After wearing black gis for eight years for my USA Goju training, I've been wearing a white gi for Goju-ryu for the last five months or so. Where I liked training in a lighter-weight black gi (about 8.5 ounces), the light-weight white ones kinda suck, so the training gi I use now is about 12 ounces. The one I compete in is even heavier - about 16 ounces - because I like the crisp, kinda stiff look and feel. That is until it comes out of the wash.
What is it about heavyweight white gis that make them ball up like a crumpled sheet of paper after washing? I've tried line drying, drying them totally flat and even tossing them into the regular dryer for a few minutes - only to have very wrinkled mess on my hands when they finally do dry, rendering them totally unwearable until ironing. My 16 oz competition black gi almost never needed ironing, so why do my white ones?
My household iron is barely a pound when it is filled to capacity with water. It is no match for my white gis, which seem to just laugh at my lame efforts. After sweating and straining with my trusty iron for 30 minutes or so, my gi still looks like I slept in it for a few hours (instead of all night, like it did before I ironed). Not cute at all.
A few weeks ago, I finally broke down and took it to my local dry cleaner just to have it pressed. The owner literally sighed when she felt the material. "Wow," she said. "So heavy!" I'm not kidding.
It looked great when she was done, but because it is usually sweat-soaked and stained (because some bit of dirt always, always, ALWAYS finds me when I have it on) after training, I cannot go more than one class without needing to have it washed, which necessitates a trip back to the cleaners, which is getting expensive. I swear, keeping my white gi cleaned and pressed is going to send me straight to the poor house.
Anyone have any ideas for keeping it at least a bit more wrinkle free after washing?
What is it about heavyweight white gis that make them ball up like a crumpled sheet of paper after washing? I've tried line drying, drying them totally flat and even tossing them into the regular dryer for a few minutes - only to have very wrinkled mess on my hands when they finally do dry, rendering them totally unwearable until ironing. My 16 oz competition black gi almost never needed ironing, so why do my white ones?My household iron is barely a pound when it is filled to capacity with water. It is no match for my white gis, which seem to just laugh at my lame efforts. After sweating and straining with my trusty iron for 30 minutes or so, my gi still looks like I slept in it for a few hours (instead of all night, like it did before I ironed). Not cute at all.
A few weeks ago, I finally broke down and took it to my local dry cleaner just to have it pressed. The owner literally sighed when she felt the material. "Wow," she said. "So heavy!" I'm not kidding.
It looked great when she was done, but because it is usually sweat-soaked and stained (because some bit of dirt always, always, ALWAYS finds me when I have it on) after training, I cannot go more than one class without needing to have it washed, which necessitates a trip back to the cleaners, which is getting expensive. I swear, keeping my white gi cleaned and pressed is going to send me straight to the poor house.
Anyone have any ideas for keeping it at least a bit more wrinkle free after washing?
When I bought my first heavy white karate gi, I was given the tip to smooth it out by hand when it comes out of the washer, and then hang it to dry. What I found works pretty well is hold onto it and snap it out when it's wet, and that releases a lot of the wrinkles, plus it's also a good workout!
ReplyDeleteI will try it Wednesday when I wash it again. Thanks for the tip, G! :-)
DeleteYep. Also, when dry, or 'just dry', fold and smooth out. Does it look like you are ready for the Japanese All Karate Women's Kata Finals? No. ;) But good enough for training.
ReplyDeleteI've tried the smooth out after drying thing, but it hasn't worked well. It's like some of those wrinkles are set in and refuse to let my smoothing hands turn them around. Sigh. I may just be doomed to be wrinkled...
DeleteI empathise! heavy white gis are a bit of a pain. We wash ours after each training session, snap out as many creases as possible and then hang them up on coat hangers over the curtain rail over night to dry. They're not as good as when ironed but I find that within half and hour of wearing them and getting warmed up many more creases drop out and they look ok. I probably have lower standards than you but I rarely iron my gi any more.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip, Sue :-) And you're right - once I get going, the wrinkles dissipate, so i guess it's all good...
ReplyDeleteSorry I have no tips as I gave up on wearing white in the dojo and out. I seem to attract dirt everywhere.Black Gi's are my favorite.
ReplyDelete