Washing denim

Advice about washing denim tends to come as commandments — never wash, wash weekly, freeze it. None of that is a rule here. A jean is clothing; wash it when it needs washing. What follows is what washing does, so the decision is an informed one.

What a wash does

• It shrinks the cloth — a little every time, most of all the first time, and most of all on cloth that was not pre-shrunk. See Shrinkage and relaxation.
• It resets the fit. Denim relaxes at the waist, seat and thigh as it is worn. A wash pulls it back. A raw jean is tightest fresh from the wash and loosest at the end of a long day; that cycle is normal.
• It moves dye. Indigo is not fast; some leaves in every wash, and it leaves fastest from the places the cloth has creased and rubbed. That is what fading is. Black denim behaves differently — see Fading and black denim.
• It softens the hand. Starch and sizing wash out of a raw cloth in the first wash or two, and the jean stops feeling like card.

The first wash

On a raw, unsanforized denim the first wash is the big one. Expect the length to drop and the waist to tighten, and expect the water to run dark. If a finished measurement matters — it does for a prototype — the garment is measured after this wash, not before.

Habits that help

• Turn it inside out. The topstitching and the face of the cloth take less abrasion.
• Cold water, a gentle cycle, and not much detergent.
• Hang it to dry. A tumble dryer shrinks harder, sets creases you did not choose, and is rough on hardware and leather.
• Wash it alone, or with things that can take indigo.

Between washes

Airing a jean overnight does most of what a wash does for smell. A damp cloth handles most marks. The longer stretch between washes is what lets creases settle into the fades that make a pair yours — but that is a preference, not a duty.

The short version on the Care Guide still stands: wash less, air more, repair early.