Stretching a dryer shrunk gi

[mmarick]

Hey guys,

I picked up Badboy blue gi and did the whole vinegar and water thing that worked out fine. It's an A4 that I dried in dryer for just 20 minutes on medium, but it shrunk more than I expected. I don't think it's ruined because the sleeves are probably still 3/4ths to my wrist and I believe that they pass the 4 fingers rule.
That said...I would like to maybe get back 1/2" - 1" of sleeve length. I've read that putting in the washer on cold water and letting it sit all night and then in the morning tug and pull ans stretch on the arms, and while it hangs dry do it on occasion and that you could do it again if you need to.

My main question is, does this work, and to what degree, what could I expect to get back if any?

 

[blackers10]

I read somewhere that using softener can help to expand a gi a little bit also

 

[kafkaesque]

Go wear it to jiujitsu sweat in it and it will loosen up

 

[JKDEastNashvill]

Wash it in cold and stretch it while it is wet.
A good workout...stand on one sleeve and pull the other

 

[nykayfabe]

Wash it in cold and stretch it while it is wet.
A good workout...stand on one sleeve and pull the other

I would hold one end of the same sleeve while pulling on the other end. Otherwise, I think you'll unnecessarily stress the armpit reinforcements across both sleeves.

 

[mmarick]

Wash it in cold and stretch it while it is wet.
A good workout...stand on one sleeve and pull the other

So far this seems to be working. Thanks for all the advice. For people who may search and find this thread in the future here is what I've done so far.

Soaked gi in cold water for about about 10 hours in laundry machine. (filled it up with cold water around 1 am and tossed it in and didn't let the washer actually spin) I placed it in from 1am - 11am. Took it out and stretched it out with my hands. Placed it on in the tub still soaking wet and held arms down to my side and up and out in front of me and had a friend pull on them. Waited two hours till 1pm (time right now) and we did it again. We'll check it again around 3:30pm and do it again if needed. Going to do it every couple of hours for a while (if needed) and see how that works.

So far... I can legitimatly say I've gotten back 2" - 3" while its still wet and we're tugging on it. Now once it air dries I may lose some of that, but.. I'll let you know.

 

[Nickynoneck]

My fuji gi when hung dry tightens up a bit to the point where it feels to tight so before class I just put it in the dryer for like 2 mins on high heat take it and just pull on the arms/shoulders , skirt and the hip/groin area o fteh pants and its stretches out pretty nicely.

 

[Knock Out Ned]

So far this seems to be working. Thanks for all the advice. For people who may search and find this thread in the future here is what I've done so far.

Soaked gi in cold water for about about 10 hours in laundry machine. (filled it up with cold water around 1 am and tossed it in and didn't let the washer actually spin) I placed it in from 1am - 11am. Took it out and stretched it out with my hands. Placed it on in the tub still soaking wet and held arms down to my side and up and out in front of me and had a friend pull on them. Waited two hours till 1pm (time right now) and we did it again. We'll check it again around 3:30pm and do it again if needed. Going to do it every couple of hours for a while (if needed) and see how that works.

So far... I can legitimatly say I've gotten back 2" - 3" while its still wet and we're tugging on it. Now once it air dries I may lose some of that, but.. I'll let you know.

I have an Atama gold weave that that shrunk a little too much on the sleeves. Thanks, I'll try this out.

 

[mmarick]

So the ending is... After it was dried my total recovery was about right at an inch to possibly an inch an a half on the sleeves. I did this by having a friend pull on the sleeves while I was wearing it wet, every few hours until it eventually air dried out.

So if you slightly shrunk your gi, there may be some hope for it.