Cleaning your Kimono, Fabric, or Obi

Cleaning your kimono & obi

You might have your favourite and precious kimono or obi which are made of silk and wonder how to clean them.

Cleaning kimono is a very delicate matter even in Japan.
Cleaning shops that specialise in washing kimono & obi (and other things relating to kimono) have the required high quality techniques and expertise.
Although it may be difficult to do in the same way as Japanese do, treat them basically as well as a high-quality silk dress.

 

Important points:
* Water-wash is basically prohibited. (Causes shrinkage and colour run-off)

* It’s not advisable to wash kimono or obi by yourself. It’s better to leave them with a reliable dry cleaning shop which can treat high-grade silk items.

* Frequently cleaning kimono causes damage to the fabric. Usually, cleaning is enough once in a season or when it gets dirty.

* When you get stains with blood, sebum, mud, water and the like on kimono or obi, leave it to a dry-cleaning shop to spot remove just the stain (no need to clean the whole item) as soon as possible.

* Keep your kimono as clean as you can from both the outside and the inside. ( wear “juban” and underwear to protect the kimono from dirt such as sweat or sebum, keeping the kimono clean from the inside.)

* The cloth and threads of antique kimono may have weakened. You should tell the cleaning shop in advance.

* After wearing the kimono, brush it softly and shade-dry it.

Apart from anything else, try not to dirty your kimono and obi in the first place.
Treat and wear them carefully:)

 

>>This advice holds for fabrics from kimono bolts as well as those recovered from deconstructed kimonos and obis.