Taking Care of Some Dogu

[Ahmad]

One of my friends dropped my fukusa in the kensui while practising,
which made all the wet part, after leaving it to dry, look fainter
than the rest of it.

Is there any way to clean a keiko-only fukusa?

Thanks,
Ahmad

[Marius Frøisland]

Hi

The only way I have heard is to let it soak in cold water for a while. It will lose a lot of color, or so I have been told. I have never tried this, I try to get a new fukusa for every chaji I do and they usually last me the time in between as okeiko fukusa.

Marius

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Marius Frøisland
 - http://www.linkedin.com/in/mariusfroisland
 - http://wiki.chado.no
 - http://mfro.blogspot.com/

[Ahmad Saqfalhait]

Thanks for the tip.
I already got a new one for formal use.

I guess I will leave the current one as it is, because if it loses a lot of colour, then it will probably look worse than its current state.

By the way, does the thickness of the fukusa indicate any level of formality, or just a personal preference?

Thanks again,
Ahmad

2009/11/20 Marius Frøisland <muhi...@gmail.com>

[Marius Frøisland]

Hi

An interesting question. I hope someone can give us a good answer. When I started studying Tea i thought that the thiner the fukusa the easier it was to fold. Now after having used heavier fukusa for a few years I feel that the heavier fukusa are easier to fold and make them look nice.

Marius

[Aaron]

Hello,

As far as I know, which might not be too far, thickness has no
relevance to level of formality(I'll try to read something about it).
Price may or may not be a relevant gauge, merchants might simply
charge more for more therefor thinner fukusa are usually cheaper;
however, if quality, not formality, is based on price we can infer
that the better ones are thicker. The nicest fukusa I ever had, while
thicker, folded and layed so nicely it actually felt thinner than it
was. I too believe that a thicker fukusa folds and lies nicer, and a
better quality thick silk does the job even better. A thick but rough
silk can sometimes not fold well but overall I still like thick over
thin. Thin fukusa have their place as well of course, if you need to
tie something up in one as in tsutsumibukusa, or perhaps if folding
the fukusa in shin or gyo seems difficult with one more thick.
Generally I use a thick one but during a chaji with tsutsumibukusa I
might opt for a thin one, just to make it look nicer while tied around
the natsume.

I have purposefully put fukusa in water to equalize the color after
getting raindrops on them or after a student pom pommed one into the
kensui. You lose a bit of color but the less time you let it soak the
less color you will lose. You can wring them out to get most of the
water out and then just let them hang to dry and iron them
afterwards. I think the ironing does more to change the fukusa than
the swim so once I didn't wring out the water and it seemed to work
out alright. I think it's better to have a lighter colored keiko
fukusa than one that might look stained. Luckily the purple ones
don't show tea stains like the red ones, sorry girls. :)

Aaron

[Ahmad Saqfalhait]

Thanks Marius and Aaron, you both have been very helpful.
I am learning so much from this group.

Have a nice weekend,
Ahmad

2009/11/21 Aaron <abry...@gmail.com>

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[Marius Frøisland]

thin.  Thin fukusa have their place as well of course, if you need to
tie something up in one as in tsutsumibukusa, or perhaps if folding
the fukusa in shin or gyo seems difficult with one more thick.

I was told the same thing about gyo folding by my sempai in Japan, but when I talked to Kimura-sensei (London branch) about it he totaly dissagreed, and told me to use a thick fukusa for this too. So thats what I have been doing since he told me.

[Aaron]

Yeah, I use the same thick fukusa for everything, even tsutsumibukusa
in keiko, I just meant it if someone has trouble folding the thick
ones. I don't totally agree or disagree, I'd let people use whatever
they feel comfortable with. I think a nice fukusa will fold well no
matter which type of sabaki you are doing...so long as you fold it
well. :)

Aaron