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How to Wash a Hadatai

Hadatai like any other garment can get dirty. Especially if you are wearing it out and about in public areas, some spots like the hands can get quite discolored if you arent careful.

A little dirt or stain isnt a life sentence to your hadatai however, a little bit of care keeps them looking good as new for a long time.

Summary (TLDR Version)​

Stain remover recommendations
Detergent recommendations

  • Wash your hadatai sooner rather than later, the longer sweat and dirt sits the less likely it is to come out
  • Spot treat stains, particularly any marks around hands and feet with a stain remover ideally containing Protease and Lipase enzymes
    • Work the stain remover into the fabric. Spray and pray isnt as good as rubbing it in.
  • Handwash if you want to play it safe
  • If using a washing machine:
    • Use a gentle cycle, cold water
    • Do not mix with other clothes
    • Put the hadatai in a mesh laundry bag
  • Do not put in a clothes dryer, let it air dry. Use the least heat possible if you absolutely must use a dryer.
  • Never use liquid bleach or any fabric softener
  • Ideally avoid detergents with optical brighteners

Common Hadatai Stains and how to target them​

Most modern stain fighters use various enzymes to break down specific types of stains, with most stain products having a mix of various enzymes to target multiple stain types. Knowing what you're trying to target is key to solving the right type of problem.

Enzymes however are not magic, they dont replace surfactants and other cleaning agents, they work together to get the job done. The enzymes being listed here are classes of enzymes and not specific ingredients, so you might need to google some ingredients to find out what a product truly contains.

Regardless of the stain type or product, work the stain remover into the fabric using a dedicated scrubber or wearing gloves with your hands. Similar concept to showering, you dont just put soap on your body and wash it off, you rub it in some. Let the stain remover sit for a few minutes, and then rinse it off.

Common dirt and discoloration on Hadatai​

Solution: Use a stain remover containing Protease and Lipase enzymes.

The most common stains you'll find on a hadatai are a buildup of sweat and sebum (skin oils), which can hold onto dirt like a magnet. This buildup can lead to discoloration of the fabric, most commonly seen around the hands or sometimes feet.

Dark soles on a hadatai

A classic example of a stain that if ignored can turn into a permanent mark.
Dont let your dark soles turn into the Dark Souls of laundry care. Clean them as soon as possible.

While a basic laundry wash can help remove some of the surface-level stain, it greatly benefits from more specialized treatment. The same property that makes hadatai so sweat wicking and comfortable is also the same property that keeps these stains locked in. If you want to deep dive on this topic, check out this paper on Stain removal performance of moisture-wicking fabric during home laundry

Bodily Fluids​

Accidents happen. See above for sweat and sebum stains.

Makeup stains​

Get someone's makeup on your hadatai? Lipase is your friend.

Food stains​

Solution: Varies

Given kigs cant really eat in mask, food stains tend to be less common. Stain removers however depend on what kind of food is involved.

  • Starchy foods and sauces benefit from Amalyse
  • Protein based foods benefit from Protease
  • Fat based foods benefit from Lipase
  • Fruit stains benefit from Pectinase

You might not have access to the perfect enzyme for the job, but you can usually target at least one component to do better than nothing.

Stain Remover Recommendations​

This depends a lot on where you live and whats available. Many stain removers focus on protein and fruit based stains, but there are some options that will have both lipase and protease enzymes to target a wider range of stains. These are classes of enzymes and not specific ingredients, so you might need to google some ingredients if you're looking at specific products in your region.

Reminder, you must work the stain remover into the fabric. Follow the instructions on the product.

  • Puracy's Laundry Stain Remover

    • Contains Protease and Lipase enzymes, as well as Amalyse, Pectinase and Mannase enzymes for various food stains.

  • 365 by Whole Foods Market Stain Remover

    • Protease and Amylase. Also contains Lipase, Pectate Lyase, and Mannanase for food stains.

  • Berkley Green Baby Fabric Stain Remover

    • Lipase and Protease, amylase and mannanase for food stains.

  • Zout Triple Action

    • Contains Protease and Lipase, as well as Amalyse enzymes.

