tips

[Barb T]

That's the way to do it!! If anyone wants quick instructions on how to baste a kilt, let me know.

Barb

[Retro Red]

If anyone wants quick instructions on how to baste a kilt, let me know.

Barb

My favorite way to baste a kilt is to slather the kilt with my favorite sauce & repeat this process every 10-15 minutes until done. Your kilt will always turn out moist & flavorful this way!
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[billmcc]

If anyone wants quick instructions on how to baste a kilt, let me know.

Barb

I would like to know how to baste a kilt. I just bought an Irish American 5-yard wool kilt and I think repressing it would improve its appearance.

[UmAnOnion]

That's the way to do it!! If anyone wants quick instructions on how to baste a kilt, let me know.

Barb

I finished a blackwatch i have been working on for a while and took it to the cleaners - had basted down all the pleats just how i wanted them pressed & thought that would be enough...

somehow one of the basting threads came loose & one pleat is out of whack - wont take much to get it back in line But I am annoyed that i have to do it after making sure they were all stiched down in the first place, as i am wearing the thing thuirsday eve to a work party to win a few bets and dont have much free time between now & then to press the pleat back into its rightful place AAARRRGGGHHH!!!



Barb, can you issue a pamplet to be giving to the drycleaners when dropping off kilts on how to handle the damned things properly??? pretty please with tartan sugar on top???

[whiteravenJr.]

my rule of thumb is if its a kilt dry clean unless otherwise told

[longshadows]

I use Woolite or a gentle washing liquid, COLD water and the "Gentle" fabric setting on my washer. There is minimal agitation. I stop if after the rinse cycle, but before the spin (even though the spin on this setting is quite minimal). In other words the kilt is "sopping wet" when I remove it from the washer.

I run a heavy dowel (broom handle) through all of the belt loops, pull it tight along the dowel and then suspend the length of dowel from the rafters in my cellar or out doors, to "drip dry." I take a few minutes to stretch and smooth the pleats back into shape and go about my business. As all my kilts (so far) are synthetic fabrics or synthetic blends, they dry over night in the cellar. If you hang them outdoors, you may want to find a shady spot, so the sun won't fade any of the colors.

UKs have no belt loop at one end, so that end does droop, but a clip can be attached to hold it up level with the rest of the kilt's waist.

On kils with few or no belt loops, it's more of a challange. The heavy weight of the sodden kilt (especially if it is wool) will usually pull out from most skirt hanger clips. So, some construction of a dowel, to which you've attached a few heavy-duty clips (available at Home Depot or most good hardware stores). You could even use a low cealing in the basement and attach heavy-duty clips along an overhead beam, to which you could simply clip the wet kilt when it comes out of the wash and not bother with running a dowel through belt loops. (This scenario requires that you don't care if you basement floor gets wet, however.)

They look great, it costs nothing but a few minutes and you don't have to plan your wardrobe on the cleaner's schedule.

I can't see why wool wouldn't work the same way.

Regards,

[Hamish]

There is no way that I would wash a kilt - it is dry cleaning almost every time, and even then, only when absolutely necessary. Of all the 59 kilts in my Kollection, the only ones to have been washed are my Workman's Utilikilts. These get muddy from gardening, so a quick wash freshens them up nicely - but they require a lot of careful ironing after almost every wearing!

[Southern Breeze]

I handwash my Stillwaters and put them in the dryer. I've also had to wash several of the wool kilts that I bought to get rid of odors. I let them drip dry for several hours then put them in the dryer on low to finish.
Before you have a heart attack over that last statement, let me say that I have one of the Maytag cabinet dryers. Here's a link for anyone not familier with them:
http://shop.store.yahoo.com/bestmayt...eeldrcamc.html

[sorcererdale]

I am not sure if this applies, but for my Survival from UK, I wash normally, with nothing else and do NOT use the dryer. I hang the survival on a two clip hanger from each side. The kilt is snapped back together and while it is hanging, I grasp the pleat and pull gently downward while curving the outside pleat edge in slightly. I let it air dry inside or outside, and then I repeat the process every couple hours until dry and then I do not have to iron it. My Survival's pleats stay in shape better than the Mocker from UK, but I do the same process for that.

DALE.

There is no way that I would wash a kilt - it is dry cleaning almost every time, and even then, only when absolutely necessary. Of all the 59 kilts in my Kollection, the only ones to have been washed are my Workman's Utilikilts. These get muddy from gardening, so a quick wash freshens them up nicely - but they require a lot of careful ironing after almost every wearing!

[Kilted KT]

Easiest thing to do is contact your local pipe and drum corps, asking where they get their kilts dry cleaned. Otherwise you risk ruining it.