washing your gi

[aefibird]

What do you do when you wash your gi? Wash it by hand? Use a nachine? Take it to a cleaners?

Which type of cleaning agent do you use and do you use any specialist cleaners, such as washing bleach (eg ACE bleach) or Oxy-Clean? Also, do you use fabric conditioner (softener)?

[Jussi Häkkinen]

I use machine, 40 or 60 degree (celsius) program, normal detergent with bleach.

I don't use softener.

No tumble drying (wears out the fabric), hang drying, ironing to soften the inside a bit.

I wash the do-gi after every training. Having a couple of them will allow you to cycle them.

[Pacificshore]

Washing machine, and I personally put mine in the dryer, still last me a long time

Oh, and liquid Tide

[strangepair03]

I wash/rinse in cold water, with tide with bleach alternative. Hang dry, and smooth out wrinkles by hand when I fold the gi. If I have heavy stains, (grass,blood, etc:) I make a paste of water and oxyclean, rub it on and let it sit for about 30 min...then I wash as above. I also have several gi's and wash after every class.

[karatekid1975]

I wash mine in Tide and Oxy-Clean (one scoop for each wash load). I tumble dry on low. I fold my uniforms right out of the dryer, so they don't get wrinkled. If I get blood on them, (which as happened twice in the past two weeks) I rinse it in cold water, treat with Oxy-clean and/or dish soap, then wash as normal. Works like a charm

[Freddy]

i just got my new kamikaze america gi about a week ago and its time to wash it. Is it bad if i put it in the dryer?

[Jussi Häkkinen]

It will wear out a bit when the fabric rubs itself. It's occasionally OK to use the dryer (to return the softness to fabric surface), but if you repeat it often, your do-gi will wear out very fast. I'd say that one tumble drying is wear-wise similar to about a month of training.

[ialwaysgethit]

I was mine in the machine at about 4o degrees, and hand it to dry, strech it whilst its wet, as all my newer gi's appear to shrink!!

[Grenadier]

For the white, brushed cotton gi:

Wash in cold water, regular detergent. If you need to whiten it, a scoop of Oxyclean, or its generic / cheaper substitutes, and the use of warm water, will give that extra boost.

Hang dry, and iron out when still slightly damp.

If you need to dry it in a hurry, then 30 min on a Permanent Press (low heat) cycle can help speed it up.

For the less expensive 10 oz cotton canvas gi (Proforce):

Wash in warm or hot water, tumble dry normally with other whites. Yes, this is abusing the uniform, but it's coming close to falling apart after a decade of use, and I'm replacing it anyways with a better uniform. Surprisingly, it didn't shrink that much, compared to its original size, even after all of these years.

For the cheaper black ProForce gi, blended cotton / poly:

Wash in warm water, tumble dry normally. Done this for 8 years, no signs of destruction, other than normal wear and tear, and fade.

[TriStateTerror]

What is yoru advise on washing a black proforce double weave black judo Gi for the first time?