Hakama washing

The following is a blog entry that I wrote a couple of months ago about hakama washing for my old blog, before moving to OnlineAikido.com. I didn't have time to correct it and add the pictures until now.

People don't wash their hakama very often. Noone wants to iron the 7 pleats after washing because it's not considered a really easy task (especially if you are not used to ironing at all :). My ironing, thanks to my wife Heni, is restricted to gi ironing, and now it also includes hakama ironing). People I know wash their hakama twice a year at most. I have my hakama since September 2007 so it's time now to wash it as it's getting harder to brush the dirt off it (I do the brushing before each Sunday training when I practice the hakama folding meditation exercise :)).

When the machine finished its job, I took the wet, heavy, black ball of cloth to the bathroom to let it hang and dry. Just like my machine-washing friend had predicted, the pleats were intact so I felt better about the forthcoming ironing process. I even contemplated skipping the ironing part because after hanging for a couple of hours, the hakama looked exactly the same as if it was hanged after a training (I usually hang it after trainings and fold it before the following training).

I let it hang for two days but it was dry after one.

Then we started ironing it. Is say "we", because not having extensive expertise in this type of work, I let Heni do the ironing and I took on the role of the 'helping hand'. Whenever I needed to hold the fabric or move it so that the next pleat could be ironed, I did it. Whenever I saw there was some fluff on the hakama, I brushed it off. Whenever I forgot to do any of these and I was reminded to do so, I did what I needed to do :). I ironed the cords though because I felt that couldn't go wrong. I did that, and did it well :D.

It took about an hour to iron all the pleats and small bits, and to prove that my hakama did not meet the highest standards in terms of taylorwork. Some hidden inside pleats were strangly curved, some others needed to be 'created' to connect a pleat beginning to an ending at the other side. We also noticed that the washing machine's gentle programme didn't really remove the fluff and the hakama managed to collect some of the washing powder at the groin which needed to be wiped off.

We used an ironing board. Some people suggested that the hakama should be ironed on a table because it tends to slide off the ironing board. It might be the case unless you team up with a good 'helping hand' :).

Also, we used a piece of cloth and did not iron the hakama directly. Friends say the hakama gets shiny if you iron it without any cloth. Probably it depends on the fabric but I accept that direct ironing may cause shininess.

Overall, it was an interesting learning experience and now my hakama smells much better. Next time, in half a year time, I might try to wash it with a normal programme with spin.