Cold Soak

[easynametoremember]

I have tried searching, would like some clarification.

I have a pair of Nudies that I would like to shrink a little bit. I understand that a cold soak will shrink the jeans, but will it also make it more difficult to break the jeans in? I would still like to achieve honeycombs, wiskers etc...

So will the cold soak simply shrink the jeans, and the break in process will be the same as if I hadn't soaked the jeans?

[cultpop 0217]

wash them to get the shrinking out of the way. hang to dry.

you should have alot of color left but a lot of the starch will be removed.

add a good amount of starch (niagara spray starch works well) and continue to wear until your wear marks become well defined and start to lose color before you wash again.

the fading on dry denim is caused when wrinkles (whiskers, hige, honeycombs etc..) form and are subjected to repeated abrasion. dry jeans are pretty rigid so these wrinkles will stay put once they are formed. this is especially important when trying to get nice honeycombs. there is no special formula or magik involved. just consistant wear and tear.

when you wash the jeans you remove indigo and you can also cause the wrinkles to become unset so that the next time you wear your jeans the wrinkles will reform in different places and you will not get that high level of contrast that denimjunkies desire.

so to answer your question washing them will shrink them and the breaking in process will be basically the same.

i'm not a mod or a rocker. i'm a mocker.

Edited by cultpop 0217 on Mar 23, 2006 at 09:50 PM

[WhoGotMeIntoThis]

No, Don't wash your jeans!

A cold soak in the tub will get rid of some shrinkage...but WASHING WILL AFFECT YOUR BREAK IN PROCESS.

I'm sorry, but I just can't recommend a machine wash right off the bat.

Cold soak, you'll lose a tiny bit of indigo but NOTHING compared to a machine wash.

I think you'll be pleased with a simple cold soak.

[keri]

I gotta agree with WhoGotMeIntoTHis,

I'm pretty new to this raw thing, but to me, it just seems that if you wanted to loose less indigo, soak, not agitate.

Also, I'm not sure, wait for someone more knowledgable, but couldn't you run a cold soak, and then toss in the dryer if they didn't shrink enough. I know higher heat will compress the fibers, causeing the fabric to have less defined weave and become smaller, so it would work definitely, but it might adversely affect the process of breaking in.

Don't you hate in when you're in a line and there's that guy like right behind you and you can feel him almost touching you, hovering near you, in your personal space and all you want to do is turn around and scream, "move three feet back before I beat you," but you don't? They'd put you in a strait jacket if you did, and it is soooo hard to find a pair of shoes that match those.

[minya]

Umm, no, washing will not "affect the break in process." It won't do much of anything except:

a) shrink them, but not much -- Nudies are preshrunk and they don't shrink much. Expect an inch of shrinkage lengthwise and very little (maybe 1-2cm) in the waist.

The shiny sheen that all raw denim has will disappear.

You'll lose very little indigo -- essentially none.

If you want to shrink them, wash them in warm water in a washing machine with no detergent -- better yet, buy a pair that fits you straight off the bat, because they're going to stretch out like crazy.

[swisloc]

i have to agree w/ minya.

i think there is a misconception that washing will somehow ruin the wear-in/contrast fading process...if this was truly the case, all the super high quality japanese shrink-to-fit repro brands (S D'A, Eternal, Sugarcane, etc...) wouldn't produce good contrast fades as they virtually require initial washing to fit correctly.

In reality, i'm starting to think that initial washing/early washing/soak actually helps the contrast wearing process...on my last two pairs of APC i've done a warm soak early in the process (about eight weeks). You really don't lose nearly as much color as you think, and after that, they fade with great contrast (maybe the indigo gets lossened up a bit).

[rnrswitch]

Ditto, people need to get over the washing thing. The only reason I haven't washed my nudies for 5 or so months is because I like the sheen. If you have unsanforized denim, it is just best to warm wash them to get the shrinking out of the way, if they are sanforized they won't shrink enough to worry about it, cuz they are just gonna stretch out anyway.

[Paul T]

I disagree with washing. It won't necessarily cause a problem, but it doesn't offer any real advantages over soaking in terms of shrinking the jeans. And overall, it's undeniable that more washes gives a blander, less contrasty look.

I soaked a pair of 1901 LVCs - and remember, LVCs are supposedly notorious for losing their dye - for four hours in a small amount of water, on the theory that some of the indigo lost would soak back in. They've kept their indigo better than any LVCs I've ever owned.

[horriblyjollyjinx]

Quote:

i have to agree w/ minya.

i think there is a misconception that washing will somehow ruin the wear-in/contrast fading process...if this was truly the case, all the super high quality japanese shrink-to-fit repro brands (S D'A, Eternal, Sugarcane, etc...) wouldn't produce good contrast fades as they virtually require initial washing to fit correctly.

