on PV material if anyone has any.

[RockyR]

Hi All,

I live in Florida and want a tartan kilt that is lighter and cooler than a wool kilt. Is PV lighter and cooler than wool?

Also, what exactly is Perma Pleating?

I answered the first question in my post above.

Perma Pleating is where we sew the very edge of each pleat down from the top of the kilt to the bottom. It's just our name for it. Doing this keeps a crisp pleat edge even after washing.It assures that you'll have to iron less often and when you do, you won't need to roll the tartan between your fingers to line it up to iron it straight... just lay the kilt flat and line 'em up and hit it with a warm steam iron for 2 minutes and you're good as new!

Ask any customer with a USA Casual kilt... they'll let you know how easy it is.

[Kilts_Knave]

tourists ... in their synthetic tank-tops, shorts, etc. ... viewed themselves as "cooler"

We get a lot of tourists down here and the problem seems to be acclimation. I have lived in South Florida for going on 5 years. I remember first driving into Florida in December around Tampa and I couldn't believe the heat! Now, because I am used to the heat, I can wear a quarter sleeve baseball shirt in dark colors, a belt, socks, shoes and long pants to work everyday without breaking a sweat in 90 degree weather and close to 100% humidity. If I am outside for over half-an-hour or I stand out in the sun, of course I will get a little foissht. We have AC inside, but it doesn't effect me once I get outside. (I'm not sure how does AC play in all this?) If tourists dressed like me they would get heatstroke! Just my 2 cents...

[billmcc]

Rocky,

In the Customer Galleries of your website, there is a photo of a man playing a yellow violin/fiddle. His kilt's tartan is Stewart Hunting, correct? Is this PV material? Is he wearing a Philabeg or a semi-traditional kilt?

[RockyR]

That's Danny Ray Cole in the pic. He's a great guy and a talented Violin player. Yes, it IS Stewart Hntg and his is our casual model. The material is PV.

[Magnus Sporrano]

PV resists fungal infections better, has a higher evaporation rate, etc. It's because of the teflon coating on the fabric. Moisture doesn't seep in, it stays on the surface and evaporates away quickly. It dries quickly because of this feature.

Apples & oranges, but I've noticed that my PV kilts hang dry much faster than any of the wool garments I own. Overnight for PV, days for wool. We're talking kilts vs. sweaters mostly, but there may be something to this.

[Magnus Sporrano]

Ask any customer with a USA Casual kilt... they'll let you know how easy it is.

I machine wash mine in cold water, hang it dry overnight. Usually no ironing is needed but sometimes if a few pleats are out of line from the position they were dried in, I'll do a quick ironing on it (and I mean quick... nothing laborious about it). During the cooler months when I'm not sweating in my kilt I'll wear it a few times between washings and might take an iron to it quickly to get the pleats back in line (driving a car in a kilt seems to be the worst thing for the pleats).