  • Lion brand "Top Nanox for collars and sleeves"

    • While it's only enzyme is a type of Lipase enzyme, it is a very concentrated stain remover for sebum based stains. Japanese based, in other regions it may only be available at import stores.
note

Know any other potent options in your region? Please let us know over on our github
Additional Resources also has some additional links for finding North American options.

While not a stain remover itself, Ammonia can help the fight against oil based stains. Typically you'd want a solution of 2-25% ammonium hydroxide typically sold in the cleaning isles of many appropriate stores. Probably worth avoiding any with "lemon" or "citrus" scents, use no more than 1 cup of 2% solution, 0.5 cups of 5%, 1/4 cup of 10% or 1.5Tbps of 25% solution for a hadatai sized load.

warning

NEVER MIX AMMONIA WITH LIQUID BLEACH, it WILL create a gas that will harm you. That said you should never be using liquid bleach on your hadatai in the first place. Powdered "oxygen bleach" does not have this problem.

Mid options​

Better than nothing but often lacking lipase. Many will still contain various surfactants that can help with a variety of stains, they arent useless but may not be as effective for common hadatai stains as more specialized options.

  • Tide OxiPro Stain Remover - Grease Stains

    • Lipase but no protease. Good for sebum based stains.

  • OxiClean Max Force Spray and Max Gel

    • Has protease but not lipase, amylase and mannase are more food stain targeting. The oxi (sodium hydroxide) components mainly help with oxidizible stains (grass, blood, coffee, fruit juice, sweat) not anything oil based. Still a better option than the powder oxi-products.

  • Shout Active Enzyme "Triple-acting" stain remover

    • Only enzyme is protease. The "triple action" is that it "clings to fabric stains, penetrates stains, and lift stains". In reality its a basic protease + surfactant formula. Ironically their dual action formula contains more enzyme types but is still lacking lipase.

  • Carbona Bio-enzyme Stain Remover

    • Similar story to Shout, only enzyme is protease, otherwise relies on surfactants to clean.

Some stain removers are more focused on food stains, or are misleading in their claimes. Some notable examples are:

  • Dove soap

    • A bit of a "wive's tale" for washing hadatai for washing hadatai hands in particular. Dove soap is a surfactant, it helps clean but contains a lot of useless ingredients like moisturizers and other components that are not effective for laundry. Its great for your hands, not so much for your hadatai. Most of it's "action" lies in rubbing a surfactant into the fabric, it will be less effective than doing so with an actual stain remover. If its all you have at a convention hotel, its better than nothing, but not ideal.

  • Liquid (chlorine) bleach

    • Can damage and discolor hadatai, avoid.

  • Oxygen bleach powders (ie oxyclean, resolove, oxi-type powders)

    • They mostly help with oxidizible stains (grass, blood, coffee, fruit juice, sweat). Main issues are many contain optical brighteners which can cause shift in colors, using too much can cause discoloration, and generally dosing is not as ideal as products meant to be specifically targeted onto stains.

  • Any "white revive" or "white boost" products

    • Optical brighteners, avoid. Pointless for hadatai, will cause shifts in color over time.

  • Stain sheets or color catchers

    • Designed to trap dyes and some stains from transfering to other clothes, they dont really work well and dont really help with actually removing stains. Avoiding washing hadatai with other clothes, particularly heavily stained ones avoids this problem altogether.

  • Shout Advanced Grease Busting Foam

    • Relies on propellant as a strong solvent with some surfactants to remove oil stains. Risks spreading stains or transfering them. Unsure how color-safe it would be for hadatai, not worth the risk. Best avoided unless you're desperate for an intense oil stain.

Most stain removers you can usually google "product + ingredients" to find out what they contain. If they're ambiguous, its probably a mediocre formulation.

Washing​

Detergents​

Hadatai owing to being synthetic blends are not as sensitive to detergents as some fabrics, but that doesn't mean you should throw it in with other clothes.
The ideal detergent is one that works well on synthetics and doesnt contain optical brighteners.

