wash your jeans?

[ksozay]

I own a large number of raw denim from a wide range of manufacturers. Iron Heart being one of my preferred despite customer service issues experienced by some FL members.

Turn inside out and cold soak to remove excess dye. Wear. Wash when you feel like it. I wash my denim inside out on delicate setting (no spin) or just hand wash in tub using cold water.

You traditionally don’t wash raw denim if you want to optimize for best fade patterns. I find that wear, more than wash, determines denim patina.

Check out Pure Blue Japan, Oni for some good options and great textures.


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[navetsea]

man, I really can't imagine wearing it as a pants and not washing it for months, maybe if we wear it as overpants over a longjohn or something, or only wear it as going out pants immediately changed into something else once at home air it out etc but when I take a pants to wear in the morning usually I wear that pants all day, and also being a man who most likely urinate standing, I bet some of that splashes on our pants too.

I've been contemplating to try one out before xmas, and accidentally on xmas at church 2 rows in front of me there were what appear to be 2 denim wearing buddies, and I can smell damp mutt odor from my seat mixed with very strong vanilla perfume from a lady who sit on the left of me, I almost passed out... that experience stalled my decision for 3 days.

 

[handymike]

I wash mine in a bathtub with cold water and Woolite Dark.
Then I hang dry...
I had a bad experience with washing in a machine. Spider web fades, and one pair even got a "cowboy crease" fade straight down the leg from the spin cycle. I hear that washing inside-out minimizes this, but in the tub, I feel they stay darker longer.

 

[Colin G]

I rarely wash jeans but do when they need it. Raw denim, regular denim, whatever. I'll wash when a spaghetti sauce spill or grease from working on something ect gets on there.

Personally, I don't give a shit about wear wrinkles or fading patterns. I buy them to wear and when the jeans die, I buy new ones.

I always wash on the cold cycle, jeans turned inside out using Woolite dark.

 

[patrick_b]

man, I really can't imagine wearing it as a pants and not washing it for months, maybe if we wear it as overpants over a longjohn or something, or only wear it as going out pants immediately changed into something else once at home air it out etc but when I take a pants to wear in the morning usually I wear that pants all day, and also being a man who most likely urinate standing, I bet some of that splashes on our pants too.

I've been contemplating to try one out before xmas, and accidentally on xmas at church 2 rows in front of me there were what appear to be 2 denim wearing buddies, and I can smell damp mutt odor from my seat mixed with very strong vanilla perfume from a lady who sit on the left of me, I almost passed out... that experience stalled my decision for 3 days.

I feel the same way. I just can't bear the smell of over-worn clothes. I have a pair of Selvedge Levi 501's Made in USA that I started wearing in 2012. I wash about every month or maybe every other month depending on wear (but they are only worn 1-2 times a week). No holes, tears or crotch blow outs in 6 years. My other selvedge denims are 3Sixteen Kibata (~14oz unsanforized, 1 year old) and another 3Sixteen shadow selvedge (very dark) in their sanforized 14oz denim (3 years old). Love their CT cut which is a mid to high rise, slightly more room in the top block and tapered below the knee. I wash when I think they need it which is after 6-8 wears. I don't get high contrast fades but I feel clean which is more important.

 

[VestCoast]

I wear a ton of raw jeans and have experience with a number of different brands and have found that you can really just treat them however you want. I wear denim for work and have washed several of my pairs weekly and they really have not experienced major color loss. In my opinion the major benefits of raw denim are higher quality pants and better fits. The fades are fun too but you certainly don’t need to buy into the heavyweight conpetition fade lifestyle. My favorite jeans are 14oz IH 634s, looser fits and regular washing will get you the most mileage out of high prices jeans with the side effect of not smelling like a gym bag. If you really hate fades some brands make jeans with reactively dyed fabric that wont fade.

 

[jonesy86]

"but definitely not joining killer fades biohazard pants bandwagon"

Great line!

 

[GHT]

I never own a raw jeans,

Back in the 1960's, the must have jeans were Levi 501's, and they weren't pre-shrunk. Owners of those jeans had blue legs forever. The way to make them fit was to sit in a bathtub of warm water, forever and a day and let the jeans shrink to your leg size. Seriously.

