[SashaLionx]

I wash mine with my old jeans, helps make the jeans blue again. lol.
I use a normal detergent in a normal amount. I wash every other time I wear it and only use cold water. Then I dry it on a large hanger actually meant for a kimono so the sleeves are laid out straight. I keep it inside.
I wouldn't machine wash low quality ones though.

[Ephejvll]

I know some people aren't gonna like this - but I am one of those folks who uses a white gi because I find the thick smell of indigo a tad.... icky. I also like to be able to wash with detergent and bleach (once in a while) in hot water after practice. I buy my gi one size too big to compensate for shrinking.
My Hakama is tetron, and I wash it in a machine with no problems once or twice a month. It is getting a bit of wear - but I expect that after 3 years. I loved Neil's comments about dry cleaning! When living in Japan, I regularly had my hakama dry cleaned. It was only 200 yen, and it came back all pressed and folded PERFECTLY - it was like getting a new hakama every 2 weeks for $1.50! When I moved back to Hawaii, I took the hakama to the local dry cleaner (who assured me they knew what to do with it) and the pleats were DESTROYED. Live and learn!
I am looking into new hakama, and that tetron pair with stitched pleats is looking real good on e-bogu. Anyone out there own a pair?

[GuitarLoverBe]

Woolite Dark Laundry Fabric Wash and a dash of borax, cold water, hang dry.

Hakama - dry clean and pressed

[interbaoui]

i have been told that it is a serious crime to wash hakamas in a washing machine! it appears no-one else takes this attitude- good oh, that will save the huge mount of time it takes me to hand wash mine, and i will refer anyone else that tells me it is bad to one of you guys. But before i was made to see the wickedness of my ways, i did put my hakama in the washing machine once and found that the hardish flat bit(sorry, i dont know the name) when kind of soft and soggy. it is probably because it is a cheaphakama and i have a sneaking suspicion that inside the material it is made of cardboard. i may be wrong, but i dont think that it does it much good wetting it then drying it again in a washing machine. when i hand wash it, i try to keep it dry
anyway, if anyone else has this prob, how do they fix it? let it rot or what? imay of course be on the complete wrong track and it was soft for some other reason, not becaus i washed it.
please help
alicia
ps what is the smurf song?
pps what looks like blue tak, smells like blue tak, feels like blue tak and tastes like blue tak?
smurf poo

[DenisLevvin]

For the hakama: Dry-clean only. (Yeah, I know.)

Do yourself a favour and ignore this advice. The one time I had my hakama dry-cleaned, the idiots pressed the pleats in the wrong places. If you have a tetron hakama, wash it gentle cycle cold and hang to dry with a pants press, arranging and smoothing the pleats. Good to go, no ironing required. If you have cotton, wash in the tub if you're extra-cautious, then arrange carefully in the dryer and spin the excess water out. Hang again, arranging the pleats, then iron while still slightly damp. You can also wash cotton in the machine, but you should add a stitch or two to each pleat to make sure you can find them again to iron them in.

[ionitiesk]

Hmm, something strange has happened... I decided to soak my keikogi and hakama in vinegar last night since everyone kept saying the dye must be set! And when i rubbed my hands over it, they also turned blue slightly. Thing is, when I woke this morning, the water hadn't changed colour at all...

I checked last night, it's an indigo dyed keikogi from e-bogu - http://www.e-bogu.com/ketaunkkdbln03.html
The hakama was seikon dye, but I wasn't sure what that was and chucked it in the bucket anyways...

Why didn't it bleed? Is it now nice and acidic for nought?

[minowz]

lol indeed! Answer the question please kind sir

[sanddrareyk]

Thanks Kendomushi,
I was hoping that would work. I am ok with some bleeding but not as dark as I am having now.

Thanks for your help.

-Koori

______________
...Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost

[gusecrync]

Most welcome

[ycMC0PLg]

Hi also a newbie...

Does washing both gi and hakama in washingmachine help with the fading of the dye when wearing them? I am frequently coming away from practice looking like a smurf and it takes a good scrubbing to get the dye off. I have already set the dye with vinegar when I first got them. Do I need to re-set the dye?

Thanks for your help

-Koori

[Koayrbzh]

My Hakama is tetron, and I wash it in a machine with no problems once or twice a month. It is getting a bit of wear - but I expect that after 3 years. I loved Neil's comments about dry cleaning! When living in Japan, I regularly had my hakama dry cleaned. It was only 200 yen, and it came back all pressed and folded PERFECTLY - it was like getting a new hakama every 2 weeks for $1.50! When I moved back to Hawaii, I took the hakama to the local dry cleaner (who assured me they knew what to do with it) and the pleats were DESTROYED. Live and learn!

