Dyeing Navy keikogi

[Commander]

I know this sounds stupid, but is it possible to bleach a navy keikogi to white?

Sarah:redface:

[Andoru]

Good luck!

[crabbi]

I would say probbaly not....

If you are successful in bleaching the material, it is likely that the stitching will remain dark (unless it is a natural fibre). At best you will get a patchy result....

sorry

crabbi

[Commander]

damn! lol och well it was worth a try :)


Regards

Sarah

[ukenagashi]

what about dying a white one to navy, i want one but i dont really want to buy another one i like the one ive got.

[mark]

If I am not mistaken most traditional navy keikogi and hakama start out white and are dyed blue using seikon dye. I think Tozando has a description of the dying technique on their website along with a description of one of their artisans who is a living ledgend.

I bought some liquid ready to use seikon dye from bogubag a few years back. I think they still sell it. By the way I bought it in order to modify a hakama (I had warn through a seam and wanted to reinforce it). It is still on my TODO list. So I can't tell you if it is easy to use.

I had a chat a while back on seikon dye and learn't that they actually grade the quality of dyeing by the weight of dye that is absorbed into the cloth once it is dry! One of my new hakama's had two inches of dye powder in the bottom of the bag. What a mess!. My fingers were blue for weeks!

All in all, you probably could dye it yourself. However, it sounds like a pain in the but and probably won't look as good as what is sold on the market.

Have fun,
mark

[stuartwilson]

You can buy indigo dye (liquid suspension) to keep your bogu looking sharp, but I've heard it gives mixed results on keikogi and hakama.

I've re-dyed my men, applying the liquid with a paint brush and following it with steam. It took about a pint of dye to do just the men.

I've heard that trying to dye an entire garment doesn't work no matter what kind of dye you use - you need to use very hot water to make the dye set and doing so will shrink the fabric.

[crabbi]

Dyeing white to Indigo (or black) is not a problem... I have done this successfully using Dylon products (and these are colourfast)...

I have posted about this in another thread at: http://www.kendo-world.com/forum/showthread.php?p=72045#post72045 and this will also refer you to another posting with detailed instructions...

cheers

crabbi