I've never had a love of denim and seeing friends at the swimming pool with what we used to call aristocratic (blue blood) legs, just reinforced my dislike of the material.

 

[Monitor]

I wash my jeans on a monthly basis during the summer and once it gets colder, I can go without washing 'em for maybe two or three months, provided they don't stink or I haven't spilled coffee on them. Plus I usually rotate between two pairs at all times. Since I actually do what could be described as manual labor, they get really disgusting by that point and I can't stand wearing them anymore.

In any case, I've considered giving it a try, not washing a pair of jeans for a considerable amount of time but I'm absolutely convinced that this is something that just isn't possible. At least not if you're constantly on the move. So now I just turn them inside out and throw them in a washing machine at whatever temperature.
Just a few days ago I forgot I already had a pair of Wranglers in there and cooked them at 90 degrees C. Came out just fine.

TBH, having to worry about when and how to wash my stupid jeans is really not something I want to spend a single moment of my life on. Being all fussy about washing them won't make them last any longer as I destroy any pair within two years and if the fantastic fades and krazy kreases aren't meant to be... Tough.

Oh, and freezing them doesn't do crap.

 

[Bfd70]

Jeeze! I do a couple hours of work and miss 2 pages of denim debate! I really gotta quit my job. Anyhow, at this point it seems like the entire spectrum of opinions has been covered so i’ll just throw in how i roll. I don’t think raw denim lasts longer or at least not 4xs longer which is often the price differential.I don’t think my $350 IH resists fade better than my $60 Levi. I do think the craftsmanship is better. I do think there are more and better fit options typically. I do like supporting smaller brands that i think are doing interesting things. I wear really old high priced clothing or newer inexpensive items when doing “hard labor”. I likely have too much time and income if i think about these things.
Washwise, not too frequently, but I don’t wear denim to work so a typical day is 4 hours of wear and 12 on weekends. Because of that 6 months is really more like 2. My pants never smell but i’m guessing Java is a little sweatier than here.

 

[americaneon]

Ahhh, the old wash question! I love hearing everyone's replies on it! Well, here's my 2 cents. I've sold premium and vintage since the 90s and I only wash my jeans if they are standing up by themselves. Lol. Inside out, cold water, delicate no soap but vinegar in the wash. Does great. Heard someone mention salt, that will work if you want the worn destroyed look. I use rock salt to make t shirts look old, etc. I try to avoid the dryer but usually end up doing a low heat tumble dry.

 

[Carlos840]

I have been wearing only IH 634 in various thicknesses for the past few years.
IMO it is worth avoiding the washing machine for the first few months of wear (6 months ish).
That doesn't mean i don't wash them, I just wash them by hand in the tub.

I did some A B testing with different pairs, and IMO you get better contrast if you avoid the washing machine early on.
During the first machine wash, all the indigo that wasn't really well fixed will be gone, meaning you will start your fades with less indigo that if you hadn't washed them. Cold water, wool cycle, doesn't make a difference, a washing machine is always going to be agitating more than handwashing and is always going to get rid of more indigo.

Once you have worn them a few months and hand washed them a couple times, most of the indigo that isn't fixed will have rubbed off, and you will get more contrast between the darkest and lightest areas.
From then on you can start machine washing, 30c inside out, low agitation cycle, sow spin.

Keep in mind that even on low temp and low agitation the washing machine will shrink raw denim noticeably more than handwashing.
I don't have a drier, hang to dry.

 

[americaneon]

Back in the 1960's, the must have jeans were Levi 501's, and they weren't pre-shrunk. Owners of those jeans had blue legs forever. The way to make them fit was to sit in a bathtub of warm water, forever and a day and let the jeans shrink to your leg size. Seriously.

I've never had a love of denim and seeing friends at the swimming pool with what we used to call aristocratic (blue blood) legs, just reinforced my dislike of the material.

I have been wearing only IH 634 in various thicknesses for the past few years.
IMO it is worth avoiding the washing machine for the first few months of wear (6 months ish).
That doesn't mean i don't wash them, I just wash them by hand in the tub.

