Wrinkled kilts

[Richland]

Have any of you solved the problem of wrinkled kilts after sitting on them for any period of time?
After a drive to where-ever in my kilt, I am always self conscious about the inevitable wrinkles on the back side. Try as I might to seat myself as nicely as possible. It has gotten to the point where I dread sitting in the car kilted.
I solved the problem by wearing a par of side zip or snap warm up pants with my ensemble and when I get to where I am going I donn my kilt, and pull off the warm-ups. The snaps allow me to accomplish this anywhere with-out removing my footwear. It works well. But certainly takes a large part of the practicality and fun of being kilted.
Any other ideas? Do heavy weight wool kilts wrinkle as much as my lighter weight poly’s?

[JayFilomena]

You could try riding a motorcycle. :grin:

[Manu]

I own PV kilts and never have had a problem with wrinkles or ruining the pleats. Have you tried doing the sweep before sitting down? That will keep your pleats pretty much straight the whole time you are driving.

[Raphael]

It have the Wrinkle Problem with my, now retired, Stillwater Economy and I don't have that problem with my poly Viscoe or wool kilts.

[RockyR]

what kind of kilt is it (who is the maker)? What material was used?

PV has VERY LITTLE problem with wrinkles. High quality wool ($50/yard + kind of wool... not wool blends) doesn't have a big problem with wrinkling either. Cotton / poly blends shouldn't wrinkle that much either, but do have problems holding the pleat.

Cotton and/or canvas kilts WILL wrinkle. Other fabrics wrinkle in varrying degrees... It's a matter of the property of the fabrics being used.

[pdcorlis]

You may also want to do a search here on steaming kilts...

[Mike1]

Or use the beach towel method. Take a large beach towel and wrap it around the kilt, pinning the pleats so they are straight and cannot wrinkle, then get into the car. Once seated, you can let the ends of the towel go, buckle up and drive on.

I think this might have been a trick that Jimmy Carbomb recommended. It works for me.

[Hamish]

Or use the beach towel method. Take a large beach towel and wrap it around the kilt, pinning the pleats so they are straight and cannot wrinkle, then get into the car. Once seated, you can let the ends of the towel go, buckle up and drive on.

I think this might have been a trick that Jimmy Carbomb recommended. It works for me.

That works very well too, but you have to keep a very tight grip on both ends of the towel as you swivel round in the car seat to face the front! I invested in a 'turntable' accessory seat pad (intended for the elderly or physically disabled). Using that, you simply sit on that as you would any seat (with a sweeping of the hand beneath you) then, as you lift your feet and swing them into the foot-well, the seat turns with you keeping the pleats in place.

I agree, it is important to arrange those pleats properly before seting off on a car journey (without the turntable, that is). In my experience, the lighter weight the kilt fabric, the worse is the wrinkling - except with cotton/linen which wrinkles/creases badly no matter how thick it is. Wool is best, and the thicker it is the quicker any wrinkling drops away.

Unfortunately, body heat combined with the weight of the body acts as an iron, and will soon press badly arranged pleats to look as though you wanted them that way!!

[GlassMan]

The clothes steamer I bought at Home Depot works just as well on Wool, PV or the SWK Acrylics at getting all manner of wrinkles out of a kilt. It even managed to resurrect the creases on my new SWK blackwatch after I passed out on the couch from absolute exhaustion (and a little bit too much scotch taken to ease the pain on my leg) after working far too many hours straight on a commission recently. The dog and I slumbered for hours, but it sure did a number on the kilt since I had pretty much flopped down and gone unconscious in one swift motion. (Of course, it took a lint brush to get all the long blond doggie hairs off my kilt!)

[davedove]

Unfortunately, body heat combined with the weight of the body acts as an iron, and will soon press badly arranged pleats to look as though you wanted them that way!!

It's even worse if the kilt gets a little damp. I was walking this weekend and got caught is a heavy mist. Then I had to get back into the car and drive home. I have got some massive wrinkles in the kilt now and I don't think hanging will get them out, so I'm going to have to press the pleats back in.