Belts

[JohnASE]

All the belts we sell are all supposed to be colorfast and should never bleed color. Cheaper belts sometimes are not colorfast. Having said that, we have had complaints on occasion. Sometimes factories make mistakes. We try to catch and correct problems as soon as we can, but sometimes they slip past us. My point is, this can sometimes even happen with good quality belts.

I have no real experience with belt washing, but I'd be careful washing a belt that isn't colorfast. One wash might get most of the dye out so it won't stain your gi, but won't it also make it fade? I've seen lots of drastically faded belts at tournaments, but I have no idea how many washings it took to get that way.

The vinegar thing mentioned by ninjanurse sounds good. I've heard vinegar helps set the dye. Mostly, I've heard people use this for black uniforms, but I suppose it should work for belts, too.

If a belt bleeds color, it will stain a white stripe, so I'd be careful with that. The bleach pen sounds like a great suggestion, but you'd have to be VERY careful.

This should be obvious, but if you wash your belt, don't wash it in the same load as a white gi, especially if it's a dark color belt or if you suspect it will bleed.

[benjamin]

I've never washed a belt. I did get bleed from my red belt, but no other belt so far.

I just washed it out of my gi. Didn't want to wash my belt in case the belt actually turned horribly pink.

[sensei8]

I've always wondered what is it with the color "RED". For example, red is the hardest of all in the rainbow to work with in model building. It'll do everything and anything except what it's designed to do, and that is cover an area.

[ps1]

I just washed it out of my gi. Didn't want to wash my belt in case the belt actually turned horribly pink.

That would be awesome!!!! I'd love to see that.

[dwarf2]

I know what Im about to say is not about a belt but, i started to work out at a karate school with a brown belt and i was new at the time, and he told me he was not going to wash his uniform until he got his black belt , I ask the instructor for a new partner . I still laugh when i think about it, a great memory.

[JohnASE]

I've always wondered what is it with the color "RED". For example, red is the hardest of all in the rainbow to work with in model building. It'll do everything and anything except what it's designed to do, and that is cover an area.

Yeah, I've wondered too! Red auto paint tends to fade more easily than most colors.

I just washed it out of my gi. Didn't want to wash my belt in case the belt actually turned horribly pink.

That would be awesome!!!! I'd love to see that.

If I remember correctly, that's how Judo Gene Lebell started wearing pink gis. Not a belt, but something red got washed in with his gi. Now it's kinda his trademark.

[coldcube]

I noticed this when I was attending my Shotokan lessons. Some students had this problem. (no idea where they got the belts from)

I think it depends on the quality of the material. I never had a problem with my belts. If you buy cheap belts you will have problems.

[Wastelander]

I've never washed any of my belts, but my last one did take a dunk in the Pacific Ocean for an hour or so before I was promoted to brown belt, and the dye didn't bleed on that one. I do check my belts for stink periodically but none of them have ever gotten stinky so I've never washed them except scrubbing individual spots that got blood or something else nasty on them. I have Febreezed them before, though, just in case . The main reason that we were told not to wash our belts in my dojo (at least, to be very careful if we washed them) was because so many people had their belts shrink to useless sizes after washing, even with the washer set on Cold.

[kansascityshuffle]

Expensive belts can bleed so that argument is silly. Tokaido, Shureido, Hirota, and Isami are the only brands I have wore. Yes, cheap belts will bleed easier but if you train in a humid country like Singapore you can have your belt bleed onto your dogi. If you don't believe me, train harder and longer...so you actually sweat more. Some of this can have to do with all the 'stuff' that is collected in your belt.

If your belt stinks, wash it. My belts hold sentimental value but not for one second do I think I have some type of super power if I don't wash them.

Osu!

[pegasi]

Rit's color remover works pretty well to remove dye from clothing that should not have been colored, like getting dye bleed from a belt to a dobok top. Double check the instructions, but I've used it once or twice on other clothing besides ma uniforms, don't see why it wouldn't work here to remove the dye bleed such as the purple, green, or red bleed over from the belt, and the color remover product only costs a few bucks, much cheaper than a new dobok.