I feel bad, plus please help out a noob!

[maydenchina]

Ok ok, so i read through the big sticky at the top, the awesome encyclopedia, and it has helped.

I just have a few questions that I want a little more detail on.

So I have a pair of rawr Levi 501s, and they have started to lose their rigidity....

so If i were to starch them, would that just mean spraying it on? Or do I have to iron it?

And also, starching doesn't change the color or anything does it? it just keeps it rigid right?

[watchman]

starching doesn't change the color. Definitely don't iron them, that defeats the purpose. And if you starch, you only starch areas like behind the knees/lap to increase the speed at which creases set. Personally, i would just wear them. Starch contributes to artificial creasing according to some people.

[maydenchina]

Ok, thanks. Yea, i was like 'why iron them.....' cuz it said that on the can and stuff

hmmm....i dont wanna increase the speed of creasing and crap, i just want my stiffness back!

well thanks, ill go test some crap on old jeans

[watchman]

stiffness doesn't really last very long man, you're going to have to just deal with softer jeans

[hurleyboarder11]

As stated above, there is no way to get back the ridgedness. You honestly shouldn't worry too much about rigidness because if you wear your jeans enough they will still turn out very nice. Starch is a very good way to define your features, however, you can't abuse it. My advice is that you spray on a light layer maybe once or twice a week for two to three weeks to set in the creases. After that you should stop starching and just let the jeans mature themselves. Too much starch is bad for your jeans. It weakens the denim and can cause them to tear.

[travisio]

also, i dunno if anybody's noticed this but starch kind of makes stuff smell bad if you don't wash it regularly. apparently bacteria enjoys to feed on starch so if you starch your jeans a lot, they'll start to smell bad. i starched my levi's and they smelled pretty bad and i didn't starch my samurai's and they didn't smell bad.