Belts

[Excoastie]

Hello everyone:

I've got what would normal be a non question, but perhaps isn't really.

I've heard that red belts are the exception to never washing your belt.

I've noticed on more than one occasion of the Red belts bleeding off on to the DoBok and leaving a pinkish ring (I've seen it with green belts too, but didn't experience it). I've heard some talk about it being necessary to wash a red belt to prevent this. I know washing it should prevent this, but what is the general opinion about doing so?

I plan on talking to my instructor when I return to class, but thought I'd put it out there for the world, and see what the general consensus was.

thanks everyone

Exco

[ps1]

Welcome.

The whole "never wash your belt" thing is very debatable. That is, not everyone believes that way. However, if the belt is bleeding onto your uniform, and the stains are unremovable, you may want to consider washing it.

[ninjanurse]

Personally, I do not hold to the never wash your belt thing. I tell my students to wash it before they wear it to get the excess dye out (cold water and vinegar used to work well). I have noticed the green belt thing too....usually it is those and red that I have seen rub off onto doboks...never any other colors. Hmmm....

[Excoastie]

do you think it'll make a difference with the white stripe? The last thing I want is a pink stripe where it's supposed to be white LOL

I've got an email in to our instructor. Our first class isn't until Tuesday, so I should get a response from Her before then.

thanks for the responses

Exco

[ninjanurse]

I dont know....never have seen a red belt with white stripe-I suppose it depends on the type of material the stripe is made out of.

[DWx]

I never had a problem with belt dye coming off until I got my red belt. It was awful, turned back of my dobok pink. You probably do need to wash it if its coming off onto your dobok because you'll struggle to get it out. I washed mine but unfortunately the actual belt colour faded a lot.

[shotokan-ste]

never had problems with my yellow belt but when i had my green belt after my first night wearing it the whole back of my gi was covered in green luckily it all came out however with my new purple belt ive worn it with my new heavy weight gi and after 2 washes ive still purple marks on the back

[Excoastie]

a lil update....

I talked to both an instructor and a friend. The instructor is 1st Dan, the friend (who is also his wife) just received her full red belt. They both washed their red/ white (and solid red) belts. He had issues with the pink bleed through on the stripe, she did not.

What he did was get a bleach pen, and very carefully bleach the white stripe back to white. He then rinsed the belt in cold water to remove the bleach, and hung it up to dry. He had no further issues with it.

I just finished bleaching/ rinsing both my son's and my belt. The stripe looks white, but we will see how it looks when it dries.

thanks for all the responses

Exco

[JAKEHE3078]

I know a ton of people do not believe in washing their belts. I have never seen a person loose their skill because their belt is clean. Please wash your belt/obi with the rest of your GI/Dobok/Kimono, nobody wants to cross paths with whatever bacteria might be lurking around in your unwashed belt. Just think about all the sweat dirt grime, and even a minuscule amounts of blood from tiny scrapes, drool, snot, even in tiny amounts that nobody realizes is even flying around.

[Montana]

I've been buying belts since 1975 and have NEVER had one "bleed" before. My guess is that you're buying cheap belts. Spend the money and get better ones.