How to maintain your martial art uniform (gi)
How to Wash a Gi: Care Tips for Your Martial Arts Uniform
A good gi is an investment. Treat it right and it will last years of hard training. Treat it badly and it will smell, rot at the seams, and need replacing far sooner than it should. None of this is complicated — it’s mostly about building a few consistent habits and knowing what to avoid. Understanding how to wash a gi properly is key to maintaining it.
Knowing how to wash a gi properly helps maintain its longevity and freshness. Always remember how to wash a gi after every session.
Wash your gi after every single session
Essential Tips on How to Wash a Gi
When discussing how to wash a gi, it’s crucial to remember the bacteria that can grow if it isn’t washed promptly.
In terms of how to wash a gi, using cold water helps to prevent shrinking and prolongs its life.
One important aspect of how to wash a gi is ensuring you adhere to the manufacturer’s instructions regarding washing methods.
This is the most important rule and the one most commonly ignored. After an intense training session your gi has absorbed a significant amount of sweat. That sweat sits in the weave of the fabric and if it stays there for more than about 12 hours, it becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. Wear an unwashed gi twice and it will start to smell. Keep doing it and the cotton fabric itself will begin to rot — and you’ll be passing whatever is growing in it to your training partners.
Part of knowing how to wash a gi involves utilizing sunlight effectively for drying.
Wash in cold water. Hot water shrinks cotton gi fabric and weakens the stitching over time. Cold water with a small amount of mild detergent is all you need for a regular wash.
It’s essential to consider how to wash a gi without using harmful substances like bleach.
Machine washing is fine. You don’t need to hand wash unless the gi specifies it — most Pacific Sports gi handle machine washing without any problems.
Always remember how to wash a gi properly to avoid common mistakes that can damage it.
Dry in the sun where possible
After washing, hang the gi on a clothesline in direct sunlight. Natural sunlight kills bacteria and eliminates most odours more effectively than any product you can add to a wash. While the gi is still slightly damp, slap and stretch the fabric — this smooths out the weave and reduces wrinkles significantly, so you don’t end up with a stiff, crumpled gi when it dries.
If you can’t dry outside, hang it in a well-ventilated area. Never leave a damp gi bundled up in a bag — that’s the fastest way to develop mould and a smell that won’t come out.
Never use bleach or fabric softener
These two are the most common mistakes people make with gi care, and both cause real damage.
Bleach weakens the threads of the fabric. It might remove a stain, but it’s doing so by chemically degrading the fibres — and that degradation accelerates wear at the stress points like the collar, sleeve edges, and crotch seam. Once those areas start to go, the gi won’t last much longer.
Fabric softener is less obviously damaging but just as problematic. It works by coating the fibres of the fabric — and that coating fills the gaps in the weave that allow sweat and dirt to be washed out. The result is that fabric softener actually locks moisture and bacteria into the gi rather than helping to remove them. Your gi will feel softer briefly, and smell worse over time.
If your gi is heavily soiled from outdoor training, wash and dry it twice in a row without wearing it. That’s more effective than adding any chemical product.
Dealing with stubborn smells
Regular washing in cold water and sun drying removes most odours. But occasionally a smell will persist — particularly if the gi went through a period of being washed infrequently, or if it’s been used heavily in hot conditions. Here are a few methods that work, in order of what to try first.
Repeat the wash and sun dry cycle
Before trying anything else, simply wash and dry the gi twice without wearing it in between. Most stubborn smells respond to this without needing any additives.
White vinegar pre-soak
Fill a basin or bucket with cold water and add one cup of white vinegar. Soak the gi for about 30 minutes, then machine or hand wash as normal and dry in the sun. Vinegar neutralises the bacteria causing the smell rather than just masking it. Don’t worry about the gi smelling like vinegar — it disappears completely once dry.
Baking soda in the wash
Add half a cup of baking soda to the detergent compartment of your washing machine along with your usual detergent. If hand washing, dissolve it in the water before adding the gi. Rinse thoroughly afterwards — multiple rinses if needed — to make sure no residue remains in the fabric.
Specialised sportswear detergent
Detergents formulated for technical sportswear are designed to break down the specific compounds that cause persistent sweat odour in synthetic and cotton fabrics. Worth using if the above methods haven’t fully resolved the problem.
