Washing your denim? A religious discussion!
During this period, but more importantly throughout the year, washing your clothes is good not only for the smell and freshness, but also to keep bacteria away.
With selvedge raw denim, there is a divide on how much to wash them. Enthusiasts will say that you have to wear them 6 months before washing them, in order to have better fading potential. Others will want to wash as soon as they buy them, in order for the fabric to soften up for the first wear.
Truth is, you have to go by your feelings. Does it smell? Do you prefer the feeling of a raw, unwashed denim, or do you prefer when it is a little bit softer?
Another point is that raw denim tends to adapt to your morphology during the first wears. If there is more tension towards the knee, the denim will expand there. If there is more tension on the waistband, same thing apply.
Therefore, my recommendation would be to wear your raw denim for at least three week straight before giving it a first wash. Like this, it will have time to adapt to your body.
How to wash your denim without destroying it?
Depending on your wishes, wash your raw denim as much or as little as you want. In order to preserve your beautiful denim, follow the steps below to wash it without destroying it:
- Put your denim inside-out.
- Put your denim inside the washing machine, alone if new (the indigo will bleed heavily during the first wash) or with like colors if you're washing it for the third or fourth time.
- Use non aggressive detergents to wash you denim. At Recall Clothing, I have special products to wash your denim, such as the Railcar Fine Goods denim wash.
- Wash on gentle cycle (30° max).
- Do not tumble dry your denim! Let it air dry.
- If you want it not to be too tight after washing, you can gently pull on the fabric once washed so that it returns to its original shape.
- Put your freshly washed denim on !
With the above steps, you will keep the characteristics of your raw selvedge denim, while keeping it fresh and clean.
Note that, upon the first wash, raw denim will shrink about half to a full inch (2.5 cm) in all directions.
Do you want to improve fading potential?
Like all denim aficionado, you want to have the best faded jean, but you still want it to be fresh? If you want to extend the period between two washes, you can use a denim spray, like the Railcar Fine Goods Denim Spray.
Denim Spray will leave a nice sent to the denim, allowing you to rock and roll for a few more days, weeks, months...or years...as your prefer !
Conclusion
I hope this small post helped you to correctly wash you raw selvedge denim, or any other jeans you have in your wardrobe!
Remember that the only mandatory thing is to follow certain steps so that your denim will preserve its characteristics for many years to come.
If you have any questions, you can leave a comment or contact me on this page.