How to keep dark jeans dark?

[chris3]

I mostly wear dark jeans from JCrew or Bonobos and Brooks Brothers oxford shirts to work.


The look is much more professional when the jeans are dark and crisp. I try not to wash them too often, sometimes I just tumble them dry a bit to get them back into shape. When I do wash my jeans, I try to remember to use Cheer for Darks, but sometimes I forget and use regular Tide.


Feels weird to be asking for laundry tips, but I'm game. How do you keep the denim dark? Do I really need this crazy expensive denim-specific laundry soap?

[zerostyle]

I'm honestly not sure if this helps or not, but when I wash my jeans, I always do it with them inside-out. That way, I figure, any blue that washes off will run right back into the jeans. It also prevents friction with the walls of the washing machine.


Also, I always air-dry my jeans, never use the dryer.

[dmencha]

I wash mine as little as possible, going probably about 6 months or so between washes. When I do wash them, I let them soak in a tub or wash in a machine on the delicate cycle with cold water and Woolite and then let them hang dry.

[nicholascrawford]

Just don't wash them. If there's a dirty spot, just use a bit of water. If they get smelly, I opt for the air dry. Others put them in the freezer. Still others use Febreeze.


I wash my old, grubby jeans but not the ones less than a year old.

[alan]

Yeah, I only wash jeans on the rare occassion that they get overly smelly, and then I use cold water and air dry.

[bj]

Air dry. Fo sho.

[zerostyle]

The one reason I like to wash mine in cold water occasionally is that the waist starts to stretch out over time.

[AJ25]

When you do wash them a lot of people have had success using Woolite as opposed to normal laundry detergent.


http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/image...S6C0I2-1-l.jpg

[mixto]

inside-out, cold water, air dry. I use ecos (costco) as detergent.

[j.b.]

The freezer trick does not work for me. They smell better until they defrost...but after about 20 minutes they reek again.

[Thekillabeejc]

I've read that you can set the dye in dark clothing by soaking them in a water/vinegar or a water/salt mixture. I'm not sure if it works well, but I'm sure there is some info out there about it.

[bruschetta]

I've never understood the mentality behind not washing jeans. Do people who buy into that mentality also avoid washing their other cotton products? Do their chinos, t-shirts, polos, oxfords, and dress shirts also go unwashed?


Jeans acquire an odor after multiple wearings. You may not be able to detect your own odor because you're desensitized by exposure. Please, wash your clothing. There's nothing magical about jeans that makes them less in need of a wash as compared to other clothes.


Chris, to answer your question: wash your jeans inside-out in cold water. If you want to be especially careful, wash them in a sink with Woolite.

[thmage]

@Bruschetta, I believe it has something to do with the way denim is dyed.


But I've found that washing them doesn't make too much of a difference, so I'll wash after maybe 5 wears or so. It will speed up the fading process, but in my experience it's not too bad.

[Rodney Dean]

bruschetta,


People want wear patterns and washing gets in the way. Maybe some people's jeans stink after several wearings, but not everyone. Six months between washing is very common among denim heads, and to think these people are walking around in a Charlie-Brown stink cloud is misguided.


When it smells wash it. (Or do the freezer trick!)

[krk]

I handwash in the tub inside out and air dry (I personally prefer to just wear them dry, if at all possible). Always super super cold water and woolite. I don't ever put jeans in washer/dryer. I also only wash once every six months or so and I'll hang them outside for a day or so if they start to smell in the meantime. You do have to pay attention, after a while.


Those wearing raw denim, for comparison, aren't looking to wash more than once, maybe twice a year, and probably not at all the first year after purchase.