Sapius martial arts uniforms will last longer if you follow these wash and care guidelines.
Always:
- Always inspect the uniform for any problems before you use or wash it. We will replace or refund a damaged uniform before it is used or washed.
- Always inspect the uniform for stains, damaged stitching, and other problems. Getting to these early will allow you to fix them BEFORE they ruin the uniform.
- Always wash the uniform every time you sweat in it. An unwashed uniform will smell, change colour and if left in your training bag could go mouldy!
- Always wash in cold water. Warm or hot water washes will excessively shrink the uniform.
- Always put the uniforms in the washing machine first, placing them around the botton of the drum, with a small amount of other clothes/towels on top. If a uniform is high in the drum it can come out the top when spinning, ruining it!
- After washing and again after drying, always go over your uniform and stretch the material out to remove any wrinkles.
- Always gently stretch and iron (at a low tempurature) any embroidery on the uniform. This will minimise unsightly bunching aroind the embroidery.
- For at least the first 10 wash/dry cycles, dry the uniform in direct sunlight on a rack or clothes line. Slowly drying the uniform when its new will help avoid excessing shrinkage.
It's OK to:
- It's OK to pre-soak your uniform in cold water overnight if it has any stubborn stains. Use cold water, a stain remover AND fabric whitener.
- It's OK to drip-dry the uniform, though this can leave the uniform damp for longer and increase shrinkage.
- It's OK to dry the uniform in direct sunlight on a rack or clothes line. Sunlight helps remove stains and will keep the uniform white.
- It's OK to dry the uniform in a sensor clothes dryer (on the lowest heat settings). When dried by itself the uniform will be wrinkle-free and will not shrink any more than natural drying.
- It's OK to iron your uniform, but not excessively. Lots of heat into the uniform will cause excessive shrinkage. If you dry it right, there will be very few wrinkles to deal with.
- It's OK to roll it up to store it. Loosely rolling the uniform will help get wrinkles out compared to hanging it up, or folding it.
Never:
- Never screw up and leave your uniform on the bedroom floor after wearing it. It will get very wrinkled, smell, and will make the carpet smell.
- Never wash your uniform with any coloured clothes. Colours will run and you will have a pink uniform!
- Never bleach your uniform, unless its a last resort to restore its whiteness. Bleach will degrade the material and weaken the uniform.
- Never cram the uniform into the washing machine with lots of other clothes, else it will come out very wrinkled. One uniform plus a couple of white towels works best.
- Never leave the uniform in the machine for a long time after it finishes washing – the longer you leave it, the more wrinkles there will be in it.
- Never dry your uniform for excessive times, or high heat settings in a clothes dryer. Dryers often overheat the clothes, causing excessive shrinkage.
