To Wash or Dry Clean

[Nathan]

My most recent kilt was made by Barb Tewksbury, so I can ask her, or perhaps the superb local seamstress who's done some other work for me (such as shortening the sleeves and then opening up the sleeve cuffs a bit on my Prince Charlie so there'd be room for my "3 Rampant Lions" cufflinks. As for asking a Kilt Hire shop, No est possible here in MT, where the nearest Apple Retail Store is 700 miles away, the nearest Nordstrom even more distant.

I do have one other "wash and press it" option. My sister is an amateur seamstress, and she's coming to visit in a month. I can leave my somewhat soiled kilt out of wearing rotation for a month and ask HER to do the basting stitching while I watch (we can use Barb's book for tutoring on how to do the basting stitches).

Oh, and I DID learn to press my own clothes as a kid (with starch for my dress shirts). My mom even pressed underwear and sheets!

If you don’t want to wait a month or pay someone, have a look at this tutorial. The thing about basting stitches is that they are temporary so they don’t have to be super neat. You’ll be pulling them out anyway. They just hold everything together for pressing.

https://youtu.be/NKkZO1iDcr4?si=tUJ9HZmIABGOMhOv

[jsrnephdoc]

If you don’t want to wait a month or pay someone, have a look at this tutorial. The thing about basting stitches is that they are temporary so they don’t have to be super neat. You’ll be pulling them out anyway. They just hold everything together for pressing.

https://youtu.be/NKkZO1iDcr4?si=tUJ9HZmIABGOMhOv

Thanks for that. I've watched a number of Robert Maconald's videos. In this one he makes it clear that basting the pleats on a kilt pleated to the sett is a fairly simple but laborious process, but ENDS the tutorial by saying the kilt needs HORIZONTAL basting stitches as well before going off to the dry cleaners. I'm not sure why that would be. Also, I have NO idea what a kilt placed into a bathtub or a big basin where it can lie flat, with Woolite added, would look like when it comes out. Would the pleats have disappeared below the fell?

Also, I'm not sure that the basting landmarks would be so obvious for a kilt pleated to the stripe. My new Lunar Tartan kilt is the first I've owned constructed that way (on Barb's recommendation, and I'm delighted with the way it looks). Fortunately, it IS brand new, so hopefully won't require such attention for a good long time.

[bookish]

Thanks for that. I've watched a number of Robert Maconald's videos. In this one he makes it clear that basting the pleats on a kilt pleated to the sett is a fairly simple but laborious process, but ENDS the tutorial by saying the kilt needs HORIZONTAL basting stitches as well before going off to the dry cleaners. I'm not sure why that would be. Also, I have NO idea what a kilt placed into a bathtub or a big basin where it can lie flat, with Woolite added, would look like when it comes out. Would the pleats have disappeared below the fell?.

No, the pleats will not have disappeared unless you were purposefully roughing up the kilt in the wash. I did this, and once I took the kilt out of the tub, I rolled up the kilt in towels and pressed excess water out of the kilt. I then lay it out on fresh towels to dry, and pressed the kilt afterward. I did this without basting, though that Robert MacDonald video shows steps to press after the kilt had been mishandled.

As for the additional horizontal basting, I imagine this is to keep the kilt pleats together in the dry cleaning, and to prevent any movement or offsetting of the pleats when pressed. I don't fully know what the dry cleaning process is, but I am given to understand that dry cleaning is still washed in liquid other than water by a machine.

[Father Bill]

My wife's dear, late and hilarious uncle drove a garbage truck and came home... a little mussed.

We were all sitting around a table in his basement when he came home. From our vantage we could only see him from the knees down as he came in the back door and yelled 'hello everyone'.

We watched him kick off his boots and socks. We watched his shirts land on the floor. We laughed as we watched his pants and briefs slide down his legs as he stepped out and walked naked to the shower, leaving his dirty duds on their way to the laundry for later.

The water came on and we heard him singing Wagner loudly and badly as he took his shower and we all laughed.

Then I noticed the water shut-off valve next to me, and everyone giggled as I cut off his supply... but Wagner's opera continued loudly without missing a beat.

His wife hollered upstairs: "What are you doing?" and his reply came loud and clear:

"Dry cleaning!"

[jsrnephdoc]

The water came on and we heard him singing Wagner loudly and badly as he took his shower and we all laughed.

Then I noticed the water shut-off valve next to me, and everyone giggled as I cut off his supply... but Wagner's opera continued loudly without missing a beat.

His wife hollered upstairs: "What are you doing?" and his reply came loud and clear:
"Dry cleaning!"

I was never a fan, but I think "Jeopardy" was the TV game show where contestants had to come up with the question that triggered an "answer" preferred by the host.

My favorite example:

Answer: 9 W

Question: "So, do you spell your name with a V, Herr Wagner?

Even MORE off topic, when I was in college, on my way to med school, I did a 1 month seminar on Wagner and Nietzsche. (55 years later, I still can't spell Nietzsche). There were almost as many professors as students (8). Weekend homework might be things like"Read Kant," or "Read Heidegger."

BUT we all got to attend the city's opera's ENTIRE full length performances of Wagner's Ring Cycle, that anchored that year at the opera.

[RGM1]

Took my wool kilts to local cleaners. They said it would be five days but they were back in three. The clerk indicated each pleat would require separate ironing which added to cost but result was as good as new.

No issues at all.