Tea tree or lavender oil
A few drops added to the wash leave a fresh scent and have mild antibacterial properties. Use only if you’re not sensitive to scents. These are a complement to proper washing, not a substitute for it.
One important note with all of these methods: rinse thoroughly. Residue left in the fabric from any additive — detergent, baking soda, vinegar, oil — will trap smells rather than eliminate them. When in doubt, run an extra rinse cycle.
Ironing
For grading, competitions, or demonstrations — yes, iron your gi. It should look sharp for those occasions.
For regular training — skip it. Ironing canvas and poly-cotton fabric repeatedly accelerates wear on the threads. The few wrinkles that remain after washing and drying will smooth out naturally from your body heat within the first few minutes of training. Nobody in your dojo is looking at your wrinkles during a sparring round.
FAQs about how to wash a gi can help clarify common concerns among martial artists.
Folding and storage
After washing and drying, fold your gi rather than bundling it into your bag. This matters more than most people realise. When fabric is crumpled and compressed in a bag, the creased areas become stress points — and those are exactly the areas that eventually tear when under load during training. A folded gi also takes up significantly less space in your bag, which is a practical bonus.
Store your gi somewhere it can breathe. A sealed bag or a drawer where it can’t air out will let any residual moisture develop into mildew.
Keep at least two gi
If you train regularly, one gi isn’t enough. Your gi needs to be washed after every session and properly dried — which takes time. With only one gi, you’re either skipping the wash or waiting for it to dry before your next session. Neither is ideal.
Two gi for regular training is the minimum. Many serious practitioners keep a third set reserved specifically for grading and competition, so it stays in pristine condition and doesn’t take the daily wear of training sessions.
Quick reference: gi care dos and don’ts
- Do wash after every session in cold water
- Do dry in direct sunlight where possible
- Do slap and stretch the fabric while damp to reduce wrinkles
- Do fold rather than bundle when storing
- Do iron for grading and competition
- Don’t use bleach — it degrades the fabric threads
- Don’t use fabric softener — it traps bacteria in the weave
- Don’t use hot water — it shrinks cotton and weakens stitching
- Don’t leave a damp gi in a sealed bag
- Don’t wear a gi twice without washing
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put my gi in the dryer?
It’s better not to. Heat from tumble drying shrinks cotton gi fabric — even pre-shrunk gi can shrink further with repeated heat drying. It also weakens the stitching at stress points over time. Air drying in the sun is better for both the fabric and the longevity of the gi. If you must use a dryer, use the lowest heat setting and remove it while still slightly damp.
My gi still smells after washing. What should I do?
In knowing how to wash a gi, always prioritize air drying over heat drying whenever possible.
First try washing and sun drying it twice without wearing it in between. If the smell persists, try a white vinegar pre-soak — one cup of vinegar in cold water for 30 minutes before washing. For very stubborn smells, add half a cup of baking soda to the wash. Rinse thoroughly after any of these methods to avoid residue trapping new odours.
For persistent smells, revisit how to wash a gi using vinegar methods for better results.
How do I remove a stain from my gi?
When learning how to wash a gi, be cautious of different stains and their treatments.
Many inquiries about how to wash a gi arise from various martial arts practices.
Cold water and a mild detergent applied directly to the stain before washing handles most stains. Don’t use bleach — it removes the stain by degrading the fabric, which shortens the life of your gi significantly. For stubborn stains, a specialised sportswear stain remover is a safer option than bleach.
Lastly, always remember how to wash a gi before its first use to ensure it’s clean.
Should I wash a new gi before wearing it?
Yes. A new gi — particularly a cotton or canvas one that isn’t pre-shrunk — should be washed in cold water before its first use. This allows any initial shrinkage to happen before you’re wearing it, and removes any manufacturing residues from the fabric.
How long should a good gi last?
A well-made gi that’s properly cared for should last several years of regular training. The collar and sleeve edges of the jacket typically show wear first in grappling arts from repeated gripping; the crotch seam of the pants wears first in kicking arts. When those areas start to go, it’s usually time to replace that piece — see our post on buying gi separates if you only need to replace one part.
Can I use the same washing method for all gi types — Karate, Taekwondo, BJJ?
The basics are the same across all gi types: cold water, mild detergent, no bleach, no fabric softener, air dry. The main difference is that BJJ gi — particularly pearl weave jackets — are heavier and take longer to dry fully. Make sure the jacket is completely dry before storing to avoid mildew developing in the thick weave.
