How to wash my Hakama and Gi?

[MartialArtsGirl]

Ok, so I err, finally got a hakama and gi. It's kind of the "someone abadoned it and I got to keep it" variety. So it needs a good washin.

Thing is, there are no instructions! It just says "made in Taiwan".

My sensei said to...do something wierd. Put it in the shower and step on it or something odd like that. But my bath tubs kind of gross. I'm going to try to clean it (again) but... stepping on it just doesnt seem right...

Then theres the "throw it in the washing machine" option, as another person suggested. However, the hakama has that hard part (kind of carboard like? What is it really made of? And would it survive the washing machine even with cold water?)

The hakama is made of polyester and rayon. I'm not sure what the gi is made of...I'm also going to have to iron the pleets in the hakama.

Lastly, should I hand wash it instead? Again, this requires either cleaning the bathtub (again) or the sink (again). But it may not fit in the sink... plus it's kinda more work... :normal:

Thanks! And sorry for not being around as much, I'm trying to lay off the computer addiction! :D

Martial Arts Girl

[John Seavitt]

Wash them in a clothes washer with warm water. Be sure not to overload. I tend to air dry on hanger (a skirt hanger is just the thing for hakama), then tumble dry when they are almost there. I find that some clothes line clips are great to hold pleats in place while drying on the hanger; touch up with an iron if needed, though polyester is pretty forgiving on this front.

John

[Neil Gendzwill]

Use cold water for the keikogi unless you want it to shrink. Don't use detergent-based soap. Also use the search function here, there are a number of threads on this subject.

[MartialArtsGirl]

I tried the search feature but I haven't found anything about washing hakamas and gis yet. I did find some interesting threads about why women wear white hakama/gi though. :D

Also, if I don't use detergent based soap, what should I use?

I am thinking about putting it in the washing machine all by itself... or rather, just the gi and the hakama together. Also, won't the dye come out? (I have to check to see if it's real indigo dye or not) And the hard thingie on the back of the hakama won't get ruined if I throw it in the commerical washing machine?

~Martial Arts Girl

[MikeW]

I use the gentle cycle, cold water, and air dry using the typical hangar/clothes pin method for the hakama. Gi same but no clothes pins. after it is dry I tumble the gi in the dryer on air dry only (no heat) to soften the gi up after washing.

[Neil Gendzwill]

Also, if I don't use detergent based soap, what should I use?Woolite is one brand of non-detergent soap.

Also, won't the dye come out?Not for tetron hakama. If your keikogi is indigo dyed, then yes it will come out, in gobs if it is brand new. I recommend running a load of jeans afterwards. Even then, you probably want to wipe out the tub.

And the hard thingie on the back of the hakama won't get ruined if I throw it in the commerical washing machine?It's OK, use gentle cycle. And don't wash your hakama too often - it's the keikogi that gets dirtiest as the hakama sits overtop.

[Harry Jones]

Yes, put it in the washing machine on a cool wash. I just use the rinse cycle for the hakama(but then i'm not a sweaty betty) Just make sure you hang the hakama up to dry on one of those skirt/clip type hangers, and make a bit of an effort to arrange the pleats in the right place while its damp to avoid too much ironing.

Alternatively you could wait for a snowfall to coincide with a full moon, then lay it out in the snow over night, then sit up and contemplate the cleaning process. That could work too.;)

[orajen]

Save yourself some hassle and just get it dry cleaned.

[sirius1906]

It's kind of the "someone abadoned it and I got to keep it" variety. So it needs a good washin.



Save yourself some hassle and just get it dry cleaned.

I venture to say most of us don't dry clean our gi and hakama.

I wash my hakama in the tub with cold water as well; washing machine with tetron gi.

[pgsmith]

First, thoroughly clean both your sink and your bathtub. Then, wash your dogi and hakama in the washer, cold water, gentle cycle as Neil said, and hang it with the pleats well pinned to dry. Washing will stiffen cotton, that's what your dogi is probably made of, but since yours is used it shouldn't stiffen too badly. If it does come out too stiff, do as MikeW suggested and throw it in an unheated dryer cycle for a bit to soften it up.

Easy! Well, except for the cleaning the sink and bathtub parts. :D

[John Seavitt]

Use cold water for the keikogi unless you want it to shrink ...

Neil's right on this - mine's old enough to be done shrinking at this point ...

J

[nodachi]

Maybe it's old school, but the handwashing by filling the tub and stepping on it is the way to go in my opinion. The gi doesn't matter so much, but a folded hakama that gets water squashed through it keeps its pleats all nice and neat. It's minimal work, you don't lose your pleats, and it cleans just as well as a machine would.

