Care For Your Kendo Gear

A) It is important to wash new indigo Kendo gear before you wear it - usually this is because it will be stiff and quite 'blue'. In a bath, half fill it with cold water. Place in there white vinegar . Delicately lay your hakama in the water (keeping all folds neat) and ensure it is fully covered. Leave overnight (8 - 24 hours ok). Take out of this water. Pin the hakama so that the pleats are neat and not skewed and preferably not in direct sunlight. (pinned to a hangar and hang off the shower?) and allow to dry naturally. Keikogi can hang over the hangar. When dry fold a'la kendo style to ensure the folds maintain their 'memory' - you can do this with keikogi too. Leave overnight and then you are ready to wear them.

B) If you have synthetic hakama you do not need to do this. A REMINDER: You do not need to wash your keikogi and hakama every week. Unless you have a major sweat problem or undertake intense training in the middle of summer you should only need to wash your hakama 3 - 4 x per annum. You may want to wash your gi a little more but do not overdo it, these products have been designed to absorb sweat. The best care for your gi after training is to turn it inside out and place on a hangar in a sunny/airy place (not in direct sunlight if you can avoid it but some time in direct sunlight ok). Same with your men/kote. After practice (unless it was a light training), ensure your Men is not cluttered with the tenagui (which should be washed after each training) and is taken out of the bag for an overnight airing (near a heater is ok as long as it is not too close, esp the kote). When you have new bogu talk to Liz or I about specifics around loosening it up.