To help a stink-filled or pest-filled dojo...

[Grenadier]

We've all dealt with this in one way or another, whether you're a student, or an instructor.

I recommend the following shopping list for dealing with odors and pests:

1) Chlorox (or whatever generic equivalents) chlorine bleach - Once in a while, pour some down the sinks, flush some down the toilet, and down the drains of any other water basins, such as the shower, etc. Keep in mind, that mold, slimes, and bacteria constantly grow in such areas, and the occasional treatment can help prevent those microbes from filling your dojo with the rotting cabbage odor.

Never mix with ammonia. You'll generate toxic gas.

2) 70% isopropyl alcohol. Buy in larger quantities, and it's not that expensive at all. A clean mop head, soaked in this stuff diluted down to about 1:4, can do wonders, especially right after mopping the floor with conventional cleaners. Also, this helps dry out the surface much more quickly, so that mold, etc., doesn't get a chance to thrive.

3) Ammonia-based window cleaner. Good for cleaning up messes, windows, and best of all, for dealing with ant pests that manage to find their way into your dojo. Kills them pretty quickly.

It quickly cleans up, and doesn't leave a residue that conventional insecticides (Raid, Black Flag, etc) leave. Also, leaves no bad smell either.

Never mix with chlorine bleach. You'll generate toxic gas.

4) Fire ant killing compound - Always look around your dojo's "yard" area, if this applies. Make sure you treat the ant hills (read the directions, please), or else, they'll keep coming back.

5) Mousetraps - Yes, I know that we all like to keep a clean dojo, but even clean dojos can run into rodent problems once in a while. Use peanut butter as the bait.

6) Spider web cleaner - As much as I don't mind the spiders (see my avatar), I do mind seeing their webs, which give a dojo a rather odd look. Make sure your apparatus has a long handle, since spiders can reach awfully high areas.

7) Boric acid powder - One of the best roach killing chemicals out there, and pretty cheap, too. Spray the dry powder in areas that your normal cleaning tools can't reach that the roaches can. It takes time for the roaches to track the powder back to their lair, but it does a good job of eventually killing them.

 

[Darksoul]

-Thats a lot of good information, thankyou! I think you can apply those tips to the home as well. Think I have used Borac acid in a gel/liquid form to stop an ant invasion at my parent's house. Worked wonderfully. Course, keeping the training and or living environment clean in the first place helps a lot. Silly ants, they invade the kitchen cause they know where the food is;-)

A--->

 

[bluemtn]

Great advice, Gren! And.... Exactly HOW did you come about this information?

 

[Hawke]

I use similar techniques for the home. I learned them from people I know that manages apartments.

Great Tips! I really like the warning you give about toxic fumes.

 

[Grenadier]

Great advice, Gren! And.... Exactly HOW did you come about this information?

Unfortunately (for me), experience was my teacher.

I had one student clog the toilet and try to unclog it with the toilet brush, leaving behind a big stench, both in the toilet, and from the brush as well. I had finally managed to unclog the toilet, and even gave the bathroom a spray of Ozium (excellent odor killer), only to find that the room still stank after a couple of minutes. Imagine my horror when I saw the toilet brush...

In another dojo, there was a drain at the end of the room, that kept emanating the awful rotten cabbage odor. My sensei kept telling us to constantly put water in there, so that the sewage gas could be stopped, but even then, that proved ineffective, since there was slime accumulating near the top of the drain, so I removed the drain cover, and blasted the area underneath with 50% Chlorox. At first, there was the nasty smell of bleach killing microbes, but the next class, the dojo smelled ever so much fresher.

Another time, one of the students had puked his guts out. This kid wasn't more than 6 years old, yet he left a pool of puke at least 2 feet in diameter, thanks to having gorged on biscuits and grits that morning. Even though I cleaned it up with a mop, there was that rotten stench of puke in the air, that still clung to the hardwood floor (think butyric acid), but at least I was able to get the stench out of the hardwood with diluted alcohol.

Then there was the biohazard who only took a shower every week, and freely perspired. His gi (that he rarely washed) smelled like a beer barrel tipped over in an alley and left to rot in the hot sun for a week. Nevermind the miseries that we had to endure when partnered up with him, especially when we practiced some randori. Everywhere he landed on the mats, he left an awful rotten smell. I treated those with diluted alcohol, after swabbing up the mats.

 

[Drac]

Then there was the biohazard who only took a shower every week, and freely perspired. His gi (that he rarely washed) smelled like a beer barrel tipped over in an alley and left to rot in the hot sun for a week. Nevermind the miseries that we had to endure when partnered up with him, especially when we practiced some randori. Everywhere he landed on the mats, he left an awful rotten smell. I treated those with diluted alcohol, after swabbing up the mats.

I cannot believe that someone like that would be allowed to train..In a few of the schools I attended a person like that would have been told to GO HOME ( in private) and NOT return until he adopted better hygene...

 

[Grenadier]

I cannot believe that someone like that would be allowed to train..In a few of the schools I attended a person like that would have been told to GO HOME ( in private) and NOT return until he adopted better hygene...

Heh. Believe me, we tried to leave subtle hints to him, but he just wouldn't get the message.

A number of us did bring up the subject to Sensei, but unfortunately, Sensei had no sense of smell, and told us that we shouldn't let bad smells affect discipline and training.

In the end, the problem ceased to exist, once this student went back to his home country (he was an exchange student).

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

I cannot believe that someone like that would be allowed to train..In a few of the schools I attended a person like that would have been told to GO HOME ( in private) and NOT return until he adopted better hygene...

I think that is the norm in most places and yet I have been in some places that would make you shudder. :erg:

 

[jks9199]

I cannot believe that someone like that would be allowed to train..In a few of the schools I attended a person like that would have been told to GO HOME ( in private) and NOT return until he adopted better hygene...

I had the same response...

And if telling him in private didn't work -- I'd have told him in public. Loudly.

To me, basic hygiene is just basic courtesy. It's one thing to get a little ripe if you're literally camping, but even then, you can do a lot with a washcloth. But to come to the school so filthy that you literally disgust everyone -- that's beyond rude.

 

[Shaderon]

All great tips, I'll only add that if you have to leave windows open in summer and the mossies and other flies get in, a good way to kep them out is to burn citronella candles near the doorway in a place they won't get knocked.