Early on in my kilting career I bought a kilt of man made fibre - it was a total waste of money, but just to put the mouldy cherry on the top of the stale cake, it had been pressed with an iron that was too hot, so the fabric was polished - due to it being melted slightly.

Man made fibres are usually pressed dry - wool required steam pressing, but man made fibres can react badly to it.

Always always put a cloth between the iron and the fabric to prevent polishing the surface. If you polish the outside it looks horrible, but polishing the inside can make the fabric feel prickly against the skin as fibres have been sharpened into chisel edges.

As the kilt is hemmed, when it arrives you can mark each pleat by sewing a few stitches of contrasting thread into the hem only, behind each of the folds. You can then see exactly where to fold the edge even if there are several posibilities. It is a bit of a fiddly job, but you might be glad you did it eventually.

Careful hanging of the kilt after washing also pays dividends, as does preening the pleats during drying to get them into place whilst the fibres are damp.

Anne the Pleater