Fencing.Net - Your Guide to Fencing & Fencing Equipment

chinbeard · 02-12-2008, 01:35 AM

I've poked around the forums, and it seems like the general consensus is that it's bad to wash your stuff after every use, because the detergents accelerate wear.

But isn't sweat also bad for the materials? I sweat a lot. What if I were to just rinse my mask and jacket off with plain water? I know that you're supposed to do this with lames, but I haven't been able to find anything about masks or jackets.

Purple Fencer · 02-12-2008, 01:51 AM

Go ahead & wash your uniform when you feel the need...if you do it frequently, don;t use so much detergent...but if you show up to the strip and you smell like a sewer, you probably ain't fencing....

Cold machine wash and hang dry....

HDG · 02-12-2008, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

hang dry....

How about air dry (i.e. no heat) if your dryer has that feature?

Purple Fencer · 02-12-2008, 02:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HDG

How about air dry (i.e. no heat) if your dryer has that feature?

Hmmm....never considered that. I would suppose that if you don't add heat the tumbling could accelerate the air-dying process...more airflow through the material, but none of the heat that may generate shrinkage (or melt something like the padding in my gloves)

Anyone tried this one?

monitorlizerd · 02-12-2008, 07:20 AM

Hmm...

We wash our whites at least once a week, tumble dry with heat, too. Hubby and kid have heavy cotton jackets from Blue Gauntlet, mine is a light nylon from the Fencing post. Never had a problem with excessive wear, shrinkage, heat damage, etc.
Since this is a saber family, we don't machine wash our gloves, they all have lame cuffs. They get hand washed when we can't stand to wear them anymore.

Susie in Houston

parrythis · 02-12-2008, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

Hmmm....never considered that. I would suppose that if you don't add heat the tumbling could accelerate the air-dying process...more airflow through the material, but none of the heat that may generate shrinkage (or melt something like the padding in my gloves)

Anyone tried this one?

Yes, and I have not had a problem with it. You don't really need to get it all the way dry either. You can tumble dry with no heat until the material is just damp - about 10 minutes or so, so that it is no longer dripping - then hang it up and point a small fan at it.

FusionWhite · 02-12-2008, 10:30 AM

I also wash + tumble dry, low heat. The first time I wear my jacket and pants they feel a little snug but after wearing once they stretch back out.

chinbeard · 02-12-2008, 10:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

G...but if you show up to the strip and you smell like a sewer, you probably ain't fencing....

At this stage, the power of stink is about the only advantage I'd have over anybody.

chinbeard · 02-12-2008, 10:52 AM

What about the mask though? Would rinsing it off speed up or slow down the rusting process?

Purple Fencer · 02-12-2008, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinbeard

At this stage, the power of stink is about the only advantage I'd have over anybody.

Yeah...but making your opponent's eyes water -- while tactically sound -- isn't very sporting!

As for teh mask...I've never tried the dishwasher method, although I've heard of it, so I can't give you an answer there

chinbeard · 02-12-2008, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

Yeah...but making your opponent's eyes water -- while tactically sound -- isn't very sporting!

As for teh mask...I've never tried the dishwasher method, although I've heard of it, so I can't give you an answer there

I wasn't planning on putting it in the dishwasher, I was just thinking of using plain water, either by running it under the shower head or wiping it down with a damp cloth. I checked Leon Paul and other manufacturer's sites, and none of them have any mask care advice....

brtech · 02-12-2008, 05:05 PM

I think washing after every use is overdoing it. Unless you have some unusual circumstance, I think a thorough wash of your mask in a bucket once a month is more than enough. I think your whites could withstand once every week with some noticeable degradation in lifetime, and probably every other week without too much degradation compared to not washing. That's assuming you are practicing 3-4 times a week. If you aren't, back off even more, but I wouldn't let whites go more than several weeks without washing.

Hang your whites, and especially your lame (if you have one) between practices. Don't leave them wadded up in your bag. I'd let your mask air out also, although fencers who keep them in a mask bag seem to do alright. It's masks stuffed in a bag with sweaty clothes and blades that start showing signs of wear that is entirely preventable. If you fence saber, NEVER put your mask in your bag without something around it: mask bag, towel, t-shirt, whatever.

If you sweat a lot, wash more often.

Nolano · 02-13-2008, 12:33 AM

for the masks, my coach does the club masks in the dishwasher, no detergent, low heat, light wash. Seems to work quite well.

tdwg83 · 02-13-2008, 09:47 AM

A hair dryer can be used to speed the drying on the masks to prevent rusting.

FoilyDeath · 02-13-2008, 07:53 PM

I hang most of my equipment out to dry every night, and heavily drown it with the antibacterial febreeze, and wash them every weekend.
My mask...well, lets just say I've never bothered to do anything with it, and whilst it doesn't smell quite as good as it once did, it smells ok. Ish. To me, anyway.

Downtown · 02-14-2008, 06:39 AM

Dishwasher for the mask once in a while works great. There can be a down side if you love the armory stamps on your mask, as most will come off.

Don't the metal rings in the plastron and jacket make a heck of a racket in the dryer and sort of distress the inside of the dryer? I air dry, but I might consider the "air dry/no heat" dryer method now, if it does not damage the dryer.

SJCFU#2 · 02-14-2008, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downtown

Don't the metal rings in the plastron and jacket make a heck of a racket in the dryer and sort of distress the inside of the dryer? I air dry, but I might consider the "air dry/no heat" dryer method now, if it does not damage the dryer.

I would think that if metal d-rings were enough to damage a dryer then Levi Strauss & Co. would have a lot to answer for. They have been using metal snaps and/or buttons on their jeans for over a century.

parrythis · 02-14-2008, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Downtown

Don't the metal rings in the plastron and jacket make a heck of a racket in the dryer and sort of distress the inside of the dryer?

Racket - yes. Distress - no.

magic_moose · 02-15-2008, 08:39 AM

I come home and toss my whites in the washer. Hang them up the next morning to dry. Easy to do. Washing 3 times a week has caused no appreciable wear on my LP competition set after 1.5 years. Looks better and certainly smells better.

TBean · 02-15-2008, 09:48 AM

My FIE PBT uniform is doing fine after 2+ years of (mostly) weekly washings. My Ulhman FIE set lasted over 12 years with about the same washing schedule. I would still be wearing the jacket for practice if the zipper had not self-destructed. Wash, with mild detergent and hang to dry. My mask - once a month works.