[jjcruiser]

I venture to say most of us don't dry clean our gi and hakama.


True. The guys at my dojo made fun of me when I brought mine in in the bag from the dry cleaner, but it did come out very nice.

But I'm giving it up for monetary reasons now anyway and going back to the hand wash in the tub mode.

[Tanukisan]

The advice my Sensei gave me & which I follow is to hand wash my 100% cotton Hakama first time I washed it, you should use cool water in the bath tub with about 1/2 a 500ml bottle of White Vineger mixed in. This works really well as it both washes and deoderises the Hakama. I wash my double layer Gi the same way.I then let them drip dry over the tub, finally letting them air dry in a shady spot. Takes a while, but my gear still looks new & smells great. Only prob is that the first time, so much Indigo dye came out I ended up with blue hands & a blue ring around the tub which took ages to scrub off- Character building I suppose....:cheeky: Subsiquent washes can be done in warm water using the same amount of White Vineger. Hope this helps:cheerful:

[atgm]

Deodorizes? I love the indigo smell!

[Tanukisan]

Deodorizes? I love the indigo smell!
Not so much the smell of the indigo - I too love that, but the smell of a 16 stone Kendoka training hard in 29 degrees, 85% humidity, sweating enough to float the ARK on, not so much....:silly:

[HvyMetalSamurai]

Hello everyone,

About the dye part. A friend told me that adding a table spoon of salt helps to absorb the loose dye, then after that it stops bleeding. I've done it in the past and haven't had any issues. Food for thought.

[Sasayaki]

http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8253&highlight=indigo+dye

:)

<3

[corwyn]

Maybe it's old school, but the handwashing by filling the tub and stepping on it is the way to go in my opinion. The gi doesn't matter so much, but a folded hakama that gets water squashed through it keeps its pleats all nice and neat. It's minimal work, you don't lose your pleats, and it cleans just as well as a machine would.

Out of curiosity, do you also let it dry while folded? Or do you carefully unfold, clothespin (or other suitable method) the pleats, and hang to dry?

[nodachi]

I unfold it and hang it over the shower bar. There's no need to clothes pin the pleats because if it was folded well before washing in folded form, then in the unfolded form the pleats are really crisp. You'll see what I mean if you do it.

[corwyn]

Oh yes, that makes sense. Soaking wet cotton will probably hold the pleats very well if you unfold carefully. Thanks!

[HvyMetalSamurai]

Thanks for the link Sasayaki, I guess the idea actually has some merit but there's more of a science to it as well. Much Obliged.

[LarsCW]

I have 2 covers with zippers made just to wash my hakama and gi.

When washing them I use a low rpm program and also watch the temprature.

When it's done I'll hang both out.

At the point when the first is dry enough I iron them and neatly fold them both.

Then I just store them both in my bogu bag.

After I'm done practising all goes out of the bag until it's all dry just to make the bag less smelly

[Maccuswæl]

I just washed my kendogi for the first time. I have a 100% cotton set but it's not the real indigo dye. I looked at this thread before and during the doing it of it, and one thing I'm not sure I understand is are those of you who are putting the uniform in a tub and the stepping on it, that's when it's folded?

I put my set in the dryer on air dry (no heat) to get out most of the water, and while that was OK so far as not shrinking it, what DID happen was that bouncing around in there rubbed the corners where the back plate thing is, and now a very little bit of that corner is exposed. So I don't think I'll be doing that again, but taking it out of my wash tub after being soaked it was just too full of water and heavy. I suppose I need a better system to hang the hakama when it's all wet like that.

Currently my kendogi is finishing drying the way I always store it when I'm not using it, which is to run a pole through the sleeves of the gi and to hang the hakama up with a skirt hanger. That doesn't keep the pleats crisp, but it keeps the vast majority of wrinkles out, and it's neither a poofy tent when I wear it.

[corwyn]

Currently my kendogi is finishing drying the way I always store it when I'm not using it, which is to run a pole through the sleeves of the gi and to hang the hakama up with a skirt hanger. That doesn't keep the pleats crisp, but it keeps the vast majority of wrinkles out, and it's neither a poofy tent when I wear it.


I use two skirt hangers to hang up my hakama, one to hold the koshita, and the other to hold the front, and I use one of those over-the door double coat hooks (one hook a few inches above the other) to stagger the two hangers in order to keep the hakama hanging naturally. Then I arrange the pleats and clothespin them in place, pulling them as taut as I can before pinning. It works pretty well to keep the pleats nice.