If you are new to Brazilian jiu jitsu you may have some questions about how to take care of your gi! Nova Gyms is the cleanest MMA and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school in the Milwaukee area and part of keeping a clean, healthy facility is taking proper care of equipment and BJJ gis.
The first time you wash a brand new gi, you may want to check to see if is ‘’pre-shrunk’’ otherwise you can expect some shrinkage to occur. Using cold water and hang drying your gi instead of machine drying can prevent shrinkage from happening. Order a gi just a bit larger than your ideal size to help ensure that your gi will fit comfortably after washing. (Check out this tutorial on how to tie your BJJ belt and pants! Don’t worry, after a few dozen times, it becomes second nature).
Washing your gi is huge part of good BJJ hygiene and just plain good etiquette (nobody wants to train with the stinky guy/gal) Your gi should be washed as soon as possible after every practice to prevent a buildup of bacteria that can cause an unpleasant odor or even cause outbreaks of ringworm or staph infection. (Preventing ringworm starts with clean gis! Learn more here)
Our BJJ and MMA mats are cleaned and sanitized daily, but due to the physical nature of brazilian jiu jitsu and close contact between the team, it is still important to wash your equipment immediately after class. If you attend more than one or two brazilian jiu jitsu classes a week it is a good idea to have more than one gi so that you will have a clean one to bring to every practice.
Stay clean, stay healthy, keep rolling!