Tuesday, May 5, 2009

How to Care for Denim

Laundromat in Toronto, CanadaImage via Wikipedia

How To Care for Denim

Because all denim is colored by an indigo dye process, some amount of fading will take place with laundering. The best way to maintain the dark color of your favorite jeans is to send them to the dry cleaners, but that can get expensive. Here are a few other tips that we hope will slow the process without the pricey dry cleaning bill. If you have tips you would like to share, please email them to us so that we can post them.

1. Simply turning your jeans inside out before washing will cut down on the friction created by the agitator. This will help keep your jeans from wearing down prematurely.

2. Limit the number of jeans in the washer to 3-4 pair, depending on size so that they aren't packed too tightly. Denim is heavy and too many jeans in the washer at one time can hurt the effectiveness of the cleaning process. Use other lighter weight clothing items to fill the remainder of the washing machine.

3. If your jeans have a lot of destruction like holes and grinding, you may want to wash on the delicate cycle to keep the holes from growing.

4. Wash in cold or warm water (check the label first) and avoid using bleach. Some companies are now making detergent specifically for darker colors which might be helpful when washing your dark denim. Really dark denim may need to be washed prior to wearing so that the indigo dye doesn't rub off on you or your other clothing. Often, these jeans have a label recommending that they should be washed first.

5. To avoid wrinkles, remove promptly from the washing machine. Turn the jeans right side out. Zip and button jeans and then hang with a two clip pant hanger clasping the waist. We recommend hanging to dry to avoid the extra wear and tear of the dryer and to keep jeans from shrinking. Although, if shrinking is the desired effect, then go ahead and toss them into the dryer.

6. ALWAYS read the label inside your jeans before laundering. Because of embellishments used on some jeans, they may be strictly "dry clean only". We try to post on each item page whether or not a jean is machine washable.

7. Jeans are often prewashed in the factory to achieve the desired color. However, it's always a good idea to wash your jeans before having them altered so your new pair of 7's won't turn into high water pants after their first trip through the washing machine!



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