How to Restore Your Men
Every Kendoka can attest to the awesome feeling when wearing a new Bogu. Each component of the armour is immaculate, and the Men is no exception. Midnight blue menfuton, the menbuchi and mengane catching the light, that beautiful Mount Fuji shape, and the smell of Aizome permeating it all. There’s nothing quite like it.
Sadly, our Men don’t remain immaculate forever, regardless of the effort we put in to keep it clean and dry between each keiko. If you’re training three times a week, you may have noticed your Men eventually starts to show some wear and tear, as mine has. The menbuchi begins to crack and flake, and the dye begins to fade, particularly on the top of the menfuton.
I recently set out to learn how to restore my Men’s appearance and was surprised how little is written on this topic in English. What little guidance I could find was in videos on Youtube, and so in today’s blog post I’d like to share a writeup of the process I followed to restore an old club Men.
Why is this important?
Appearance is an important part of Kendo which we have to pay attention to. Whether being observed by a grading examiner, an opponent in a Shiai, or your Senpai and Kohai, your appearance leaves an impression. There’s a reason that Chakuso and Reiho are the first points of observation in the International Kendo Federation’s Grading Guidelines.
The condition of your armour, whether you’re wearing it correctly, and your demeanour are all outward expressions of your understanding and attitude towards your Kendo. Do you understand how to wear your armour correctly? Do you treat your equipment with respect, and put in the effort to maintain it between keiko? Ultimately, do you take your Kendo seriously, and have you internalised the Concept and Purpose of practicing Kendo?
What are we gonna cover?
In this post I’ll cover the process I followed to recondition an old club Men by restoring the Aizome dye on the menfuton, and repainting the menbuchi. I’ll cover what products, tools and techniques I used. I looked at several resources when learning to do this, but I want to acknowledge two in particular.
Thank you to Hiro Sensei for the video on Kendo Guide, which was the most helpful dyeing demonstration I found. The process I followed is based on his advice.
Thank you to Fisher Sensei for answering several questions about Menbuchi maintenance on Kendo Rant.
I include a gallery of before and after pictures below.
“Ishibashi o tataite wataru - Tap the stone bridge before crossing”
Disclaimer
With all DIY maintenance there is an element of risk involved. In this case, there is a risk when applying the dye of the result ending up looking patchy and uneven. Our personal armour is both expensive and meaningful, and so practice is critical before undertaking maintenance that may damage or ruin your Men.
Before applying the process I discuss in this blog to my own Men, I volunteered to restore an old Men which had low value to Yōshinkan. This was a mutually beneficial arrangement. It gave me the opportunity to test the dye I wanted to use, and the techniques for applying it, without the risk of ruining my own Men. Yōshinkan benefitted as the restored men can now be donated to an enthusiastic beginner early in their Kendo journey.
I strongly encourage you to make such an arrangement with your own club and to practice before you apply dye directly to your Men. I also strongly encourage you to consult the instructions on the particular dye you buy. Neither Yōshinkan nor I will be held responsible if you apply some of the advice here and are disappointed with the result.
Get Organised
What you need
1 - A bucket of cold water
2 - An old tenegui
3 - Isopropyl Alcohol in a spray bottle
Higher concentrations are better e.g. 99%
4 - A bottle of Aizome dye
See adjacent section for suggestions
5 - A clean, empty plastic spray bottle
6 - Disposable rubber gloves
7 - Low stick painters tape
8 - A pad of paper / an old newspaper
9 - An old bedsheet or newspaper to cover your workspace
10 - Enamel Black Gloss Model Paint
See adjacent section for suggestions
11 - A fine paintbrush
You’ll find a list of the materials you need in the adjacent section. You can get most of the material from your local DIY store and so I won’t dwell on many of the items here. However, I just want to call out a few items and give further advice.
Isopropyl Alcohol
Isopropyl alcohol is a useful thing to have on hand for day to day maintenance of your armour. It kills bacteria and quickly evaporates when applied to a surface, which makes it ideal for disinfecting armour while keeping it relatively dry.
You can buy Isopropyl alcohol from any DIY store and some supermarkets. You should aim for a product with a high concentration of alcohol e.g. 99%, as this will evaporate more readily and avoid leaving moisture on your equipment.
Aizome Dye
There are several products you can buy online for reapplying Aizome dye to armour. Most will come with a bottle of dye and a brush for applying it.
I used this product which was available on Kendostar. I found that one bottle was enough to apply two good coats to one Men. I also found that the results matched my expectations, and so I can recommend this as a good option. There are alternative products out there on the market though which you may want to consider.
Enamel Black Gloss Model Paint
I’ve seen several products recommended for restoring Menbuchi, including black nail polish! However, I’ve repeatedly had good results when following Fisher Sensei’s advice to use Humbrol Model Paint. Humbrol is a brand which creates paint for model kit enthusiasts, and their enamel black gloss paint leaves a good finish on menbuchi. The result shines similar to lacquer, and although the difference can be seen up close, it is good enough to restore cracks and patches and leave the menbuchi looking tidy.
