Capt_Spaulding

G'morning everyone.

I'm about to happily receive a pair of Red Wing 875 boots that are only slightly worn but I'm not a huge fan of the colour. If I wanted to get them from the natural tan down to a darker (cigar, etc) colour, is that something I could do myself with relative ease? I'm pretty handy and I can work well with my hands but I know my limitations and I'm always nervous trying something for the first time on something that I don't want to wreck. If it's easy enough to do, are there dyes/polishes that are best for this kind of thing or considering that they're free, should I just lay down the cash and have them done professionally?

First WAYWT post so please be gentle. Or not. I don't really care.

Sorry for the bad quality...phone pic.

Lrg

Evisu No.2 BLK

Pro Keds

Sorry to hijack this thread but the only STF type jeans I ever see discussed are Levi's, Ih and samurai and of the 3 i like ih the most so i figured i'd ask here. i recently got a pair of klaxon howl 15 oz. selvage (toronto based boutique) for a really good price (regularly $275, paid $90) and they're stf.

anyway, i just finished soaking them and while handling them post-soak they made my hands incredibly sticky. The water was a yellowish colour when I took them out and there wasn't any blue in the water at all. Again, i realize these are not ih but they are 'premium japanese denim' so i was just wondering if all of this is normal, and what exactly is happening here? thanks.

I have a pair of 501 stfs and I like them but I wish they were a little slimmer fitting so I have a few questions:

How far up the outseam can they be taken in?

Is it a realistic option to pay a tailor to do this instead of buying a smaller pair?

Has anyone ever actually done this and if so, how did it go?

I've been wearing them for 2 months since the first and only soak and I like how they are turning out so far. I want to keep the straight fit because 20 years of playing hockey and soccer and then 10 more of drinking beer and not playing hockey and soccer have made my legs and butt-ocks too big for any kind of taper. Cheers!

edit: just to clarify, these are non-selvedge.

This is according to the people that invented the sanforized concept

their words not mine

"

Fabric (F) passes through the skyer (S) or other moistening device and is moistened by water and/or steam. This will lubricate the fibers and promote shrinkability within the fabric. Normally, a fabric must be moistened in such a way that every single thread achieves a moisture content of approximately 15%. This allows compression of the fabric with very little resistance.

When the fabric passes through the clip expander ©, we obtain the required width. The clip expander also transports the fabric to the most important part of the machine: the rubber belt unit (indicated by arrows in above figure). In the close-up of fig. 1, we see the endless rubber belt ®. By squeezing rubber belt ® between pressure roll (P) and rubber belt cylinder (RB), we obtain an elastical stretching of the rubber belt surface. The more we squeeze the rubber belt, the more the surface is stretched. This point of squeezing is known as the pressure zone, or the nip point.

Fabric (F) is now fed into the pressure zone. When leaving the pressure zone, the rubber belt recovers itself and the surface returns to its original length carrying the fabric with it. The effect of this action is a shorting of the warp yarn which packs the filling yarns closer together. At this actual moment, shrinkage occurs.

After compaction within the rubber belt unit, the fabric enters the dryer (D). Here the fibers are locked in their shrunken state by removing the moisture from the fabric.

After the compressive shrinkage process is completed, another sample of the fabric is taken. This sample is also wash-tested. The final result of this test must meet the Sanforized Standard, in length and width before it may carry the Sanforized label. "

for this reason I don't think you'll have much luck because it involves moisturizing and forcing the fibers to contract to a point of tightness where they are locked by immediately removing the moisture.

you can shrink it with steam but not to the same point as a wash will do. I'd reccommend you just don't worry about it.

On colour loss:

Samurais and Iron Hearts have high quality dying and indigo itself is NOT water soluble. Therefore, until the indigo is loosened in some fashion to allow the water to envelope and pull it away (friction and other damage to the denim causes this) you will lose no colour. The STF looses colour because the dying is fully attaching the indigo to the denim. Plus I believe the sams and ironhearts will still have some of the shiny colour of raw denim after the soak.

For your reading pleasure and my source

Wow, that's a lot more involved than I thought. I guess the trick is mechanically contracting the fabric and I just happen to have thrown out my rubber belt, rubber belt cylinder and my pressure rolls. Oh well, such is life. I agree with your recommendation that I not worry about it. Thanks for the through reply.

Noob here! I've been lurking here for a long long time and you all have been an invaluable resource for me so thanks for that...I even feel like I know a lot of you even though I've never actively participated in any threads.

Anyway, I was thinking about shrink-to-fit jeans and I was wondering if there's a way to "sanforize" jeans at home. I have hot and cold soaked a few pairs of Levis stfs and I'm seriously considering buying some Iron Hearts or Samurais but I don't like the colour loss or the change in texture (they get a little 'fuzzy') once they've been wet. I know it's an inevitability but I want to keep the sheen/patina on my raws for as long as possible. I just feel dressier in them. From what I understand, sanforizing involves hot rollers, steam, compression and singeing - which sounds a lot like ironing...so on to my questions:

Has anyone every tried shrinking their STF jeans without using water?

Would multiple sessions with an extra hot steam iron do the trick?

Would singeing even be necessary or is that for specific kinds of extra slubby denim?

That's all for now, I may have follow up questions. Cheers!