Maintaining the factory fit on both dry and washed jeans

[verb]

So perhaps I'm a bit strange but I love the unwashed look of dry jeans. Honestly, once I see all the pictures of people's washed versions I tend to shy away from them a bit. I've had my eyes on a pair of Nudie Slim Jims worn slightly oversized to be straight legged for a while now and I'm finally getting the balls to purchase a pair but I wanted to run a few questions by you guys first.

1) If I were to never wash them and hopefully never take them out in crazy weather situations, would they maintain their size and color? I'm assuming I could dryclean them to remove any stains and clean them periodically. In that case, I could just buy the proper size and wear them normally rather than worrying about the 'pre-wash/post-wash' sizes and rolling the cuffs which I'm not very fond of.

2) With my jeans that are pre-washed, I generally go into stores and try them on so I want to keep the fit straight off the shelf. I have washed jeans in the past and they tend to shrink on me so are there any home washing method alternatives i can do to clean them that won't cause these to shrink on me at all?

[horriblyjollyjinx]

1) Yes to all questions, kind of. However, you will of course lose some colour, the initial shiny look will disappear also, maybe not completely but at least not stay the same way. But yes, this way you will preserve as much color as possible, and I think you will be happy with the result. And size will also change some, as raw denim stretches more than pre-washed. I spray my jeans with water and hang them on a heated towel hanger to shrink the waist when they get too big.

2) Basically, the cooler the water and the shorter the time, the less shrinkage. however, if you dont wash them long enough or whatever, they wont really be clean. Try stretching them out when they're damp also.

tally-hoo

Edited by horriblyjollyjinx on Sep 4, 2005 at 04:15 PM

[Letters]

I'm not a dry denim expert, but on the pre washed stuff, cold water and not putting it in the dryer work for me.

I've had two of the same sizes of jeans, washed one with hot water, the other with cold. let them both air dry and the one washed with hot water shrank like crazy.

"©opy®ight"

[darknworn]

some rules of thumb:

dry clean = no shrinkage, minimal fading

hot water = major shrinkage, and fading

cold water = little shrinkage, little fading

hand wash = less abrasion

machine wash = more abrasion, more fading

dryer = major shrinkage

hang dry = little shrinkage

sanforized jeans = none to minimal shrinkage, even if hot washed (dryer will shrink a bit)

non-sanforized = big time shrinkage if contact with water and dryer (2-5% depending on the fabric/brand)

if you must wash, put some woolite dark in with the wash to minimize pigment loss (dr. bonner's as suggested by ringring will work too, but i've yet to try that).

if the jeans shrank too much, try to take it out of the dryer while still damp, then hand stretch to restore some of the original length.

if you absolutely want to keep the original look of your raw jeans, use febreeze to remove the funk for as long as you can stand it. also, you can sprinkle baking soda on the inside of your jeans, bag it, then stick it in the freezer over night to kill bacteria/funk. vacuum off the excess baking soda after you've dusted off the baking soda the next day. last resort, bring it to a dry cleaner. if you follow this method, you will be able to go for at least a year before you have to bring your jeans to the dry cleaner (provided you don't do vigorous physical activities in them, i.e. skating, running, sexing). make absolutely sure they understand that you want to dry clean.

"God is Dead" - Nietzsche

"Nietzsche is Dead" - God

[Geowu]

I don't understand why use febreeze when you can use this:

www.atmosklear.net/

[darknworn]

that sounds promising. i personally have never seen it at any target store, but i'll look for it next time i'm there.

how well does it work?

"God is Dead" - Nietzsche

"Nietzsche is Dead" - God