Cosplay Laundry

Yesterday afternoon, I found that the laundry where I go to get all my fabric costumes washed, including my Pokémon costumes, is closing up. They'll still be open up to the middle of the month, but at this point they are effectively not allowing anyone to get a wash. They say it's because they're moving to a faraway town. And this is regrettable since they do such a good job with my costumes, and they know that I am a fervent cosplayer too. This has prompted me to discuss about the laundry that is related to my cosplay.

I like having fresh costumes for an event, so I get my costumes washed the soonest chance I get after an event. This permits two conditions to occur: one is if there are multiple events within the span of a few weeks, I can stay on top and have options for fresh costumes for later events, and two is if there won't be any events for a while, at least I can safely store them until one comes. I'm blessed to be able to cosplay Ash, since he has gone through several attire changes over the years, so I can rotate to another while one is being washed. This is hardly doable with most other characters.

As for what gets washed, that depends on the part and the situation. Shirts, pants, and outerwear get washed with rarely an exception. Caps are almost always washed, but if the cap is delicate, as in the case of my old Red cap, I leave it to dry and only wash it every so often. Gloves are only washed if I plan to store them; if I plan to reuse them soon again for costumes that share the part (as third- and fourth-generation Ash), then I only wash them after they are reused to reduce wear and tear. The same is true for belts, socks, and doll-like items, which include Pikachu and Poké Balls, which are washed every so often.

Part of cosplay is appearance, so there is nothing wrong (and in fact it is practically required) to wash fabric costumes to make them look better. That is surely the case with my Pokémon costumes, and it makes me happy and proud to do so. I know I'm doing a favor for the characters I cosplay, as well as for other cosplayers and visitors of the events that I cosplay in, and that pleases me even more.

Now I have to find a new place to get my cosplay laundry done.