How do Scots handle a rough day/night with only one kilt?

[Jock Scot]

As far as smell, think bar smoke, do you just make use of good breezy air-drying and some febreeze?

I'm really looking into day to day kilt maintenance with the goal of having one kilt to rule them all. It just makes a little more sense to me than having to maintain 4 or 5.

To get rid of bar smoke smells etc.,just hang your kilt, if it is wool, from a tree on a warm breezy day, for a day.

[Malcolm MacWilliam]

As an 18th century military reenactor, our kilts go through a lot of &*%$ I have had mud, gunpowder residue, soup (one of my lads spilled soup on me one evening!!), etc. on my kilts....these are NOT my Newsome kilt or the box pleats that my wife has made, they are for dress. But, as others have said, let the dirt or whatever dry, brush and then I handwash. No problems!

Malcolm MacWilliam, ASM
British Brigade
www.muskets-of-the-crown.org

[Kid Cossack]

I set the wayback machine for the late 18th century and found, to my surprise, that the Scots who wore kilts at that time invariably kept a cheap poly-viscose or acrylic kilt for "rough use" and only wore their worsted wool on formal occasions.

No, really. Honestly now!

I don't mean to turn this into an "Ode to Wool" but it wouldn't be hard. When I got into kilting, I thought, "Of course they used to use wool, but we've progressed far beyond that. Surely we've got much better materials than wool to make kilts out of now."

Since that time, I've tried kilts of poly-cotton, pure cotton, acrylic, what have you. I've sewn kilts, and I've worn kilts. I've concluded that I was, well, WRONG.

Wool simply kicks butt as a material. It's warm yet it breathes, it barely wrinkles, and if it does wrinkle, the wrinkles hang out easily. It's easy to sew. It doesn't catch fire easily. Along the lines of the old ditty "I think that I shall never see/ a poem lovely as a tree" I would have to say that "I think the man might be a fool/ who thinks a kilt should not be of wool."

As Jock Scot said, watch out for barbed wire and blood. Wool can handle most anything else.

With that said, I wouldn't play ultimate frisbee in my Matt Newsome box pleat Leatherneck tartan. But I would play ultimate frisbee in my homemade tweed kilt, which I have also hiked in, done a little yoga in, rolled around in the grass and dirt in, and so forth.

Last week we had huge rains fall in Houston, and our house flooded. We had two inches of water in the bedroom, and a couple of my kilts, bagged on the floor in the closet, were soaked. I rinsed them in the tub, hung them out to dry when the weather cleared up, and am wearing one now. It's none the worse for wear.

Benjamin Franklin said that beer was proof that God loves us, and wool just might be proof that God wants us to be well clothed. (If this transgresses the no religion policy, you may substitute "the universe" or "man's ability to utilize the forms of nature" if you please---I'm just saying that wool, like beer, is good stuff.)

[IrishGodfather]

Buy a sport kilt! They are perfect for beating up and having fun in!

[The Barry]

Utilikilts are also bomb-proof!

[Pleater]

Historically wool garments were freshened up by being sponged - or rather gently wiped with cloths dipped into warm water and wrung out, so smoothing the surface and cleaning off everyday dirt and splashes. Heavy staining was wetted several times and reqired patience so as not to damage the surface of the fabric.

These days a sponge does the same job a bit more easily - it can be difficult to find a lint free cloth which will not leave a residue over the wool.

Many modern wools are washable due to the treatment of the fibres so they don't interlock when wetted, but the surface can be altered by rough handling so it is always best to wash minimally.

Wool absorbs a lot of water, so it can still be technically wet but feels warm when worn. If it was necessary, wearing an all wool kilt soon after it had been washed and pressed in a couple of towels to remove as much water as possible would not feel all that uncomfortable, as long as you did not have to sit down for a while so as to give it time to dry off.

Anne the Pleater

[Rab Gordon]

Well, I've worn my kilt on occassion for many a year without so much as a sponge, it's been on walkabout and to some right wild parties
is dry cleaning safe ?

Rab

[Kid Cossack]

Rab:

I prefer to avoid dry cleaning. I know there is some back and forth on the issue, but I think that the dry cleaning process helps leach the lanolin from the wool, stripping it of some of it's natural protective goodness.

Best,

[lethearen]

Would something like Scotchgard be a good precaution against said rough nights?

[Colonel MacNeal]

The old belted plaid was an all purpose field garment: kilt during the day, sleeping bag/tent at night, and signal flag if necessary. Could definitely take you through a few rough days.