raw denim - how do you keep the colour if you decide to wash?

[MyMindSpray]

recently picked up a new pair of raw unwashed denim...too many bad experiences washing then losing the colour.

is there any way to wash the denim so that they'll shrink in length, but at the same time keeping the colour (grayish blue tint)?

i'm thinking washing in a delicate cycle with cold water, or just soaking in cold water...then throwing them in the dryer for shrinking...will this maintain the original colour of the denim?

thanks in advance

Edited by MyMindSpray on Dec 2, 2005 at 02:05 PM

[Corbin Law]

if you want to retain the color and you havent done much wear

do a very cold, to moderately cold wash that will just shrink them, or just shrink them to your body (*if you do a shower wash).

if you arent doing a shower wash or somethign like that the best way to preserve your color after youve put in a bit of wear is to do it with woolite black. it keeps your fades for the most part.

ive done shower washes myself, but never for the purpose of shrinking but i met this guy in steven alan (sp?) and he was wearing some hipsters and he said that when he first purchased them he did a cold shower rinse and that make the jeans shrink to his body. just a thought...

chwa?

[MyMindSpray]

thanks corbin...but i want to avoid the shower wash if possible...i'm mostly concerned with inseam length at this point as i would like to shorten the denim by shrinking...

what about a cold wash and straight to the dryer?...will the dryer take any colour away?...i know that typically, it's the washing that removes the indigo dye, but not sure about the heat from a dryer?

Thanks.

[PLUSsung]

Hey

thought i'd chime in.

i guess it really depends on what brand and if the denim has been processed for shrinkage before they were put on the market.

if you soak it in extremely cold water, the jeans wills till lose quite a bit of indigo as it shocks the fabric (much like wool in really cold water shrinks it more than hot water). Your best bet for maxim shrinkage is to soak it in tepid water... room temperature, for a couple of hours, and the water will relax the tension in the fabric. Then take it out, don't wring it press it or try to manually remove the water, just hang them up by the hem and arrange the denim so it's not all wrinkly (unless you want it to crinkle up when dry) and just let it drip dry. You'll probably notice a bit of indigo loss, which is really not avoidable... but probably won't make any big difference.

dryers will shrink but it will also reduce the strength of the fabric if the heat is really high. furthermore, you might get some unwanted wrinkled areas or fuzziness on the surface of the cotton. I would avoid dryers as much as i can.

hope that helps.

[Corbin Law]

ive used a dryer once and may i not reccomend it in any circumstance. allways put your jeans outsaide to dry in the sun. i guess you cna use it now that ist winter and things dont really dry in the sun. but opther than the winter. use air drying

i used the dryer once and i had lots of unwated wrinkles. the fit seemed to be off, and i got some distressions on the back that i wasnt hoping for.

but the crisp feeling of puting your jeans on after having them in the sun for the day is like no other.

chwa?

[Circa]

You can also just use a spray bottle and spray the jeans with water until damp, then just let them dry. They should shrink a bit and you won't lose any color. For cleaning, just dry clean, color loss should be minimal.

[superherox]

Do you guys know how to achieve non or minimal shrinkage but increase the fade of raw denim?

I've washed once in cold and once in warm and the jeans are starting to fade, but not much. I've avoided the dryer all together as I don't think this denim is pre-treated.

THANKS!

[nairb49]

hot water will generally produce the biggest fade, but will also cause the most shrinkage.

so, i suppose your best bet would be to go with warm water, and then hang to dry with weights pulling on the legs to stretch them out.

the waist shouldn't shrink much, and if they do they'll stretch out once you put them back on again.

nairb49