Kimono Narae

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KIMONO CARE

Q :
I got my Kimono ironed at home and had water stains while steaming. How do I remove it? Dryclean didn't remove this.

A : Water stains on vintage Kimono has to be washed in cold water as quickly as possible. If lining is dark color,like thin red silk, don't wash or soak as lining red might run and ruin Kimono. In that case, apply wet towel on water stain part and remove water stain, and then bring it to drycleaner for spotclean. If there's no lining or lining's color is light, you can wash kimono/Haori in cold soap water by hand. Do not soak it for more than 2~3 minutes. When dry, dry under shade or in dryer under cold air. Silk threads can get shrunk if you dry in hot air. If Kimono is cotton, you may dry in hot air.
Q :
I bought a Kimono from ebay seller and it has strong mothball smell. How do I remove this horrible smell?

A : Air it out with window open...that's the best and most natural way to get the bad smell out of it. But the quickest way is to get it drycleaned. But please be sure to ask your cleaner to bulk clean it, with no pressing. Wool kimonos are the best ones to dryclean, as the fabric itself was born to be drycleaned~! Some cleaners might give you kimonos in pieces due to their fault. Ask them if they know how to clean kimonos. Local cleaner I go in Martinez,CA, they do very decent job even if they are not Japanese.

Useful information about KIMONO
Q :
I heard somewhere that kimonos should be taken apart and washed. Should I do that too?

A : Yes and no. In old days before ther was drycleaner in Japan, all the silk kimonos had to be taken apart, form 14 yards long panel like it came as a new bolt fabric, wash in the river, dry on the board. When completely dried, it had to be sewn into Kimono again. It must have been painful job, as they didn't even have sewing machine those days and moms and sisters had to sew this one by one. That's why hand made vintage kimonos are so precious. We don't have to do it though, as we can go to cleaners for this.

Q :
What's the difference between Haori,Michiyuki and Dochuki?
A : Haori is a jacket that has to be left open and tied with silk cordings. Haori was originally permitted only for upper class male populations in Japan, but now, everybody can wear Haori. It is somewhat formal even with informal design. Michiyuki is for women, and mostly used as raincoat or to protect kimono from getting dusty. They are usually made with full length to cover whole kimono inside. Dochuki is very similar to long kimono, only shorter. It overlaps, and ties at the waist. Length of it is pretty short, it just covers your hip or sometimes shorter. It's very casual, and mostly to keep you warm.
Q :
I would like to know how I will keep wedding Kimono up or maintain it. I am planning on hanging it at a wall. How will I clean it regularly from the accumulation of dust. I don't want to enclose it in a gigantic frame.

A : You can find 5ftwooden poll or stick from Home Depot or other warehouse store, and it's only about $2~5. And if you just put a string or rope in the middle, it makes wonderful sturdy hanger for wedding Kimono. You don't even need to spend $25 for buying plastic hanger for this. As for displaying and dusting, you can use simple dusting tapes you can purchase from drycleaners or fabric stores. And occasional vacuuming makes it very nice too. It really doesn't need to go to cleaner or frame.

Following is a story from our customer with his 'Adventure of Shiromuku'.

As far as doing daring things in fancy kimonos goes, one of the more risky things I've done is feed the dog in my shiromuku. I spent a fair amount of time getting it on and looking right for some interesting photo subjects. That was fun and my pics came out pretty good. After all that was done, I realized that the doog is hungry. Well, I had only recently finished struggling with obis and long sleeves and I didn't want to take it all off before I go feed the dog. Well, I decided to feed the dog in my shiromuku. The dog's house is surrounded with mud. After rain, mud gets splashed all over the food and water bowls (which I had to clean). So, I went over there and reached down to retrieve the watere bowls. THe sleeves of this shiromuku are 42" long and can touch the ground when I pick thing up that are on the ground that is at the moment, soft mud. I also managed to pull this stunt off without getting any mud on my shiromuku. when I reached down to grab the food bowl, I used my other hand to hold both sleeves up. I was also careful to make sure that when I sprayed the bowl off, I didn't get mud flying back at me. the kimono was tied up so that the long padded hem the at ankle length and not trailing behing me. It didn't take much longer to get the dog fed than it would have if I were wearing modern, western, American (whatever you want to call that stuff that is nowhere near as fun or artistic as kimono) clothing.
If you have any other question, please email us as we'll keep updating our Q&A with new qustions every day.