I'm interested in the 93 Tau gi, which is a 450 gram gold weave in A2.
The sleeve length is around 69 inches, which I need to shrink down to about 63 inches. I heard that gold weave is susceptible to shrinkage, but does anyone have experience with this particular gi? Any idea if this will shrink that much? Any help is much appreciated, thanks in advance.
Before you ask, I need to buy an A2, because I know I won't fit into the pants of an A1L.
Alex
Hey Alex, George of 93brand here.
There are two main contributors to shrinkage with Gis: weave and color.
A little tangent for those interested:
1. Gold weave definitely shrinks more than Pearl, etc.
2. White shrinks more than dyed, unbleached shrinks more than white. Essentially, the more of a bleach and/or dye process the fabric undergoes prior to assembly, the less it will shrink post-assembly.
3. I don't know if there's any science behind this one; could just be coincidence. But in my experience, my softer Gis have had a tendency to shrink more than my stiff or rough Gis. In the past 6 years of training and having a mild addiction to kimono collecting, I've owned upwards of 40 Gis (given away or sold most of them by now, of course) and I've noticed a correlation between softness:shrinkage.
tl;dr
The Tau is soft, it's white, and it's a Gold weave. So you'll experience a decent amount of shrinkage depending on how you go about washing and drying. Here's what I suggest... I always say wash cold and hang drying the first time, since the environment in which you dry it could affect the shrinkage (someone in Arizona in the Summer will experience different hang-dry shrinkage than someone in the Amazon in the Spring). If that doesnt get you the right fit, then wash on warm and then toss it in the dryer for just 5 mins. Try it on (damp Gis are not comfy, I know, but the Tau is so damn soft once you shrink-to-fit that it will be worth it, I promise). Still too long.. dryer for 15 mins. Try it on. Repeat, etc.
If you don't like the fit after washing, we'll take it back and send you a size down jacket, no questions asked.
Thanks for supporting!!