Guess that clearly shows that's hakama-wearing MA's are far more common in Japan and thus the dry cleaning places have a lot more customers taking them there than any other place? XD

I've taken 2 different hakamas to dry-cleaning once each.
The first time, it was an indigo tetron hakama. As Tiki said.. the pleats were gone!!!!... they just ironed them out of there!!!! They did exactly the opposite I told them..

Second time, it was my newest black hakama. Oddly enough, I took it to the same dry-cleaning place. Guess I was willing to give them a second chance. And it wasn't that bad, considering I told the attending gal that if they screwed up, they'd do it again =P And this time they did right!, very good I must admit. It looked as if the hakama was new. I was happy and it looked really neat.

[xT0U3UGh]

Hi everyone,

I got my new keikogi and hakama last week . The guy who owns the store gave very explicit wash and care instructions that seem to be working so far:
For the keikogi: 1) Dissolve a handful of salt in cold water. Leave keikogi in the salt water for several hours (this will fix the dye). 2) Rinse the keikogi in several changes of cold water to remove the salt, and in you can leave the keikogi in the final change of water for several hours to make sure all the salt is gone. 3) Wash in gentle cold cycle on the machine. 4) Dry in the shade.
For the hakama: Dry-clean only. (Yeah, I know.)
No smell, no dye running and very little shrinkage. We measured the seams before and after washing and overall the keikogi shrank by 0.5cm all over.

Hope this helps,
Angie

[Pypeassesty]

Washer yes, detergent no. A simple rinse cycle should help. Mine goes in the washer 2 times a week or more.

[worldofwarcraft]

Why didn't it bleed? Is it now nice and acidic for nought?

I'm afraid so. As I have stated here All this "setting the dye" is hogwash, in my humble opinion.

Unless someone has bought 3 identical indigo-dyed gi's, and soaked one each in salt, vinegar and plain water, and compared the resultant "dye-setting," I'm not gonna waste my time and energy soaking my gi in anything. Salt water at least doesn't stink. Vinegar, on the other hand... well, you've found it out for yourself.

Some say that salt water mimcks the sweat, which again allegedly sets the dye. Well, in that case, I say just practice more and sweat harder! What's wrong with being blue all over at the end of the practice? Just be girl and buy a shower puff. It takes the dye right off your skin

[T1ivuQGS]

Washing them in a washing machine, only after first setting the dye, is fine. However, be aware that even after setting, there will be some bleed. My good, order made keikogi will still turn white socks blue if I accidentally leave one in the washer. So wash alone or only with things you don't mind having a blue tint.

[Virosponna]

Geez am I glad one of our instructors wifes make traditional japanese clothing and tells us exactly how to wash them and take care of them, and their all custom made too.

So what did she say??

[feannigvogten]

Just a thought, why not just wear white keikogi? One, you can avoid being blue. Two, you can avoid the dye to come off when you wash it. I'm just talking about the keikogi here since I hardly ever get dyed by my Hakama. I also found the Bu Jin actually offers a replacement kit for Koshiita (the cardboard part) just in case the dry cleaner screws up your koshiita again, $15 per pop...

http://www.bujindesign.com/hakama.html#k

[Efonukmp]

So is it a good idea then to set the dye in both the keikogi and the hakama?? I have worked with dyed items before and I feel that the salt idea works pretty well. I just got a brand new set yesterday and they look great, now I just have to set the dye.

Most people buy tetron hakama so the dye is colourfast. You only need worry with cotton hakama, and then most people don't bother because they're such a pain in the butt to wash and never look quite as perfect after they've been washed. You don't sweat into hakama as much and your hips are covered by the kendogi. Usually with a new cotton hakama, only your ankles and calves get blue - easy to wash!

[AlbrtJhnsqw]

Try a COLD wash with a couple of handfuls of dishwasher salt (simulates a lot of sweating ;-)

hakama are best done in a bath - i tack stich the crease points before washing, hang it to drain and dry & you can hand smooth the creases back in - looks like new

I found this works well & reduces smurfism :-) (sadly i now have the smurf song running around in my head)

phil..

[M1iFiNmC]

I do use detergent, but in a very minute amount. Make sure the detergent has no bleach in it. Don't put any other clothes in the washer together with the gi. I know some other people use Woolite.