You should be able to find Humbrol, or a similar brand such as Games Workshop, either online or at your local hobbyists store. As an alternative, an enamel black gloss paint should be available at your local DIY store.
Clean and Prepare the Men
Step 1 - Clean the Men
Before we apply dye to the men, we want to get it as clean as we possibly can. So, the first step is to scrub the inside and outside of the men thoroughly with an old tenegui and cold water. When scrubbing, there are a few things to keep in mind
Ensure the cloth is wrung out so that it is damp, but not soaking. Rinse the tenegui frequently.
Follow the direction of the stitching on the men to avoid damaging it.
Get right into the nooks and crannies of the men, particularly the small gaps inside it.
Take into consideration that once the futon is wet, salt and other stains become less visible, and so you need to be thorough to ensure it’s all been removed.
Take care to avoid getting the hardened leather under the menbuchi wet.
Once you finish scrubbing the men, remove any flaking lacquer from the menbuchi. It’s ok if cracks or unevenness remain as these will be covered up when we paint, but you want to remove any loose pieces which are likely to flake off once the paint has been applied.
Finally, once the Men has dried, apply a generous spray of Isopropyl Alcohol to the inside and outside of the Men, and leave the alcohol to evaporate.
Step 2 - Tape Up the Mengane
We’re going to spray the dye onto the men to ensure an even coat, and so we need to cover up the parts of the men we want to avoid. For this, I used a low stick painters tape and an old pad of lined paper.
Start by wrapping tape around the menbuchi
Stick some tape vertically down the middle of the mengane, following the central bar
Cover the mengane, starting with horizontal and then vertical strips of tape
Patch any missed pieces around the edge and bottom of the mengane, such as the hard leather decorations
Fill the cavity inside the men with scrunched up paper to create a flat surface you can tape
Apply tape over the paper to completely cover it, keep it in place, and ensure that dye won’t leak through to the Mengane beneath.
Note that I didn’t worry about the black leather along the front of the Mendare, or the Tsukidare.
Your men is now ready to be dyed.
DyeINg The Men
Step 3 - Applying Dye to the Men
The dye I bought came with a small brush for application which would probably be absolutely fine if I was just looking to make some spot repairs. However to ensure an even coat across the whole men, I decided to follow some advice in Hiro Sensei’s video and apply the dye using a clean spray bottle.
I suggest you wear disposable rubber gloves and eye protection during this step.
Prepare a work surface using newspaper or an old sheet. I chose to do this outside to avoid stray dye staining something in the house.
Give the bottle of dye a good shake, and then transfer the dye into a spray bottle. Ensure the spray bottle is set to mist when sprayed.
Apply the first coat of dye to the inside and the outside of the men. Remember to do the tsukidare as well as the entire outside and inside of the men. When spraying the dye, follow these suggestions to encourage an even coat. Your aim it to apply the dye as a fine mist over the men, rather than soaking small circles or spots with each spray
keep the nozzle 20 / 30cm away from the men
with each spray, move the bottle in a sweeping motion over the men
apply the dye in lighting that makes it clearly visible where the dye has already been applied
stop when the whole surface of the men is saturated and even
Place the men out of direct sunlight, and leave it to dry to the touch. I waited about 4 hours, but the time will differ for your depending on the conditions where you are.
Once the men is dry, apply a second coat of dye following the same approach as in step 3 and 4. Pay particular attention to ensuring an even coat and leaving the men with a uniform colour on the outside.
Allow the men to completely dry overnight, and then inspect the finish. If there are any patchy spots, apply spot repairs to these using any remaining dye you have, and allow to dry.
Finishing Touches
Remove the painters tape and paper from your Men. Ensure the dye is completely dry before proceeding.
Step 4 - Repaint the Menbuchi
Using your enamel paint, carefully repaint the patches on the Menbuchi. Make sure you apply the paint sparingly to your brush, and take your time. If the paint makes it’s way where it shouldn’t such as the red front of the men it can be easily removed by wiping with tissue or a cloth.
I suggest you use the paint only on the gaps where the leather is showing through the lacquer and avoid painting the lacquer itself. I haven’t tried to apply it as one even coat across the whole menbuchi, but I suspect the paint wouldn’t apply correctly directly to the lacquer.
Once you finish this step, allow the paint to completely dry overnight.
Step 5 - Finishing Touches
Re-attach your men himo, and you’re ready to go! Note that it’s likely excess aizome dye will come off the men in the weeks after you complete this process, so true to the new bogu experience, you should expect dye to transfer onto you and your stuff.
That’s it! I hope this blog has been helpful, and I wish you all the best if you decide to give this a go yourself. One last reminder, do yourself and your club a favour, and try this out on an older Men before you do it on your own equipment.
