Local advertisement for judogi dry cleaning
When I was a kid, there was a man at our dojo that all the kids either called “dirty hamper man” or more simply, “stinky guy” because of the nearly unbearable smell of his judogi. Even 20+ years later, I am sure that if I were to smell that same scent today, I would recognize it immediately. Now that I am an adult, I feel bad for him….only kind of. Personal hygiene is something Jigoro Kano emphasized in his writings, and has continued to be emphasized in dojos and publications around the world ever since. Unfortunately, I have met one too many judoka who have not taken heed of the words of our shihan.
Luckily, I live in Japan where there is enough of a market that many dry cleaning shops advertise gi cleaning services. The picture is of an advertisement that the dry cleaning shop just next to my house distributes throughout the neighborhood just at the end of summer. For about $9usd, you can get a sparkling clean judogi that feels like new.
I’d highly recommend taking your gi top to the cleaners at least once a year. It really makes a big difference. If you aren’t into forking out the money and would prefer to do it yourself, I will refer you to a post that popped up on a judo message board years ago. It quickly spread to MMA and BJJ message boards, and it is the best method that I have come across so far. If anyone knows who the original author is, please tell me so that I can give that person their due credit. In the meantime, here is the post that I stored away on my computer years ago. I’m posting verbatim, so forgive the spelling and grammar errors:
Attention all Gi heads.
Learn to wash your gi, and here’s how you do it:
1) Start up washer on warm water, mid to max fill.
2) Add maximum recommended soap (according to the instructions)
3) Add 1-2 cups of WHITE VINEGAR to the wash.
4) Let it begin to agitate, until it’s nice and soapy.
5) Stop the Machine.
6) Add Gi
7) Let it agitate for a few minutes
8) Stop machine and let it sit, full of soapy acidic water.
9) After at least a half hour has passed, restart machine and continue as normal.
This will guaranteed get the funk out of your gi. It was recommended by someone on the Judo boards, and it works… Even in the worse conditions it works
For example:
My friend had a pair of knee sleeves that smelled fine dry, but as soon as they got wet/sweaty they’d smell like a slaughterhouse that was flooded with cat piss. It was so horrible, you could smell them from 30 feet away.
Using this method once on the sleeves made it so they didn’t even stink a bit.
By washing it in vinegar, you’re making the cloth uninhabitable to all that bacteria which feeds on a basic (as opposed to acidic) environment… That’s why you get that ammonia smell when it’s really wet.
Wash it in Vinegar and you won’t have this problem.
Has never failed me or anyone I know.