I did some A B testing with different pairs, and IMO you get better contrast if you avoid the washing machine early on.
During the first machine wash, all the indigo that wasn't really well fixed will be gone, meaning you will start your fades with less indigo that if you hadn't washed them. Cold water, wool cycle, doesn't make a difference, a washing machine is always going to be agitating more than handwashing and is always going to get rid of more indigo.

Once you have worn them a few months and hand washed them a couple times, most of the indigo that isn't fixed will have rubbed off, and you will get more contrast between the darkest and lightest areas.
From then on you can start machine washing, 30c inside out, low agitation cycle, sow spin.

Keep in mind that even on low temp and low agitation the washing machine will shrink raw denim noticeably more than handwashing.
I don't have a drier, hang to dry.

 

[Sloan1874]

I tend to wash my selvedge jeans after a couple of wears - tried to wear them for as long as possible without washing but the ocd in me just couldn’t hack it. Once every couple of wears, washed inside out, does me fine.
Personally, I love the shade of blue they’ve turned over time. My Lee Archives look amazing and have still picked up the various whiskers and crease lines people obsess about.

 

[breezer]

I wash mine in a bathtub with cold water and Woolite Dark.
Then I hang dry...

This. Not a fan of over priced or heavy denim, but the main thing about raw unwashed denim is the look......it has a colour and a stiffness that is lost if machine washed and / or regularly. I'm not bothered about how it fades......but I do try and wait a while before that first wash. I do have a couple of pairs of red selvedge, unwashed Edwins - but my favourites of recent years have been Nudie's....not selvedge, but purchase dry / unwashed.

 

[tropicalbob]

I wash my jeans on a monthly basis during the summer and once it gets colder, I can go without washing 'em for maybe two or three months, provided they don't stink or I haven't spilled coffee on them. Plus I usually rotate between two pairs at all times. Since I actually do what could be described as manual labor, they get really disgusting by that point and I can't stand wearing them anymore.

In any case, I've considered giving it a try, not washing a pair of jeans for a considerable amount of time but I'm absolutely convinced that this is something that just isn't possible. At least not if you're constantly on the move. So now I just turn them inside out and throw them in a washing machine at whatever temperature.
Just a few days ago I forgot I already had a pair of Wranglers in there and cooked them at 90 degrees C. Came out just fine.

TBH, having to worry about when and how to wash my stupid jeans is really not something I want to spend a single moment of my life on. Being all fussy about washing them won't make them last any longer as I destroy any pair within two years and if the fantastic fades and krazy kreases aren't meant to be... Tough.

Oh, and freezing them doesn't do crap.

I thought it was just me. All these years keeping quiet every time this subject came up. Putting a pair of smelly jeans in the freezer with my yellow-tailed snapper and wild boar has always seemed like some kind of health transgression that could only result in something ugly.

 

[Mich486]

Another reason that I think makes it worth to wash them more often then not is the fact that if 100% cotton (like 99.99% of raw denim is) the jeans will lose their shape wear after wear and especially on the knees they tend to sag. A quick wash will fix it for another few wears.


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[torfjord]

Interesting to hear about your washing habits. A lot of you will probably think I’m a slob, but I seldom wash anything I wear unless it stinks (which is very rare) or have stains that don’t wash out if you rub a little cold water. Underwear and T-shirt’s are of course washed regularly, but trousers and shirts get a wash maybe 2-3 times a year?

My current pair of jeans are a Sugar Cane 1947, that I’ve worn almost daily for about 8-9 months (I have an office job, but very casual setting, so jeans are fine in the office). They’ve been soaked in rain once when I was out on my bicycle but that’s their only contact with water. For the purpose of this post I asked my partner to smell them (she is really sensitive to disgusting smells) and she couldn’t tell that they had any “special” smell.

IMO a lot of people wash their clothes way more often than they actually need.

 

[Bfd70]

^Agree. My wife will wash a pair of pants that she wore out for 2 hours.
That’s real OCD.

Some of this MUST all be climate and activity based. Riding a bicycle in 80 and humid is a totally different thing from sitting in a 68 degree office.

 

[nick123]

I've tried more upscale denim twice; washing sparingly initially, inside out, dried on line. I will say, that while they may have lasted about 20-30% longer than store-bought jeans, they too inevitably got holes near the crotch or knees. I don't think (this is my experience alone) I find a terrible amount of value in purchasing them.