Some suggestions in no particular order are:

  • Tide Free and Gentle in Liquid Form, also called "Hygenic Clean" in some regions
  • ECOS Hypoallergenic Laundry Detergent with Enzymes
  • Puracy Laundry Detergent
  • The Unscented Company Plastic-Free Laundry Detergent Pacs
    • The "Pacs" ironically are a form of plastic, probably better to just cut open the pod rather than let the water dissolve it.
  • EcoMax Heavy Duty and Sports formulae
  • Mrs Meyers Clean Day Detergent
  • Wishing Well Laundry Detergent
  • Koala Eco Laundry Wash
  • Aldi's Tandil Premium Free & Clear

Woolite is another option albeit with a rather outdated formula lacking enzymes. It's intended for wool fabrics, not designed for synthetics like what Hadatai are made of.
It wont damage hadatai, it just wont be as effective.

Detergents to Skip​

Due to optical brighteners (OBAs), skip:

  • All tide powders
  • Gain powder detergents
  • Just about any "whitening" or "brightening" products

Hand Washing​

Hand washing is one of the best ways to care for your hadatai or other delicate garments such as cosplay outfits. If this concept is new to you, honestly it's not that difficult, will preserve the fabric, and is a good skill to have. That said learning how to is better left to videos on youtube or tiktok.

Just remember, it's the rinsing that really gets dirt out, rinse well if not multiple times. Rinse by soaking it in water, not by running water over it. Dont wring the water out by stretching the fabric, a faster way to get water out is to lay it flat on a towel and roll it up briefly.

Machine Washing​

If you need to use a washing machine, use the most gentle cycle your machine has. Use cold water, and not too much detergent. Put the hadatai in a mesh laundry bag to protect the hadatai from getting snagged or caught on the washing machine.

Ideally wash the hadatai by itself. Adding shapewear in their own mesh bags usually wont cause harm if you must. The critical point is to avoid mixing with other colors, or with heavily stained items, dont give opportunity for stains to transfer.

Rinsing Suggestions​

In a perfect world your detergetn would be dosed perfectly and all the detergent would be perfectly rinsed out, but machines are often far from perfect as are detergents.

Rinsing twice if or a rinse with a bit of citric acid can help ensure all the detergent fully rinsed out and your hadatai is squeaky clean, as a bonus it does a great job of "softening" the fabric without any buildup problems like what fabric softeners cause.

Some products like "Tide Clean boost" or P&G "Rinse and Refresh" are essentially citric acid in a bottle with fragrance, they'd go in the same compartment as your machine labels for fabric softeners so they only are used in the rinse cycle. You can also just totally make it yourself with citric acid powder for a fraction the cost. More info on citric acid rinsing and how to make your own, tldr: 2 TSP in a HE machine, double for a top loader, and 50% more if your water is very hard.

It really is surprising how much it can improve the final feel of fabric while also helping avoid any issues of leftover detergent, which could irritate some people's skin.

Drying​

warning

Leave the hadatai to air dry, do not put it in a clothes dryer.

Hang it up to dry in a spot with good air circulation, even a decent clothes hanger can do, just avoid pulling the fabric. Ideally a proper drying rack of some kind is best, google has plenty of diy ideas if you dont have anything suitable.

If you absolutely need to use a dryer, use the lowest heat setting possible to avoid damaging the fabric. Do not use dryer sheets.

Post Wash Care and other tips​

Depilling​

With use your hadatai may start to show signs of wear and tear, the most common being pilling around high friction areas such as hands and feet, or around the joints. Using a fabric depiller can help remove the pilling and prevent buildup, keeping your hands looking their best.

As always, avoid velcro at all costs. Velcro is a hadatai's worst enemy and will pull at the fabric.

The case for multiple hadatai​

All this work is also why many kigs will have a more casual hadatai for wear at cons, events, or other outings where stains might be likely, and a more dedicated hadatai reserved for their best photoshoots. Although realistically more pairs of hadatai are ideal, especially if at a convention where you might be wanting to kig multiple days in a row without meaningful laundry options.

Saving an absolutely cooked Hadatai​

If theres stains that just wont come out, all feels hopeless, and you're ready to throw it away theres one last resort that might be worth a try.

An intensive treatment can be done using a combination of Lipase, Oxygen Bleach, Ammonia, and Detergent products over several hours to try to strip all that you can.

Additional Resources​

Notable Reddit /r/Laundry user Kismai has compiled a list of many Lipase containing products and stain removers here. Skip anything that has OBA (Optical Brighteners).