Prepare and care for black gi/dobok

[crushing]

I found these two threads about preparing a black or color dobok or gi that suggested a salt and/or vinegar pre-soak before the first wash:

http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4372
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6589

These threads are a few years old and seemed to be more like 'I heard that if you do such and such, it will help preserve the color of your dobok', but I am curious as to how it works in actual practice. Plus, ideas on how to do things change over time. Is there a better way?

I recently bought a fairly heavy (I don't know the oz.) 100% cotton black dobok. What is the best way to lock in the black color and care for it? Thank you!

 

[IWishToLearn]

For my 100% cotton uniforms, I've found one thing that helps is if you turn it inside out when washing. It seems to prevent the color fade to grey for a while, but in time ALL black 100% cotton uniforms will fade. Part of the reason I recently switched to poly/cotton - that and I feel the poly/cotton seems to breathe better.

 

[MJS]

For my 100% cotton uniforms, I've found one thing that helps is if you turn it inside out when washing. It seems to prevent the color fade to grey for a while, but in time ALL black 100% cotton uniforms will fade. Part of the reason I recently switched to poly/cotton - that and I feel the poly/cotton seems to breathe better.

Yes, I was going to say the same thing. I do the same thing with jeans, and as you said, it helps, but eventually, fade is going to happen.

Mike

 

[Grenadier]

Yup. You're going to lose the color sooner or later, but the truth be told, I actually like that greyish color.

In addition to the suggestions that others have made, you can maximize the darkness by following a few steps:

1) Wash only in cold water, using the gentlest cycle possible. As long as you don't have a penchant for turning uniforms into stinkrags, then this kind of washing should be fine.

2) Use detergents specifically designed for cold wash and / or dark colors.

 

[donna]

All of the above suggestions, plus dry your Gi in the shade if you can, not in direct sunlight. I have found the poly cotton blends do seem to hold their color longer than the 100% cotton ones.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I wash my black uniforms insdie out with woolite dark color soap. Then I hang dry them. This helps a little. However they are eventually going to fade. My favorite unifrom is about ten years old and is grey. It is a great uniform. :ultracool

 

[crushing]

Thanks for all the great suggestions on the care and maintenance. Wash inside out on gentle cycle with a dark clothes detergent and air dry out of the harmful direct sunlight.

So is the vinegar and/or salt soak a good idea, or doesn't that really make a difference, or could it actually be harmful?

 

[donna]

Soaking in salt is supposed to stop the color running with the first wash, but I have yet to have a black gi where the color ran (poly/cotton blend ,or all cotton) . After the first wash ,and if you only use cold water ,I havent found that it helped one way or another. This is only my experience though, others may have had different results.

 

[IWishToLearn]

The downside to vinegar is the acidity will help to soften your new uniform - but it does so by breaking down some of the fiber strength. You'll get the same effect by repeated sweating and washing - and your uniform will last longer hehe.

 

[crushing]

The downside to vinegar is the acidity will help to soften your new uniform - but it does so by breaking down some of the fiber strength. You'll get the same effect by repeated sweating and washing - and your uniform will last longer hehe.

Vinegar, to me, seemed counter to my goals of preserving my dobok. For fun years ago I used vinegar to create a rubber chicken bone and put an egg into a glass bottle with a mouth smaller than a 'solid' egg. I've heard of people using it to get rid of a wart. For these reasons I imagined the vinegar might eat away at my dobok.

Thank you for the response, I'm going to skip the vinegar treatment.

 

[TraditionalTKD]

Couldn't tell you, I don't have any black doboks. All mine are white.

 

[Grenadier]

Forgot to mention, Woolite has a very delicate detergent specific for dark clothes, and it really does do a nice job of preserving that black color for a longer period of time. It still has enough cleaning power to get out the odor-causing residues.

 

[crushing]

Forgot to mention, Woolite has a very delicate detergent specific for dark clothes, and it really does do a nice job of preserving that black color for a longer period of time. It still has enough cleaning power to get out the odor-causing residues.

Hey now! What are you implying?!?!?!? :uhyeah:


Thanks, I'll look for it.

 

[Grenadier]

Hey now! What are you implying?!?!?!? :uhyeah:

Now, now... I do have a funny story about that.

Some people's sweat contains a lot more sebaceous secretions, as well as other items that make it a lot more attractive of a breeding ground for bacteria, and fungi. One of these people was a fellow Karate-ka in the same dojo, who nobody wanted to grapple with, since his uniform stank very badly. Think of it this way: You go down the streets of New Orleans, and encounter an alleyway where someone had just dumped over an entire barrel of skunky beer. Then let it rot for a few days.

It wasn't his hygiene; he always kept himself clean, but the fact that he always ate tons of garlic and onions, meant that a lot of that stuff got got soaked into his gi from his sweat. To put it bluntly, not everyone I know enjoys eating deep fried onion rings drenched in garlic sauce, and not everyone dumps granulated garlic on every slice of pizza!

Anyways, he always used the strongest detergent he could find, since the ones that were developed for "gentle" use could never quite get all of those smelly thietanes and thioranes out of the fabric, and that he wasn't about to get rid of his Shureido gi. After all, he did pay about 200 bucks for it. He tried Cheer, but the smell of the sulfurous compounds in his clothes still clung to them, even though he dumped baking soda into the washer. So, he decided to go back to the strong stuff. At least it only made him slightly odorous each session.

When his dark black gi started turning marbled grey, that was to be expected, but when it started getting lighter, and lighter with each wash, he had contemplated getting a new gi to replace his. There was really nothing wrong with his gi, since Shureido makes one heck of a nice gi that lasts for years. However, he did want a black gi, and having one that was closer to white than black wasn't too appealing to him.

By the time he did replace his gi with another one, he started using Woolite Dark, and swears that his gi no longer smells like a pile of used old sweat socks, even though he still enjoys his daily dose of garlic drenched onion rings. The gi has still faded a bit, but not nearly as fast as it did with regular detergents.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Yes, I use woolite dark (not for the smell thank god) and that works great by not fading a black uniform to quickly.

 

[bydand]

Woolite dark as well. The lighter weight poly blends will not fade as fast as the cotton gi's either, but I just can't get used to the "cheap" feel of them compared to a good heavyweight cotton. Plus I kind of like the slightly faded look for a gi. Not the faded until it looks like it's threadbare, but the slightly dark gray they get after a time.

 

[Flying Crane]

I rarely wear a gi anymore, but I have a heavy black denim gi that I got in 1990. I never used any special treatment for it, washed it with the regular dark stuff, used regular detergent and dried it in the dryer. It is a nice, worn-looking, comfortable dark grey now, and honestly I like it that way.

 

[Phoenix44]

WELL I'M IMPRESSED! You folks sure have a lot of time on your hands! I have 2 kids and 2 jobs--I put my gi in the wash with the dark clothes, and then it goes in the dryer. It's fine, thanks!

 

[Grenadier]

Forgot to mention...

For those of y'all that have front-loading washing machines, you're probably in a much better situation, when it comes to caring for your gi.

The front loaders are much more gentle on your gi's (of all colors and types) than their traditional top-loading ones, and if you think about how much premium gi's cost these days, it may very well pay off in a handful of years.

You don't need as much detergent, and there are no "fins" to create all of that friction against your gi. This will help reduce the "marbling" effect when washing a black gi.

 

[IWishToLearn]

Your sig is messing with my mind!@!~