Andrea Contents
Washing your belt is part of your personal hygiene but answering this question“if you have to or don’t have
to wash your belt?” even if it seems to answer a foregone question, it is not.
Although it seems an absurd question it actually has its own history and logic.
I say this because logic says to wash it but even if it is a question as old as the time every now and then someone does it.
The ancient jiu-jitsu tradition says that the black belt began as a white belt, and with time and a lot of training, black means years of practice as a symbol of time invested and passed on the tatami.
What this beautiful and motivating anecdote does not tell you is that an unwashed black belt and that has accumulated years of knowledge and experience is also a capsule of germs, bacteria, fungi, blood, sweat and perhaps even worse.
Recently, some videos and graphic information have been circulating on the web talking about the need to wash the belts after each training session, also following the withdrawal from Metamoris 3 of an athlete for staph.
Personally I do not, I do not wash my belt every training session but I do not think it as the tradition says that you should never wash your belt for any reason, every now and then you have to wash it for reasons that I go to explain.
Clearly if you search the web there are many opinions but none has a definitive answer, use your logic but since you do not exercise alone also respects your training compete.
Now I will provide you with some hygienic tips that allow you to reduce the risk of germs for you and your training partners and allow you to still be able to preserve some of those ancient traditions.
Someone might say” “but I sweat a little on the belt so why do I have to wash it?”
Too bad though that even if you don’t sweat directly on your belt it doesn’t mean that your belt doesn’t pick up sweat, little bits of everything on the tatami left by everyone rolling on the tatami during the fighting sessions.
Bacteria, fungi and viruses can be transferred from you to a friend, or a friend to you using the tatami and your belt as a conduit.
So even if you don’t struggle with someone who suffers from an infected skin condition, or unpleasant hygiene, all you need is to deposit something on the tatami, and a couple of people with little hygiene near them or the previous lesson and after you find yourself face down on the same carpet after they have just deposited their crap.
I think this is not good..
“But the tatami is clean, they always keep it,” you say.
Never mind!.
At room temperature, microbes can actually live on surfaces for hundreds of years.
Bacteria, such as Escherichia coli (E. coli), can live for a few hours or a day depending on conditions.
The dreaded staph virus (Staph) can live for a few hours or a few months!
Yes, MESI! you got it right, qundi yes, you lay your gi after every training session, well, but non you neverlay your belt.
Your belt is a capsule of bacteria, just waiting to infect your training buddies or you. Imagine you’re counting the tatami tatar every time you fight.
But washing the belt is not “nice”.. and then tradition??
Okay, I get it, you’re a little too male to wash your belt after every roll! or fbear is not for this reason that you don’t lay your belt every time, or you’re lazy, you don’t want to lose a strip in the wash, or just forget to wash your belt, it doesn’t matter, I know that few of us wash our belts every time.
I’m going to share with you some tips that you can use to reduce the chance of infecting yourself or someone else with some potentially lethal or at least disgusting bacteria.
Some tips
Many gym bags I see around to carry equipment don’t have a ventilated side pocket.
If you leave your belt and maybe forget it in there just to open it a day or two later when you wake up and it’s closed and damp, at part of the smell that sucks and is disgusting, but if you forgot it please do you and your training partners a favor for good.
To avoid this situation, never put the belt in the gym bag, especially if the pocket is not ventilated.
Tpull the belt out and let it air-dry.
Bacteria like wet and humid conditions to multiply.
Then after training immediately pull out the belt and do not put it in the bag until it is completely dry.
Don’t put a damp belt in any sealed pocket of your bag, or in a nylon bag let your belt breathe!.
If it’s summer when you get home put your belt in the sun.
This is easy to do and does not cost you anything, even if it is not effective at
100, it is of great help.
It’s called “Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation” or UVGI for short, basically
it means leaving your belt out in the sun.
Microbes are vulnerable to the wavelengths of light, and
although the rate of bacteria destruction varies depending on the type of bacterium or pathogen, from a few seconds to a few minutes of direct sunlight can kill 90-99 of bacteria or contagious viruses.
Some spores and some bacteria can survive much longer, but simply putting your belt in the sun for a couple of hours is an easy way to win the war on bacteria.
Regardless of this washes your belt every now and then because it goeswell, this goes against the ancient tradition, but every now and then if you throw it in your laundry you are doing good to yourself and your training partners.
If you lose a strip, then put it back in order.
When you do, make sure you use a cleanser that helps kill bacteria or get some oxygen bleach, non will damage the color and help killbacteria.
Use the hottest washing cycle of your washing machine.
You can try to put half a cup of lemon juice or vinegar in the wash.
They are both acids that will help eliminate germs and remove stains.
Ideally you have to wash your belt after each training session but if you prefer not to wash it every time, at least occasionally do it because it will be good for you and your training partners.
Defense Soap
Defense Soap produces a product called Super Shield Plus that effectively treats tissue with an antimicrobial barrier.
Use it with normal detergent and add it to the rinse cycle.
It is designed for use on gi, rash guards, undergarments, things that you regularly lay.
Defense Soap states that it lasts up to 30 washes on regular tissues and is affixed against MRSA, staph, ringworm and herpes.
Conclusions
You are insistent on maintaining ancient traditions, follow at least the first two tips to keep you and your training buddies safe.
You’re not a belt-washing fanatic, which means you won’t replace and don’t wash your belt until the next promotion.
Remember that washed belts are cheaper and better than dealing with medical expenses, so try washing it at least every two weeks or with specific products.
If you’re not doing anything you’re exposing yourself and your training partners to possible infections that you can avoid very easily.
I don’t think you’d like it if you help make someone else sick because of some germ that stuck to your belt for weeks!
Tohelp make your gym a better place and practice a bit of hygiene even to your belt starting now!
Train with a “clean” belt!
Andrea
