is there any way to restore the pleats in my hakama? i set the dye by soaking it in white vinegar and cold water. then i ran it through the washer with only cold water, no detergent. then i let it hang to dry, but the pleats are wrinkled and no longer neatly lay on the hakama. i have an ebogu #7000 all cotton hakama. any help would be appreciated. thanks.
u cld send it to the dry cleaner, i sent mine a week ago, i tried to explain wat had to be done, but she said its ok, so i left, when i came to pick it up, it was all washed, ironed, folded... impressive...
Usually you can just follow the pleats from the waistline down, and restore it with an iron. I'm not laundry-buff, but I managed to do it myself. I think alot of it has to do with the material, too, though. I got this nice black hakama from a kumdo school when I visited my friend in California ($50,) and then later got a different one from Kendo shop ($15.) The cheaper one, probably 100% cotton, doesn't seem to shape as well as the more expensive one. I'm not sure of the first hakama's materials, though -- but I'm assuming they may be different, because it was a little more spendy.
-Matthew Hope
That was a bad move putting that sucker in the washer. Try bringing it to a dry cleaner and ask them if they can restore the pleats.
"You've got to lick it before you stick it"
-Canada Post
Are you a beginner? If you are its freaking hard to learn how to fold a hakama at first, because of all the pleats and directions they go. So you could get help from someone more experienced, to help you fold it back first, then iron it at home or something. Or just try to yourself. Just don't leave the iron at one place too long...Originally Posted by hakkuryu
I'd rather go full class of kakarigeiko than work in a "kendo-exclusive-hakama-folding-place." I did it fairly well today, though. Pats on the back, anyone?
-Matthew Hope
With a #7000 cotton hakama, you should not machine wash it at all. Hand wash and then line dry is the only way to clean it and still preserve the pleats. A polyester hakama can be machine washed. As long as you then line dry it, the pleats will stay.
How to restore? The cotton fabric in the hakama is weird; once it gets soaking wet, it becomes stiff. Since it sounds like you still have the pleats, you must first fold the hakama as nicely as possible, making sure all pleats are lined up and then fold the whole thing up into a square. Bring it to the bath tub. Unfold it length-wise, so the hakama is just lying in the tub and the pleats are still folded. Fill the tub with the shower head. Once the hakama is completely under the water, check that the pleats are still lined up, then step into the tub and basically walk all over the hakama with your feet. Your weight will smooth out all the wrinkled and reinforce the pleats on the wet cotton fabric. Drain the water and then hang the hakama up and line dry it. Use those hangers made for skirts. They have clamps and use them to keep the hakama's front and back waist straight and level. This will make the pleats hang straigt.
The key is line up the pleats while folding, keep them lined up before you step on the hakama in the tub, and line dry it properly.
Dry cleaners..the pleats should be there shouldn't it? THink you'd just have to put some serious starch action on there and iron it from now on until it's gotten its pleats back again
Nope...never put that thing in the drier or washer. I was told from that old guy who sold the hakama to me that you should soak it in salt water, and basically let it drip dry. Detergent tends to fade it til it looks like denim, though at least that will cause it to at least smell better than that nasty dye stench.
Hmm. I am probably a horrible person because of it but I just do not wash mine. I have never had any problems with unattractive odors or stains and I generally do not have the money to spend on dry cleaning so I just leave it unwashed. I do the same with the sweat pants and t-shirt I wear during my Long Fist Wu Shu classes.
Okay, I wash the keikogi and my t-shirt because those inevitably smell but I have never had any problems with anything that goes below the waist.
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