Washing Hakama and Gi

We recommend hand washing with warm water to wash your kendo clothing. Traditionally, kendo clothing is dyed with the natural dye indigo. As a result, high quality hakama and gi usually stain very much. The water is dyed by a strongly blue. This is not a defect, but a sign of high quality.

The method presented here:

• spare your kendo clothes,
• leave the wrinkles after washing in your Hakama and
• do not dye the engine of your washing machine with indigo colour, so that also your remaining laundry turns blue.

1. Fill a tub or a washing bowl with about 30 degrees warm water.

2. Adding a little fabric softener, that makes Hakama and Gi smoother after washing. Mix the softener very thoroughly with the water so that it has dissolved properly in the water. This avoids that after washing small flakes of fabric softener hang on the clothes. Please do not add vinegar to the water, as this may adversely affect the color, sometimes the gradient of kendo clothing.

3. Put Hakama and Gi folded togheter in the water.

4. Thoroughly walk on with your hands. You can also climb into the tub, as in the pressing of wine, to knead the clothes with your feet. In this way the remaining residues of the fabric softener can dissolve in the water.

5. After washing, put on the Gi on a hanger.

6. Pull the Hakama out of the water at the top edge.

7. In this way, the wrinkles stay even after washing.

8. Either hang on a leash or as shown on a trouser hanger. Do not expose to the blazing sun.

9. Carefully fold the wrinkles togheter by hand and fasten each one with a clothespin.

10. When the Hakama is dry, fold the Hakama and put a towel and some books on it. Another option is to put the Hakama under the mattress after folding.
So you leave the Hakama for a night. The next day it should look like ironed.

11. After drying, Hakama of cotton should be ironed. Hakama made of blended fabric or Tetron instead are often smooth even by hanging.

Links:

• Instructions to put on, consolidate and maintain Kendo clothing and armor can be found in our Kendoinfothek [click here].
• We at kendo-sport have a large selection of Hakama and Gi in our shop [click here]. We are happy to advise you!