How do you wash your jeans: hand wash / machine wash / dry clean?

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I've got an unwashed very dark blue pair and I'd like to save the colors ofr as long as possible. So how should I wash it (especially for the first wash)?

― Baaderonixx immer wieder (baaderonixx), Saturday, 29 July 2006 12:10 (nineteen years ago)

machine wash cold or warm, line dry. unless you play football in them or something they should be dark, nerdy blue for years to come.

― GOD PUNCH TO HAWKWIND (yournullfame), Saturday, 29 July 2006 12:15 (nineteen years ago)

yeh, wash them at 40 degrees. also wash and dry them inside out.

if you wear them inside out the colour will probably last longer too.

― emsk ( emsk), Saturday, 29 July 2006 12:32 (nineteen years ago)

That line in the Donovan song about drycleaning jeans is just about as silly as he is in it! PS I think it helps not to use too much detergent - use the recommended amount. Maybe those kinds of detergent for dark colors really do help prevent fading.

― youn (youn), Saturday, 29 July 2006 13:05 (nineteen years ago)

Machine-wash, cold and inside-out; either line dry or dryer dry but don't leave them in long enough to get hot -- pull them out while still a teeny bit damp.

I know there are people who either simply DON'T wash jeans or dry clean them, but I'm not that anal -- I mean, fabulous.

― Laurel (Laurel), Saturday, 29 July 2006 13:06 (nineteen years ago)

dry clean?!? wtf. i never heard of people doing this!

i always wash at low temp inside out.

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Saturday, 29 July 2006 13:20 (nineteen years ago)

wash?

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Saturday, 29 July 2006 13:34 (nineteen years ago)

About every other season, right?

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Saturday, 29 July 2006 14:01 (nineteen years ago)

I've dry cleaned jeans but didn't really see any difference.

― Baaderonixx immer wieder (baaderonixx), Saturday, 29 July 2006 14:35 (nineteen years ago)

FUCK WASHING A JEANS

― the doaple gonger (nickalicious), Saturday, 29 July 2006 14:35 (nineteen years ago)

Oh...damnit Selzer.

― the doaple gonger (nickalicious), Saturday, 29 July 2006 14:36 (nineteen years ago)

Machine-wash warm, right side out, dry on low. But I don't own any fashion-acceptable jeans.

― milo z (mlp), Saturday, 29 July 2006 14:38 (nineteen years ago)

i either dry-clean or don't wash my jeans. if i spill something on them, i hand wash that part. luckily im asian and dont sweat that much.

― phil-two (phil-two), Saturday, 29 July 2006 17:01 (nineteen years ago)

My jeans get stank after a few days. Besides, they get all droopy (I think we've covered this in another thread AT LENGTH??).

― Jordan (Jordan), Saturday, 29 July 2006 17:11 (nineteen years ago)

yea i hate when my jeans get teh dr00ps

― Machibuse '80 (ex machina), Saturday, 29 July 2006 17:16 (nineteen years ago)

machine wash inside out 30?

― Ed (dali), Saturday, 29 July 2006 17:25 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

Somebody told me about people putting their jeans in the freezer instead of cleaning them. Has anyboy heard of this and why would this work?

― baaderonixx, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 14:50 (eighteen years ago)

Maybe it kills the mites that are eating your skin cells trapped in the fabric? Somehow putting teh jeans back on full of dead mites AND dead skin cells is an unattractive proposition.

― Laurel, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:01 (eighteen years ago)

Oh I heard about this. Wasn't this once in an ad or something?

― nathalie, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:01 (eighteen years ago)

wow shasta didn't post on this thread?

― bell_labs, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:01 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah I guess the only explanation I can think of is that it would kill the germs. But I'm not sure that's really a solution for smelly jeans.

― baaderonixx, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 15:33 (eighteen years ago)

I don't think you can freeze the smell out. The world would be a better place if you could however.

― Bill in Chicago, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 17:04 (eighteen years ago)

Isn't part of the smell due to bacteria? And if the freezing kills the bacteria, would it also kill the smell? I don't know if I believe that, though.

― accentmonkey, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 17:32 (eighteen years ago)

Sounds like it's time for a science experiment. Who's in?

― Bill in Chicago, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 18:52 (eighteen years ago)

i machine-wash cold, outside out, and dry hot, smoothing before and they're only tightish until you start walking in them

― gabbneb, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 18:56 (eighteen years ago)

i've tried the freezer thing. it seemed to have minimal effect.

now i hand wash w/castile soap and air dry every once in a while

― sleep, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 19:31 (eighteen years ago)

If price paid > $100: wash warm, machine dry for a few mins, pull from dryer and lay flat. All others get underwear treatment.

― wanko ergo sum, Tuesday, 21 August 2007 23:19 (eighteen years ago)

I have read the same thing, tried it and was actually somewhat satisfied.
I think the smell came back at least a week later, but at a far less powerful rate.
Worth a try, and it's better than faded colour.

― mehlt, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 02:22 (eighteen years ago)

Washer: permanent press
Dryer: permanent press

repeat until jeans are destroyed after a year, buy new jeans

― mh, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 02:35 (eighteen years ago)

I am a denim Philistine.

― Laurel, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 03:23 (eighteen years ago)

Also how the hell long are you going between washes when your jeans actually start to SMELL? Mine eventually get that slick feeling, when the weave is full of skin oil and dead cells, and that grosses me out long before anyone would notice an odor.

― Laurel, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 03:24 (eighteen years ago)

i have my maid wash my jeans

― gershy, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 03:26 (eighteen years ago)

I wear them at least 3 or 5 times, and then I wash inside out on warm so they get all snug again.

― Stevie D, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 03:35 (eighteen years ago)

You wash them after you've worn them 3/5 times? Wow. I do it "once in a while."

― nathalie, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 09:57 (eighteen years ago)

two months pass...

the number of jeans threads on ILE with no posts by gygax (RIP) or Shasta is disappointingly high.

― El Tomboto, Sunday, 18 November 2007 01:22 (eighteen years ago)

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