How long uniforms last

[Gerry Seymour]

Part of the wear and tear on a gi is how you wash it. I'd recommend never bleaching the gi. It will weaken the fabric over time, and can also make it stiff.

I'm a big fan of adding vinegar to the wash. Helps with funk, with stains and is kind awesome.

Those ripstop pants are nice and light, but I can't seem to get a pair to last more than a year.

I use borax to keep the funk down, as well as vinegar. I wash in cold water (warm occasionally on some fabrics), and dry either on low or air dry (fabric dependent). When I wore white gi, I would bleach a few times a year.

 

[Steve]

Just posted my full guide on washing the uniform.

Borax is great. Baking soda is even better, if you have an ammonia smell.

I wouldn't ever bleach a Gi. Just kills them.

Something I didn't include in my guide is the use of a bluing agent, to help whiten up garments that have become yellow. If your Gi is yellow or gray, pick up some kind of bluing additive for the wash.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Just posted my full guide on washing the uniform.

Borax is great. Baking soda is even better, if you have an ammonia smell.

I wouldn't ever bleach a Gi. Just kills them.

Something I didn't include in my guide is the use of a bluing agent, to help whiten up garments that have become yellow. If your Gi is yellow or gray, pick up some kind of bluing additive for the wash.

I agree about the bleach. I would just get lazy every now and then and throw the gi in with the whites. As for bluing, if you do that, how will they know your gi is well-seasoned?

 

[PhotonGuy]

Which model Tokaido? Tokaido has made in Japan gis, and Pakistan made gis. The Pakistani gis aren't nearly as good as the Japanese ones, so I'm lead to believe.

Everyone and I used to wear Century heavyweights at my former dojo. They'd last about 2 years or so. They'd get pretty disgusting looking in that time too - they'd turn yellow and gray.

Because we were college guys who lived at home and had a good amount of disposable income, a classmate and I bought expensive gis. He bought a Tokaido Ultimate, and I bought a Shureido K-10. Our sensei shook his head and asked why we'd ever buy gis that expensive.

I wore mine 4 nights/week, usually back to back classes. Washed it in warm water with bleach and machine dried it. Every night. About 3 years after, it was still as white as it ever was, minus a few drops of blood (which made me look tough). My sensei asked us one day if we bought more of them; nope, they were the original and only ones. I wore it for about 5 years, and it still looked really good and showed no signs of wearing out, minus the logo patch coming off. I left karate for grad school, and the Tokaido guy left for the police academy. Had I not left, I'd probably easily get another 5 years out of it. He probably would have too.

We didn't do much throwing/rolling/etc. I doubt it would hold up very long with full-on Judo type throws though.

I've heard Tokaido's quality declined a bit. I don't personally know anyone wearing a newer one (like made in the last few years), so all I know is what I've read online. And you know how that goes. I bought a Shureido K-11 about 7 months ago and the quality is just like I remember the K-10 was. I do however wash cold and hang dry.

My Tokaido uniform was made in Japan. For some reason it just hasn't held up to the intensity of my workouts, not after two and a half years. I've always used cold water to wash it as warm water is not good for the material. Unlike my uniform which was made in Japan, my belt was made in Pakistan. My belt I did not buy like my uniform though it was given to me. As it is though my belt has lasted much longer than my uniform and as a matter of fact I've used the same belt while going through a bunch of uniforms.

 

[Steve]

My Tokaido uniform was made in Japan. For some reason it just hasn't held up to the intensity of my workouts, not after two and a half years. I've always used cold water to wash it as warm water is not good for the material. Unlike my uniform which was made in Japan, my belt was made in Pakistan. My belt I did not buy like my uniform though it was given to me. As it is though my belt has lasted much longer than my uniform and as a matter of fact I've used the same belt while going through a bunch of uniforms.

Not sure what the quality control is like, but almost every BJJ Gi made in Pakistan.

Also, warm water isn't bad for material. It may cause some shrinking, but that's it. Doesn't weaken the fabric or anything like that. Bleach definitely weakens the fabric and will invite rips and holes.

 

[Steve]

I agree about the bleach. I would just get lazy every now and then and throw the gi in with the whites. As for bluing, if you do that, how will they know your gi is well-seasoned?

lol. Just thinking about what we'll seasoned means in the context of a Gi... yuck.
Bluing isn't something many people do now, but it's a way to restore color balance to the whites. Yellow and blue are complementary colors. So adding some blue to a yellowish garment will make it look white again.

 

[PhotonGuy]

Not sure what the quality control is like, but almost every BJJ Gi made in Pakistan.

My Tokaido uniform is a Karate uniform not a BJJ uniform and it was made in Japan.

Also, warm water isn't bad for material. It may cause some shrinking, but that's it. Doesn't weaken the fabric or anything like that. Bleach definitely weakens the fabric and will invite rips and holes.

I just follow the instructions that say to use cold water. And I don't use bleach I just use regular detergent.

 

[Steve]

My Tokaido uniform is a Karate uniform not a BJJ uniform and it was made in Japan.



I just follow the instructions that say to use cold water. And I don't use bleach I just use regular detergent.

2 1/2 years is pretty good. Do you smell bad? If not, you're in good shape.

 

[drop bear]

Part of the wear and tear on a gi is how you wash it. I'd recommend never bleaching the gi. It will weaken the fabric over time, and can also make it stiff.

I'm a big fan of adding vinegar to the wash. Helps with funk, with stains and is kind awesome.

Those ripstop pants are nice and light, but I can't seem to get a pair to last more than a year.

See how we go i suppose. It is just too hot here to train in anything heavier.

I do have the sexy club gi on order.

 

[Steve]

See how we go i suppose. It is just too hot here to train in anything heavier.

I do have the sexy club gi on order.

They tend to rip at the bottom cuff, where dudes grip. And the seam around the knee patch splits.

Depending on how frugal you are, you can get them patched up.

 

[PhotonGuy]

2 1/2 years is pretty good. Do you smell bad? If not, you're in good shape.

It doesn't smell bad but its falling to pieces. A pant leg ripped entirely in half the long way so I had to toss the pants. The jacket has got many rips too and its about to go. I will probably invest in a Seishin Karate uniform next.

 

[Steve]

It doesn't smell bad but its falling to pieces. A pant leg ripped entirely in half the long way so I had to toss the pants. The jacket has got many rips too and its about to go. I will probably invest in a Seishin Karate uniform next.

Yeah, I think you got a fair olive out of that one.

 

[Steve]

Yeah, I think you got a fair olive out of that one.

Olive was autocorrected from life, FYI.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Olive was autocorrected from life, FYI.

I thought maybe that was some kind of odd Northwet idiom I'd never heard.

 

[Steve]

I thought maybe that was some kind of odd Northwet idiom I'd never heard.

It sounds more like something an Aussie or a Brit would say to me, along the lines of "fair dinkum."

 

[Gerry Seymour]

It sounds more like something an Aussie or a Brit would say to me, along the lines of "fair dinkum."

Yeah, I can hear "you got a fair olive outta that" in a cockney accent in my head. Sounds about right.

 

[Steve]

Yeah, I can hear "you got a fair olive outta that" in a cockney accent in my head. Sounds about right.

For some reason, I'm feeling a strange compulsion to call people "mate."

 

[Ironbear24]

I usually get 8 to 10 oz his and they normally last a few years.