THE DEFINITIVE WAY TO CLEAN YOUR KILT by Joshua Brown

[tundramanq]

Terry, if you must go regimental with a wool kilt there are ways to keep you and your emissions off the kilt.
One is an under kilt - a half slip. preferably made of cotton.
I also hear of guys basting a liner to the back of the inner apron to handle the drips.

And Steve, it's nice to know about the new dry cleaning chemicals.
Being adamant about not pressing is huge as it is really hard to press out the train wreak that they create and repress the pleats where they go. These cleaners are more used to ladies shallower pleated skirts where the pleats splay out from the waist or maybe fell. Deep pleats that stay parallel from the fell down are a bit alien to them.

[The Wizard of BC]

Oh, and one big caution and something I always warn my customer about.

If you do choose to hand wash your kilt - NEVER, EVER wring the kilt. While a kilt is wet it is all droopy and saggy. You can permanently damage the fabric by wringing or twisting or even lifting it unsupported while dripping wet.

I suggest that you gently step on the kilt while it lays in the bottom of the tub. Then roll the kilt gently in a bath towel. Then get in and walk on the towel. When the towel is wet take it off and hang it up and wrap the kilt in another towel. It is amazing how much water a kilt can hold.

I would never try to pick up a kilt unsupported while dripping wet.

The towels will remove enough water that the kilt should be damp but not dripping. Then while still wrapped in a towel for support take the kilt out of the tub. You can then lay it out to dry or neatly drape it on a clothes bar to dry.

I have had kilt take 2 days to dry after hand washing. Never put the kilt over a heater or any heat source to try to speed this up. Like leather you want the kilt to dry slowly and naturally.

[ThistleDown]

I have used a dry cleaner in Vancouver for several years. He's experienced, understands wool and the particular needs of a kilt, doesn't baste and doesn't press. No need to. I don't dry clean in Inverness. Mind you, after every wearing I brush inside and out with a proper clothes brush; my kilts hang where they air nicely.

[tundramanq]

I kind of cringed when I read that. Part of the reason I brought it here for the real experts to peruse and comment. I have added "See Steve's post #5 on this one." to that step.
Wool is much like human hair when wet - really fragile and stretchy.
I have long fine blond hair and learned real early to comb it out gently and to not try to braid it while it is wet.
Slightly damp is OK.

[The Wizard of BC]

When selecting a dry cleaner it is just good practice to ask them what chemical they use.

There are currently 8 chemicals that can be used. Not all of them are available in all areas. Some are good and some are still to be proven.

PCE, Perchloroethylene or tetrachloroethylene is the old standard dry cleaning solvent. Around since the 1930's and the most common since WWII this is the one that most people know as the dangerous one as it was the very first chemical branded as a carcinogen.

Alternatives which you may or may not see are;

DF200 and Ecosolve are hydrocarbons derived from petroleum.

Dibutoxymethane going under the brand name SolvonD4 is one of the most widely use alternatives to PCE.

Liquid Silicone or D4 is more environmentally friendly but much more expensive than PCE..

Brominated solvents like Fabrisolv, & DrySolv clean faster but can damage some synthetics.

The opinions on supercritical CO2 are still coming in. Some say that it is superior to PCE in every aspect while some point to the higher cost of the machinery as a down side.

Glycol ethers like Rynex, Solvair, Caled, GenX and Impress) are becoming more readily available and have shown very good results with very good environmentally friendly effects.

Modified alcohol under the brand name SENSENE may be the best but is still not widely available in all areas.

My local dry cleaner recently upgraded their machinery. They now use GenX. The machinery cost was over $500,000.00 Canadian dollars.

[tundramanq]

I have avoided dry cleaning since I was a kid and some good family friends ran a mom and pop dry cleaning business in the 60s.
They were both going deaf in their 40's. The doctor told them why and they added some good exhaust fans for the hanger rack room.
The vapors were de-waxing their ears and scarring their ear drums. I figured I didn't really need this odor in my house.

Local kilt maker Kathy Lare told me her horror story if being put in the hospital from pressing a customers kilt that had been stored with moth balls. She and I go the cedar route for this one.

[The Wizard of BC]

Moth balls work because they are made from crystallized naphthalene that evaporates slowly. When stored in an enclosed space they asphyxiate the moth larvae. If stored in an open container the fumes just escape and do nothing but smell up your house.

Cedar is a really myth filled subject but just know that there are true Cedars and others which are commonly called Cedar but are not Cedars. Of all of these only two, the Eastern Aromatic Cedar, (Juniperus virginiana) (which is actually a Juniper) and Red Cedar AKA Cuban Cedar, or Spanish Cedar (Cedrela odorata) (which is actually in the Chinaberry family) are effective against clothes moths. I have seen all types of woods for sale including Western Red and White Cedar. These do nothing but give off a nice smell in your closet.

I have even seen California Redwood sold a Aromatic Cedar.

[tundramanq]

The oil I use on my cedar blocks is Texas Cedar wood oil Juniperus mexicana. Seems to work - so far...

[ThistleDown]

I lined my kilt closet in Vancouver with Eastern juniper, but even that's just a deterrent in that it disguises, for a while, what is most appealing to moths for egg-laying and a good start to life for larvae: wool. Moving air is still the best thing as a repellant because even the deterrent quality of aromatic cedar has a life-span. There are small balls of aromatic cedar available for those not interested whole-closet lining, but you need a lot of them. Remember cedar chests, also called 'Hope' chests? Usually lined with Spanish Cedar in the UK. Wonderful smell when they were opened.

[tundramanq]

I use the red cedar rings on my hanger hooks inside the kilt or coat cover bag. Keeps the cedar out of direct contact with the clothes. I sand and re-oil about twice a year.
I have found that the redwood lumber scraps left over from my porch and that I keep on the floor of the closet will take up a lot of this oil and keep the closet absolutely reeking of cedar for a long while.