In reality, i'm starting to think that initial washing/early washing/soak actually helps the contrast wearing process...on my last two pairs of APC i've done a warm soak early in the process (about eight weeks). You really don't lose nearly as much color as you think, and after that, they fade with great contrast (maybe the indigo gets lossened up a bit).

--- Original message by swisloc on Mar 24, 2006 09:20 AM

there is a HUGE difference between Japanese and western brands. There are no western brands that make jeans with the same color as say Eternal.

I would definitely not wash Nudie, APC, Julian Red, LVC etc before 6 months of good wear, preferably more than 6 months. The denim just isn't good enough.

When I soaked my SD's in over 40*C water for 5.5hrs they didnt lose any indigo at all. Nudie, APC etc do. That is also a factor.

dontcaretoomuchforcrap CANT SKATE!!

Edited by horriblyjollyjinx on Mar 24, 2006 at 02:43 PM

[swisloc]

^^

i think you misunderstood me a bit...i totally agree that the dying and denim quality of the japanese brands is far superior to Nudie/APC, etc. I'm only saying that one soaking doesn't affect the color to the point where it will jurastically alter the contrast you are able to achieve (although i also agree that it definetly affects these brands more).

That said, obviously i'm not saying wash once a week, but as long as your are wearing them hard, and not washing often, you will get contrasted wear...

[poly800rock]

Quote:

No, Don't wash your jeans!

A cold soak in the tub will get rid of some shrinkage...but WASHING WILL AFFECT YOUR BREAK IN PROCESS.

I'm sorry, but I just can't recommend a machine wash right off the bat.

Cold soak, you'll lose a tiny bit of indigo but NOTHING compared to a machine wash.

I think you'll be pleased with a simple cold soak.

--- Original message by WhoGotMeIntoThis on Mar 23, 2006 10:57 PM

not true at all man....if you wash them without detergent, and wear them for six months, i will put 100 you get close to the same exact effect. people are so purist and stupid when it comes to this, but there is no point in wearing something that doesnt fit you. I just HOT WASHED a pair of dry evisu's and i could see that they lost a lot of indigo, but still dark as hell and ready to go....MACHINE WASH AWAY and wear for 6 months....i promise you that it will be ok.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZtriggerkid

[obsessis]

i think most people read the little nudie book or website and think that they know how to treat denim.

i wouldn't necessarily wash them, just because i have never really washed my jeans my whole life. i would soak them if you wanted to. washing them won't fuck them up by any means, though.

[spitzbrg]

I thought all of you would appreciate this picture. I normally purchase my jeans one wash, but just received my first real pair of unsanforized / unskewed jeans. This picture is from the cloth bag my jeans came in from the Warehouse shop in Japan. It appears that you MUST soak these types of jeans. I had to do lots of research on this (with the help of some people on this site) before deciding what to do with these jeans. I think this picture sums it up. One wash are usually okay right out of bag, but certainly not the unwashed Warehouse. The jeans are beautiful by the way; 1000XX

Edited by spitzbrg on Mar 27, 2006 at 07:02 PM

[xcoldricex]

this is the other side of it:

that's why visitor love 'em!

[tweeds]

SAY IT SAY IT SAY IT. SAY IT SAY IT.

i mean, that's like the most powerful propaganda i've seen in a long time.

[Guest Airjamie]

I had always thought that denim will encounter unnatural and premature distressing in the machine caused by the rubbing on the ineids surface of the washer, kinda like stonewashing. Is this totally off?

I punch my bitch to Godflesh.

[sneakeraddict]

so would putting them through a mangle

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Nashville 28 x 34 (£90) and Greenville 28 x 34 (£50)

[walletboy]

To maximize contrast and whiskering, my approach is to remove the "loose" indigo dye with an initial wash in cold water and rinse. Why? Because if you don't, there is likely to be a lot of indigo dye in the water when you do finally wash them. This loose indigo dye in water will be redeposited on the whiter/lighter areas of abrasion and whiskering, which actually reduces the contrast . I mean, look how blue the pockets are after cold soak. The blue that is on the pockets is the same stuff that will end up on your whiskering and abrasion.

[moykky]

I usually soak the new raw denim in about 40C (104F) for one hour just to get rid of the starch. Then I wear for few days and spray starch on my front pockets, behind the knees (and do the sitting thing with movie... and ankles.

I have two Pace jeans (japanese denim) , one Nudie and I just got Edwin jeans that were raw.

I have also plenty of Nudie jeans that have some used wash (Nudies are quite cheap here) and I must say that they stretch alot...

If I'm free it's because I'm always running...