How often should you wash your gi?

[MyBodyHurts]

You should wash your gi after every class. Not sure how this is even a question. There's nothing manly about having weird things growing on your skin because you're a dirty bird.

 

[228Jits]

I can't believe there are 7 pages on this...

 

[brownfeet]

I can't believe there are 7 pages on this...

7 pages? pfff rookie, i'm on page 3

on topic i wash it after every use, the only time i'm the stinky one is when i have two classes back to back. so first class is 6-7 and the second is 7-830 but hell almost everyone is pretty sweaty by then

 

[rekd]

used to get away with using a double weave twice per wash as long as the room was cold and a big open space, which limited humidity and sweat. Now, just once per wash. buy another gi, bjjhq or fuji, P&S, plenty of options that won't break the bank.

But the weave and the space make a huge difference on how much sweat ends up soaked into a jacket. a 450 pearl will be absolutely sodden while a gold/plat/dbl just has much more fabric for absorption

 

[Bellicose]

I wonder if the people here who say there is ZERO exception to using the air dried gi the same day for a later class also realize that they themselves are drenched by the end of class, with their own and other peoples' sweat anyway?

Do you wipe down with Wet Ones between each 5 minute roll? You might've gotten ringworm from that last guy and transfered it to the next. How rude.

 

[Rod1]

Your gi should be clean every time you step on the mat. If you're not doing this then you are putting your training partners health in jeopardy.

There is absolutely no grey area in this.

Take a waterbreak? change gi plz.

 

[yj381]

If you sun/air dry your gi, you can get away with wearing it twice a day.

I've had to do this a couple times and it wasn't too bad. The direct sunlight helps a lot I think.

 

[Da_Rev_Ong]

I wonder if the people here who say there is ZERO exception to using the air dried gi the same day for a later class also realize that they themselves are drenched by the end of class, with their own and other peoples' sweat anyway?

Do you wipe down with Wet Ones between each 5 minute roll? You might've gotten ringworm from that last guy and transferred it to the next. How rude.

When it comes to that, if the other people are following the same rule the aren't bringing in an accumulated amount of stale sweat, funk, and festering germ/bacteria culture in with them when they roll (and subsequently sharing said stale sweat, funk and germ/bacteria culture with me). Yeah, I'm going to be sweaty at the end of class. That's why I shower afterwards.

And yes, some people do wipe down right after rolling. That's the reason why these exist:

No one is saying that there is some sort of minimum number of gis that is required to start training in BJJ. Just keep what you have clean. If you live in a warm and arid place where you can do that, well I guess that's an option to keep the gi usable. Just realize that having a "usable" gi is very much different than having a "clean" gi. Also, if you live some place like western Washington state where it rains 80% of the year doing the "sun dry" thing isn't an option.

People state things like this because it's not about being "rude" or a hedging the varying opinion about what is considered rude. You come in with a gi that isn't clean and you are creating a situation where your training partners health (and ability to train) is at risk. Period. Just saying "well you're going to get sweaty/dirty anyways" isn't a realistic, mature or acceptable mindset to have about it either. If that's the case, you might as well be asking me to willingly roll with a leper.

I ain't doing that. If I tell you I'm not going to and you find that offensive, well (in this instance) that's on you.

 

[Udub]

I wash my gi every time I've used it. It's completely soaked in sweat after a couple of hours of training. But of course, I also shower and brush my teeth before I roll, because I don't want to subject my partner(s) to odd smells and submission attempts all at the same time.

But I guess you could wear a rash guard underneath the gi, if you can't afford enough gi's to keep rotating throughout the week.

 

[Nova Uniao]

7 pages of people saying the same thing

 

[RJ Green]

18446744073709551616 is 2 squared 6 times. i picked that number because bacteria divide every 30 minutes to hour. then realize you probably rolled in a colony of bacteria yourself, because stinky didn't wash himself/his gi. great job fellas.

 

[ABC]

I wash my gi every time I've used it. It's completely soaked in sweat after a couple of hours of training. But of course, I also shower and brush my teeth before I roll, because I don't want to subject my partner(s) to odd smells and submission attempts all at the same time.

But I guess you could wear a rash guard underneath the gi, if you can't afford enough gi's to keep rotating throughout the week.

just a suggestion, you should take a shower at least a couple hours before for your safety. The shower opens up the pores and the shower kills off a lot of the natural bacteria on your skin that protects you. Then take a shower as soon as possible after you roll.

 

[Udub]

just a suggestion, you should take a shower at least a couple hours before for your safety. The shower opens up the pores and the shower kills off a lot of the natural bacteria on your skin that protects you. Then take a shower as soon as possible after you roll.

I could've been more concise, but this is exactly what I do. I get home from work around 3.30, shower at 4 and train at 5.30

 

[Bellicose]

When it comes to that, if the other people are following the same rule the aren't bringing in an accumulated amount of stale sweat, funk, and festering germ/bacteria culture in with them when they roll (and subsequently sharing said stale sweat, funk and germ/bacteria culture with me). Yeah, I'm going to be sweaty at the end of class. That's why I shower afterwards.

