What you need:

A shower.
A soft brush.
A coat hanger.
A hand towel.
A small curtain rod.
Your item of clothing.
Patience. Lots of patience.

The garment I am cleaning today is pure silk with a gold metal thread border and real pearls and garnets set into the hem. It looks quite hopeless, but the end result was 100% successful. I have been able to use this method for wool and plain silk. I've not tried linen, but I will post up if I do with whether or not this method worked. If you linen or wool is stained and dry, I use Sard's Wonder Soap as a second wash down AFTER I do a first clean up with just water.

Step 1

Try not to be hysterical about your surcote or kirtle. Remember, once it looks like this, the mud coating underneath will stop it snagging on gravel or pine chips.

Make yourself a beverage. Make it a double if you need to.

Step 2

Assess the mud. If any can be shaken or picked off, do it now.

Bending the hem will crack off any large chunks of mud

DO NOT use a brush at this stage, as you might rub the mud more into the fabric instead of brushing it off.

Step 3

Keep going.
Check the whole thing.

Remind yourself that re-enacting is a hobby that you do for fun and friendship and that you don't want to quit just because everything you wore the event looks like this.

Step 4

Check the underneath.

Step 5

Cry a little if it helps.

If you didn't get a drink earlier, now's a good time. Do some deep breathing. You are ready to start.

Take your shoes off. I hope you're wearing old clothes so you don't get mud all over yourself. Goggles are good if you want to keep water out of your eyes because you are getting right into the shower with you garment and you're going to get very drippy.

Step 6

Wrap the hand towel around the coathanger to pad out the shoulders. Your germent will be very heavy when it's complately wet, and you don't want to put too much stress on the shoulders.

Padding it spreads the weight a little.

Step 7

Put your garment on the hanger.

You are ready to begin the messy part now.

Step 8

Place a bar or small curtain rod across the shower to hang the coat hanger on. A mop or broom will do.

If you can't rig something up, you'll need a metal clothes rack, but they aren't often tall enough, so if you can get something up high, that's preferable.

I don't recommend using the shower head as it will be dragged down with the weight of your expectations and the wet fabric

Step 9

Put the surcote or kirtle inside the shower cubicle and turn the shower on wetting it from top to bottom.

Step 10

Let the water run from the top to the bottom. This is better than just soaking the bottom which encourages the mud to rise. This way, the water brings the mud downwards.

This is a slow process and very water intensive.

Some of the mud will start to dissolve and rinse off, but a lot of the crusty, congealed stuff won't, of course.

This photo is deceptively clean-ish looking as everything is wet, so the water marks and mud lines are far less obvious. I also needed to get on with cleaning and not stop and take photos as the water was running.

Step 11

With the soft brush GENTLY move in a circular motion getting around the stones or decorative stitching or trim you may have.

Start higher than the mud and water lines, so you don't create a clean line of your own. It's normal for a little dte to come out, so I start right at the top so this will be even.

This will take ages if you are being gentle.

You'll need to go over the same areas a number of times the lower you go and the closer you get to the worst affected areas at the bottom.

Step 12

Work downwards while the water is running and the mud will flow downwards. Move the surcote around under the water. The water flowing down will help erase the water marks and prevent rising mud or soaking in muddy water.

Step 13

Give it another gentle brushing. Use circles to release the mud from the fabric.

Step 14

Keep going and rinsing as you go.

Take it slowly and very gently.

More mud will come off each time you return to the worst bits. This looks okay in this photo, but up close there was still quite a bit of mud on the bezants and in the hem around the gemstones and pearls.

Step 15

Don't forget the inside...

brush downwards in light circles.

Make sure the fabric is really wet first.

Step 16

Rinse rinse rinse!

Step 17

Check for missed spots.

Go back if you need to.

When you're happy with how it looks, turn the tap off and let it drain for a minute.

Step 18

Take the surcote out of the shower and sit in a sink to catch drips.

Step 19

Clean out the shower from bits of leftover mud.

Step 20

Put the surcote back in to drip dry for a bit.

Step 21

Once it's stopped most of the dripping, hang it somewhere where it doesn't touch the ground and put a towel under it to catch the rest of the drips.

Assess for bits you missed.

Start over if you need to. If it's looking good, things are hopeful! Clean! It's still wet, so cross your fingers that it's looking okay.

At this point, the mud "high tide" mark should be gone. If it's not, you will need to repeat the entire process and add a little Sard's Wonder Soap to the brushing. Go easy on it, or you'll end op with the mark where the soap was.

Step 22

Check it as it dries.

If there's mud you've missed, put it back in the shower before it dries completely and repeat until you're back to this bit.

If you need to do this more than once as you discover spots you've missed, now's the time to do it rather than allow the fabric to dry completely.

Step 23

All dry! Clean and good as new!

Throw yourself a tickertape parade or failing that, make a nice cup of tea and sit down.