How To Wash My Gi Properly? Brand New Gi Care Guide

Hey you, did you just recently finish your first jiu jitsu class? If you’re a beginner starting your jiu jitsu journey with us, you should’ve received a brand new gi and white belt. Hurray!

Now that you’re done with the class you’re probably thinking what to do with that new gi of yours. It’s wet, it stinks and you’re planning on doing another class tomorrow.

The number one commandment of every clean, bacteria free gym: It’s absolutely necessary that you wash your kimono (gi) after EVERY class. As the gi is probably very different from what your usual wardrobe consists of, we wanted to give you a few tips on washing this special new uniform of yours.

Here are a few instructions on how to wash a gi gi so that it lasts you a looooong time:

Do not leave your dirty gi in a bag overnight. The bag will take over all that moisture + odors and it’ll be very hard to get rid of it later.

Always wash your gi in cold water, 90-100 degrees maximum. If your gi is a little bit too big and you actually want it to shrink a little bit (sleeves), you can wash it at 110-120 degrees, but NEVER over that temperature. Cotton shrinks and our gis are 100% cotton.

Never use bleach! Bleach will ruin your BJJ kimono, which you obviously want to avoid. If you get blood or a stain of some sorts on it, you’ll want to scrub the stain under cold water and wash it as soon as possible. The longer you wait with washing it, the harder it will be to remove the stain.

Do not dry your gi in a dryer! You also don’t want to dry it direcly under the sun. The best way to dry it is to hang it somewhere and let it dry at room temperature. If you really have to dry it quickly, you’ll want to use no heat in the dryer or low temperature settings.

This one is about your brand new white belt. You’ll want to wash that one regularly, preferably after every class as well. You might hear stories from people saying they never wash their belt because that gets rid of all the knowledge and special powers.

Yes, certain people believe that. You on the other hand chose Legion, which proves that you are a highly intelectual individual…  and as such you do not want to get a highly contagious disease like ringworm or staph.

Any salty jiu jitsu veteran will tell you that laundry is one of their least favorite side-effects of training jiu jitsu. But it’s a reality. You also most likely have this thing called a life and it may get in the way a bit when you’re scrambling to get ready for the next class.

Enter your second, third etc. gi. Having multiple gis, relieves some of the pressure of doing laundry after every single class. We sell them at the academy at a friendly price, just ask about them on your way in or out.

If you’re in a pinch and you want to train, but you can’t do laundry in time and you can’t buy a new gi. We sure know how to wash a gi and we have rental gis ready at the academy.

If you have more questions, ask our staff. We love talking about laundry almost as much as we love talking about jiu jitsu moves. You can read more about the Legion Hygiene Commandments here. See you next class!