And yes, some people do wipe down right after rolling. That's the reason why these exist:

No one is saying that there is some sort of minimum number of gis that is required to start training in BJJ. Just keep what you have clean. If you live in a warm and arid place where you can do that, well I guess that's an option to keep the gi usable. Just realize that having a "usable" gi is very much different than having a "clean" gi. Also, if you live some place like western Washington state where it rains 80% of the year doing the "sun dry" thing isn't an option.

People state things like this because it's not about being "rude" or a hedging the varying opinion about what is considered rude. You come in with a gi that isn't clean and you are creating a situation where your training partners health (and ability to train) is at risk. Period. Just saying "well you're going to get sweaty/dirty anyways" isn't a realistic, mature or acceptable mindset to have about it either. If that's the case, you might as well be asking me to willingly roll with a leper.

I ain't doing that. If I tell you I'm not going to and you find that offensive, well (in this instance) that's on you.

I do see a difference between a clean and useable gi, and I think useable is still okay. I think most people here do not see the difference, they make it seem like if it is not 100% fresh form being laundered clean, than it is not usable and you are infecting them with the AIDS virus.

You have to do this with common sense. If you train more than once a day, and you're in the climate that allows it, fuck washing between sessions. Now some people are nasty and their sweat reeks, if your shit stinks don't use it again. It's that simple. If you're in kill-yourself-rains-360-days-a-year Seattle, you obviously don't have that luxury.

Now if you train once a day or once every other day, if you can wash it, wash it. If you can't, that shit better not be stinking, moist, or blood soaked. Some people don't have their own washers and driers.

Bottom line, if I'm on the mat and you walk in and say "Hey, this is dry, but I didn't get a chance to wash it after my last roll yesterday, you mind?" As long as that shit doesn't reek to high hell, I couldn't care less. Hell, even if the guy was like "I trained earlier TODAY and it's still not 100% dry yet" still don't care. Come to me with something that hasn't been washed in 2 weeks and now it's an issue.

 

[rowdstar]

after every class. if you go to two classes in a row, bring two gi's.

wash yourself, wash your gi and belt. to me, anything else is just disgusting.

 

[seatea]

I currently only have one gi but I would like to do an early morning class and then an afternoon class later. Would it be alright to use the same gi twice. At the moment I wash it after every class. Sorry for the noob question but I really don't wanna be that smelly guy in the class

Buy a cheap second gi, for comfort if nothing else (fresh gi's being much nicer to wear).

If for whatever reason you cannot then make sure you hang your gi up to dry.

Unless you're a particularly odoriferous fellow your training partners won't notice despite all the "OMG!1! yous gonna stink an giv me aids!" responses.

 

[Bellicose]

18446744073709551616 is 2 squared 6 times. i picked that number because bacteria divide every 30 minutes to hour. then realize you probably rolled in a colony of bacteria yourself, because stinky didn't wash himself/his gi. great job fellas.

2^6 = 64

If you meant (2^2) which would be 4, and then multiply the sqaures together 6 times (4^6) that would be 4,096.

I have no idea what you were trying to show.

 

[Allan san]

2^6 = 64

If you meant (2^2) which would be 4, and then multiply the sqaures together 6 times (4^6) that would be 4,096.

I have no idea what you were trying to show.

i read that number too and was confused as shit.

 

[Da_Rev_Ong]

Bottom line, if I'm on the mat and you walk in and say "Hey, this is dry, but I didn't get a chance to wash it after my last roll yesterday, you mind?" As long as that shit doesn't reek to high hell, I couldn't care less. Hell, even if the guy was like "I trained earlier TODAY and it's still not 100% dry yet" still don't care. Come to me with something that hasn't been washed in 2 weeks and now it's an issue.

Sure, sure... Not everything is completely set in stone, but there are very tangible reasons why people make good hygiene a required part of their training (many of which aren't completely obvious no matter how little you smell or how dry your gi is). As someone who's had a bout of staph, that shit is so f'n nasty and hard to deal with that if I have an opportunity to avoid it I do what I can to avoid it. Part of that is letting people know to clean their stuff. The other part is choosing not to roll with someone with a suspect gi.

Heck, if it wasn't such a big deal my gym (and many others) wouldn't have written mat rules against folks coming in with dirty gis. If someone comes in and they want to roll with a suspect gi, people will say stuff about it. The folks I train with have that in mind, and if they still want to roll and they don't have a usable gi everyone is completely fine with them coming in with a suitable set of shorts and a t-shirt if that's all they have.

If the TS isn't able to get a second gi, or make it to the laundromat that day, it would probably be just fine for him to tell his trainer/teacher that he doesn't have a clean gi for the second class and to see if it's fine to roll in shorts for that reason. Most places will be perfectly fine with that. In which case, he's got a much more acceptable option than doing a last minute sun-dry hoping that no one will raise a stink about the state of his gi because he doesn't have to worry about crossing into the unhygienic territory.

 

[rekd]

i read that number too and was confused as shit.

maybe he just kept pressing the X^2 button over and over again assuming that this represented geometric growth (it doesn't)