Hand washing USAK Semi-trad

**BonnieT100** · 23rd July 08, 08:00 PM

Ok, so the only things I've ever really hand washed were socks and the occasional uniform - mostly out of necessity. The label of my USAK Thompson Camel says to hand wash it. So, what's the best method? Do I just fill up the bath tub and squirt in some detergent and start squeezing it? Will my front loader really do any damage to it if it's in there alone?

**Riverkilt** · 23rd July 08, 08:10 PM

Washed my Thompson Grey USA Kilts semi-trad in the washer on gentle in cold water, no problems....

Ron

**Panache** · 23rd July 08, 08:54 PM

Originally Posted by Riverkilt

Washed my Thompson Grey USA Kilts semi-trad in the washer on gentle in cold water, no problems....

Ron

That's exactly what I do. But I take it out to line dry (no dryer as I believe it strips off the protective coat on the PV)

Cheers

Jamie

**Riverkilt** · 23rd July 08, 09:38 PM

Jamie's right,

I hang dry my semi-trads with weighted clips on the pleats. No need to iron. PV dries fast here in the desert.

Ron

**Cat** · 24th July 08, 01:49 AM

I wash my semi-trad by hand (I know I can throw it in the washing machine, but I never trust the industrial units in my apartment complex with fairly delicate fabrics...or most of my clothing, for that matter. Besides, why pay a $1.00 for one article of clothing when I can do it myself and get two sodas out of the machine instead?) The big thing is to not put it in the dryer though. Hang dry it (which usually doesn't take very long.) Also, the PV that USAK uses has Teflon on it to keep it from staining...make sure you do NOT use any fabric softeners, since according to Rocky, they'll strip off the coating. I usually fill up my bathtub halfway with cold or cool water and half a cap-full of laundry detergent. Being that I'm lazy, I'll usually throw my kilt in there and let it marinate for an hour or so before I actually get around to cleaning it. Then I sort of rub it on itself (if that makes sense), a few inches at a time, until I feel it's clean enough (which doesn't take very long, unless you're like me and had a run-in with a cat in a bad mood and had blood stains in it.) I'm not dainty with it, but I'm not particularly aggressive with the "rubbing" part either...I'm trying to get out any stains, but I'm not trying to wear a hole in it either. After that, I just rinse it thoroughly under running cool or cold water and hang it up to dry. I usually use the "clippy" type hangers that most department stores use to hang up pants...sometimes they'll give them to you if you ask nicely when you buy clothing, but I've found that many women tend to have a bunch of these hangers for skirts and stuff. I have a lovely woman-friend that had tons of them because she makes clothes and I ended up with two nice heavy-duty wooden ones (the cheap plastic ones work just as well, just be careful not to snap the clips in half, since they're a bit flimsy.) If you have mini-blinds, I have a trick (although it's probably not good for your blinds if you do it too often...my cat has basically trashed the ones in my bedroom, so I don't care too much.) With your kilt clipped to the hanger, raise your mini-blinds up about halfway, open your window, and hook the hanger on the bottom part of the blinds so the kilt is hanging freely and "flapping in the breeze" as it were. The breeze tends to dry the kilt a lot faster, although I wouldn't recommend doing this in a window with full sun, lest you end up with a faded kilt. This is also a good "in-between" treatment when you don't want to wash the kilt but still need to air it out if you've had a hot day with "monkey-butt" or something. Anyway, after I wash my kilt I'll check the pleats...sometimes they need pressing and sometimes not (many times it's just one or two that have a couple wrinkles, and I can usually get away with a quick spot-pressing without having to baste pleats or anything.) But if they're bad, then I'll baste the pleats and press them proper.

**RockyR** · 24th July 08, 05:11 AM

We put the "hand wash" label in there just to be safe... Here's how I wash Mine:

Throw it in the washer with like colors on Cold
DO NOT USE FABRIC SOFTENER
Snap it out and "straighten" the pleats a bit when it comes out
Lay on the back of your sofa for a day to dry.

**Galician** · 24th July 08, 06:28 AM

Thanks for that info, Rocky. Just a dumb question (or two). I assume that when you lay it is on the sofa, you drape it over the back and put something underneath it to keep from soaking the sofa. Which way do you place it, pleat-side up or apron?

**BonnieT100** · 24th July 08, 11:04 AM

Ok, thanks. Now I feel much better.

**george7** · 24th July 08, 01:24 PM

I've been known to mishandle my tanks (ie, machine wash). They're tanks! I always end up spending lots of extra time fixing the pleats, but the fabric comes out looking great.

**RockyR** · 25th July 08, 06:10 AM

If you put it in the washer, the "spin cycle" should take 95% of the water out of it. When you lay it on the back of the sofa, lay it with the good side facing up and stretach it out. give a quick swipe to each pleat to help them dry "straight" to make your ironing job much easier.

It shouldn't "soak" the sofa, but if getting the furniture wet at all is a concern, then I'd suggest hanging it up on 2 or 3 hanger (again, open if possible) somewhere in the house or on a clothes line.