(picture courtesy of Hourman)

My wife just bought me a new pair of jujitsu gi pants. Why? Two reasons.

1. She’s awesome.
2. My old pair made me look homeless.

This has made me do a little research into how to make my gi last longer, and stay nicer.  What I’ve found out surprised me.

I don’t want to drag this out, so its bullet point time.

• If you want your gi to smell fresh, you must wash it after every use.  Even if the gi is dry – sweat has evaporated and oils from your body have made their way in.
• Even you wear a t-shirt underneath, you still are sweating onto it.
• Even in the winter, even if you don’t think you’re sweating.
• Rule of thumb: If it touches your skin, wash it after one use.
• If you want to keep it smelling nice, wash it right after you use it. Bacteria breed in your sweat and oils – and its the bacteria that create the smells. The longer the smell factories stay in, the longer and harder it is to take them out.
• Smells can be infused into your gi – and sometimes washing will not eliminate them.
• Dry your gi directly after washing. Mildew will accumulate with time.
• Line dry your gi if possible, and not in direct sunlight. (UV’s and such)
• Machine dryers shorten the life of your gi.
• Washing the gi in cold water.
• Bleach shortens the life of your gi. I know you want to do it, but don’t.
• Color safe bleach will still weaken the fabric.
• Harsh chemicals especially weaken the threads in the seams -making groin tears and knee patch openings more likely.
• If you want a nice, sharp colored gi – do not buy a white one. You will be tempted to use bleach otherwise.
• Fresh blood stains? Soak in cold water, then massage in liquid detergent, then wash.
• Dried blood stains? Did you not obey the above advice?  Pre-treat the stain, soak in WARM water. Products with enzymes are idea.
• If you use bleach, use it only a couple of washings a year. Seriously.
• You want to extend the life of your gi? Own two.  Two gi’s bought at the same time will outlast buying one at a time if you care for them correctly.
• Avoid fabric softener. I shortens the life of your gi.
• New gi’s are rough -  sweat/salts/oil will soften them a bit after the first few wearings.  After the first 3 wearings, that’s probably the softest its going to get.
• You want a softer gi still? Buy a nicer one. There is no way around this, safe diminishing the life of your gi via chemicals.
• Setting the color – for colored gi’s and patches, soak 30 mins in a mix of a half cup white vinegar per gallon of water (cold). You can do this in your bathtub. Follow by a regular wash.
• Color safe detergents help keep the color.
• Neither setting the color of color safe chemicals will extend the life of the gi – it will only keep the color longer.
• So you’re going to use the machine dryer anyway, huh? Heat = reduced gi life.
• Don’t iron your gi. Are you a pansy? Spend that time training.
• After drying, leave it be for a minute. A gi needs to be completely dry before you fold it – if not, in the folds you will retain water and create mildew.
• Patch early. If you see thread coming out of the seems or elsewhere, it’s not going to stop magically.
• Machine washing will stress minor tears and seem weakness – I’ve created several big tears in my training clothing by washing it in the machine.
• You can try hand washing a gi in a tub instead of the machine.

Some of the stuff above came from a “more than you ever wanted to know about caring for your uniform” pamphlet that came with my Piranha gi. Others, I learned from caring from my rock-climbing ropes, my mom, and (bad) experience.

If you were wondering, these are the pants my wife bought me. I’ll let you know how they turn out.

Also, don’t let a cat get in them.