Indigo KeikoGi

Hi everybody,
recently I got my new indigo dyed keikogi from ninecircles, and I followed the instructions found on the internet about setting the dye (to put the gi in a bucket full of water and vineguard).
Actually I did it twice just to be sure.
Yet still whenever practice wearing it I become blue !
Any suggestions?

[Krusse]

Originally posted by Okashira
Hi everybody,
recently I got my new indigo dyed keikogi from ninecircles, and I followed the instructions found on the internet about setting the dye (to put the gi in a bucket full of water and vineguard).
Actually I did it twice just to be sure.
Yet still whenever practice wearing it I become blue !
Any suggestions?

Get used to the smurf look and be proud of your blueness

You can use artificial 'color fixer' (??) for better results I think. But indigo died armor and clothes will lose color for a pretty long time.

My blue stuff is almost 2 years old now and still loses enough indigo to make the water I wash it in look like (port)wine.
When it finally stops, it's usually so ugly you want to redye it.

Thanks for the fast reply!

I think I can live with being blue, but doesn't it mess with your hakama?
And if I wear a juuban underneath? Won't it become permenently blue?

[Krusse]

Originally posted by Okashira
Thanks for the fast reply!

I think I can live with being blue, but doesn't it mess with your hakama?
And if I wear a juuban underneath? Won't it become permenently blue?

It looses it's dark blue color and becomes lighter blue. Some people love that "used" look. You can recolor it with regular blue cloth dye - some prefer a dark purpelish look or blueblack.

Wearing more than hakama & gi is very warm in summer
If you wash it in the machine at 30-40degrees (celsius), the indigo color is removed pretty well.
I have a white gi for training (hate to put the blue one in the machine) and the do himo color them even worse than a hakama ever could. After washing in the machine it's usually totally white again, so I think if you can wash the juuban in the machine, there shouldn't be a problem

[Enfield]

Originally posted by Okashira
I think I can live with being blue, but doesn't it mess with your hakama?

If they're blue, black, or some other dark color, no one's going to notice. Or just wash them after practice.

And if I wear a juuban underneath? Won't it become permenently blue?

As long as you keep the collar white, you're fine. Who's going to see the rest of it anyway? One my instructors wears happi as juban.

Anyway, after a few washings, the amount bleeding and rubbing off should dramatically decrease.

[gendzwil]

Double-layer keikogi reduce this effect quite a bit. But yeah, smurfdom is your lot in life for a couple of washings.

[kokumo]

I recently bought an indigo-dyed keikogi from Mugendo Budogu.

The first time I wore it, I got smurfed.

Before wearing it again, I gave it two fixative baths, the first with vinegar and the second with kosher salt and soda ash purchased from www.dharmatrading.com. The second bath followed the time and proportion instructions Dharma Trading gives for fixing its own line of Procion dyes.

End result? Zero smurfing since then.

Dharma Trading also offers organic urea, which is a bit more authentic as a fixative, but I can't swear by the results for that product.

Hope this helps.

Fred Little