Greetings all,

We're about to do some test-cutting as a part of next Selohaar gathering on Saturday. How are folks soaking their tatami after rolling them? I can't seem to find a long enough trough to use...is soaking with a hose sufficient?

All the best,

Christian

Hi Christian,
Unfortunately, soaking with a hose isn't good enough. They need to be fully submerged for several hours, depending on thickness. As a general rule, they need to be soaked overnight.

From personal experience: Don't use your bathtub! They can stain, and they leave the bathroom smelling like wet grass... and because of that, I haven't used tatami in a while. But I know some people use plastic trashcans filled with water to set the rolls upright. I've also thought that a cheap "kiddie" pool would work well, provided you tie the mats to a weight to keep them from floating to the top.

I can attest to leaving your house smelling like wet grass! I found it somewhat pleasant, but it definately could be overwhelming.

The trash can is a great idea!

Personally I like the smell of soaking tatami. :)

But if you can't find someting long enough, you could soak them for two nights...have one side sticking out and then flip them. I've done that lots of times and I haven't noticed any difference between that and soaking the whole thing in a tub.

Interesting. I'll have to keep this in mind.

Michael Ahrens wrote:

Having cute Mike's twice soaked mats,

I just felt like quoting that because your typo calls him "cute Mike". :) Don't edit that!

The smell always reminds me of green tea..

Anyways, I use a cheap plastic storage bin and weight them down with some old bits of concrete tile across the top.

I use a 39 gallon plastic trash container as it's just the right size. Like Scott said - they will float, so you have to use something to hold them down. Used the tub first time we tried it, and oooohhhhhh, was I glad the little woman was out of town that weekend; OUCH, bad stains that took a lot of cleaning! :lol:

I have had good luck soaking rolled mats in one of the large square trash cans with the hinged lid. Not sure of the size, just the biggest one they had at the local Lowes/Home Depot.

I roll my mats around 1-inch hardwood dowels to simulate thigh or upper arm bones. After the trash can is filled with water, the mats can be completely submerged with the protruding dowels sticking up, then the lid closed against the ends of the dowels. A bungee cord or C-clamp is used to secure the lid closed. This contains the smell and prevents any spillage, so there's no mess or smell to bother "she who must be obeyed" or her friends. :D

One caveat: the water should be emptied immediately after using the mats. I made the mistake of leaving the water in the trash can for a number of days, hot summer days. Smelled like a trash can full of small dead animals when I got back to it. :wtf:

My thanks to everyone, *cute* or otherwise, for the help!

And, I'll be seeing some of you tomorrow...

All the best,

Christian

Make a open rectangular frame with scrap wood and line it with black or clear roll plastic. I've used this method at work for temporary water containment. It's cheap and works great.

CC