Using Starch

[Syko]

i know how you can use starch to help creasing on jeans, but i have absolutely no idea how to use it, can someone help me please?

[batorizer]

you can get a can of spray starch, but if you want it to be heavier or stiffer, one can won't last very long. I like very heavy starch; not only on my jeans, but on my slacks and dress shirts as well. so i have a jug of liquid starch that i put in a spray bottle and dilute with a bit of water. for using it on jeans i like to spray it on the upper front of the jeans, where the whiskers form and on the back of the knees, both until wet, but not drenched. then i wear them and try to do some sort of activity that will enhance the creases, like sitting on my ass

[Syko]

lol, thanks man that really helped. So i could just get starch and soak the front upper part and the part behind the knees, let em dry and wear em?

[batorizer]

i like to wear them damp. it seems like that helps the creases. i wanted to see how stiff i could get some jeans, so i soaked some 527 rigids inside and out and hung them up to dry. they were really stiff, buy all the creases flatened out.

[Syko]

thanks for the advice!

[tweeds]

i just use spray starch, it's decent as well. like has been said, it depends on how rigid you want your jeans. after awhile it'll just soften anyway, with wear, so don't worry about applying too much.

[kiya]

i say get a little miniature can of starch that you can carry around, and spray your jeans every two or three hours while you're wearing them. behind the knees, at the ankles, and on the front pockets.

www.turfsm.com Turf Shoes

[Syko]

yeah, maybe i should try that

[Syko]

just curious about what other methods use, feel free to post your methods on using starch

[Joe]

Spray on, Hang. Dry

If you what the whiskering behind the knees, just spray on (behind the knee) and sit kriss(that how you spell it) cross and watch tv for an hour.

-Joe

[PG2G]

carrying starch around with you all day seems a bit excessive, doesn't it?

[showbiz00ditc]

it does... and it is

spray like once a week or something shit dont overdo it

[Syko]

haha, okay

[tweeds]

you know when your big can of spray starch starts feeling lighter than it should be after a fortnight...you start wondering whether you're spraying too much.

[LanceP]

I just spray some Niagra starch onto the back of my knees and upper front of my thighs. Then I sit in front of the computer or something until they're dry.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

use, don't abuse.

[tweeds]

yessir. i'll keep that in mind. anyway, too much starch just gets worn off by and by, doesn't it? my friend was saying something about the cornflour going bad...which does make some sort of rational sense.

[sam113]

Seems to me that using startch defeats the whole idea of wearing raw denim jeans.

We buy raw denim because we have no interest in artificially aged jeans, and we then use startch and other methods to enhance the wearing process. A contradiction, wouldn't you say?

[PG2G]

I buy raw denim because its the cheapest way to get jeans that look like they aged naturally. I don't think starch prevents this, just helps speed things up a bit.

Personally, I'd love to do bespoke 45RPM and save myself all of the trouble.

[sam113]

Your'e right, starch does not prevent the natural aging process; it enhances it artificially. Natural aging is the whole point of buying raw denim, Selvage or otherwise.

If you use starch (or any other method to accelerate the process) you might as well buy a pair of "destroyed " jeans.

I say let your body do the work.

[PG2G]

So basically you're saying that if you're going to cheat, you shouldn't even bother with raw denim?

[Guest jeffvyain]

YOU CALLING ME A CHEATER?!

i've starched a bit, but for the most part i just try to wear the shit out of my jeans. lately, i've been bombing hills on my longboard, but I'm scared they're going to smell pretty rotten if i keep this up.

[tweeds]

but you don't take into account that starch gives me that rigidity to my jeans, which i'm loving alot. it's not just for the fading that i starch. it feels great too.

[tweeds]

but you don't take into account that starch gives me that rigidity to my jeans, which i'm loving alot. it's not just for the fading that i starch. it feels great too.

[sam113]

I'm not saying you shouldn't bother, I'm just saying that the biggest advantage to raw denim is that each pair becomes a one-of-a-kind custom piece that is unique to the wearer. Unlike mass-produced artificially worn jeans, raw denim jeans turn into a map of their owners life and lifestyle. Each whisker, stain, abrasion and shade is a direct reflection of all of the things the wearer and the jeans have gone through together. A wearable history, if you will.

"Cheating", as you call it, turns that history in to fiction.

[Willie Spearmint]

Quote: Each whisker, stain, abrasion and shade is a direct reflection of all of the things the wearer and the jeans have gone through together.

If you spray starch on your jeans then that is something that you and your jeans have gone through together.

[Syko]

lol!

[cheapmuthafukr]

ill admit, i have been cheating on my one wash jeans. i use starch. i know its wrong, but i cant help it. its a problem that my jeans and i will have to work out.

simplicity we use to survive, do what you doing properly, thats the way thru life

[denimdestroyedmylife]

REALITY CHECK: Cowboys starched the shit out of their jeans to act as a dirt screen.

What can be more authentic than following suit.

Before you ask, YES, I'm a fucking cowboy. I'll see you at 20 paces at sundown, MFs.

[sam113]

If cowboys, as you claim, did indeed use starch to make their jeans dirt resistant (quite possible I'll admit) I doubt very much that they applied it to the backs of their knees only. Unless they were looking for protection during some trapeze act they were involved in, I would bet dollars to doughnuts that they treated the entire pant.

Additionally, if you(being a cowboy) coat your jeans with starch in an effort to keep them from becoming soiled(and to achieve "authentic" solidarity with your cowboy bretheren) you would be retarding the aging process, thus running in direct contradiction with the sentiment of the majority of your posts regarding the quality of patina on denim that yourself and many other participants in this forum claim to value.