Gi vs. bleach. What to do?

[A. Orstrom]

Hello everyone.

 

I have heard several times that you should not bleach your gi with chlorine or similar.

 

Can anybody tell me why that is? Does it ruin the fabric, or is it because the bleached area will stand out?

[Jussi Häkkinen]

It's just because most of the "bleached" do-gi are not actually bleached but tinted white. Result from bleaching will be a gray-ish do-gi. It does stand out - as a "dirty" looking area in the do-gi.

 

Chlorine is also a pretty harsh detergent that weakens the fibers of cotton. So, your do-gi will last shorter if you bleach it.

[Chito]

I assume it would be ok to use bleach for colors? I mean... sometimes it's touch to get the stains out after so much use...

[Pacificshore]

The liquid Tide w/bleach has been recommended for most gi's.

[aefibird]

I use Ace (similar to Tide) on my gi with no ill effects. Ordinary chlorine bleach is too harsh.

 

If you're wanting a good cleaning product for your gi then try an oxygen-based cleaner, such as Oxy Magic granules. You just add them to the wash cycle along with regular detergent.

[strangepair03]

I use Ace (similar to Tide) on my gi with no ill effects. Ordinary chlorine bleach is too harsh.

 

If you're wanting a good cleaning product for your gi then try an oxygen-based cleaner, such as Oxy Magic granules. You just add them to the wash cycle along with regular detergent.

 

I use the same...tide w/bleach alternative and oxyclean, takes the dirt out and keeps patch colors intact

[CloudDragon]

I use Rit on my uniforms, its in the detergent aisle, its like a dye that really makes the whites look good.

[karatekid1975]

I use Ace (similar to Tide) on my gi with no ill effects. Ordinary chlorine bleach is too harsh.

 

If you're wanting a good cleaning product for your gi then try an oxygen-based cleaner, such as Oxy Magic granules. You just add them to the wash cycle along with regular detergent.

 

I use Oxyclean, and regular Tide. We have hard water, so if we used bleach, it would turn our uniforms "yellow." It was kinda gross, so that's when I started using Oxyclean. It works. It keeps our uniforms looking like new.

[swdw]

Using Bleach, liquid or dry, weakens the fibers and causes the gi to wear out faster.

 

The best substiture I've found after many years is OxiClean ( but wait there's more ). Be sure to wash the gi in hot water as the warmer the water the better it works. I had a gi with a stain around the collar that bleach didn't remove (I have oily skin, all my gis used to do this). I soaked the top in oxiclean and hot water, then washed it with OC and it took the stain out

 

Any product similar to oxiclean will work, and it does NOT pull out the bluish tint. My gi 's are lasting MUCH longer now. (Which is nice when you spend $100+ on heavyweight or superheavyweight gis)

[Grenadier]

Another vote for the avoidance of chlorine (actually hypochlorite) based bleaches.

 

Use an oxygen-based bleach instead. These are not nearly as destructive on the fabrics, and don't leave any smells. You can find bottles of generic store brand oxygen bleach (sometimes called color safe) in any grocery store or Wal-Mart.

 

I found a greyish spot on the back of my 8 year old Pro Force heavyweight gi, so I ran it through a warm wash cycle with chlorine bleach. This only made the greyish spot even more pronounced.