Denim Care Thread (for denim FAQ)

There are 2 main goals of soaking:

1. To remove starch from the jeans. Just about every pair of jeans comes starched brand new. Removing the starch will decrease the contrast of your fades but increase the life of your jeans.

2. If the denim is unsanforized, the soak is performed in order to shrink the jeans down to their proper size while minimizing indigo loss. This reason does not apply to sanforized denim like N&F, because sanforized denim doesn't really shrink even with a soak.

Washing gets the jeans cleaner than just soaking, so in your case, after 7 months of wear, it's probably best that you just washed instead of soaking.

ok sweet thanks for the info, so im planning to wash them again at the end of summer, so say another several months, to get higher contrast fades it would be better to wash them again im guessing?

Anyone know how to avoid getting holes in the back of jeans almost all my selvage has gotten holes after like 8 months of wear

Anyone know how to avoid getting holes in the back of jeans almost all my selvage has gotten holes after like 8 months of wear

also wondering about this, would heavier oz. denim help?

How do you guys hang your raw denim? If not hang them how do you keep them when not wearing them?

So what do I do about tiny little stains that get on the front crotch area and dry quickly?

Like for example. If I'm eating chili and a small drop of the stuff splashes on the seat of my jeans, there's not much I can do except wipe off and whatever else is left let it harden and disentegrate right?

After only a month of wear on my NAF I have like 3 or 4 of these tiny stains. They aren't really that noticable but still kinda annoying.

I've been wearing my NS for a bit longer than a year, they've been hot soken once; no wash.

I got the feeling that they need a wash, anybody got tips on how to do this? Cold or hot..
Help me out.

So what do I do about tiny little stains that get on the front crotch area and dry quickly?

Like for example. If I'm eating chili and a small drop of the stuff splashes on the seat of my jeans, there's not much I can do except wipe off and whatever else is left let it harden and disentegrate right?

After only a month of wear on my NAF I have like 3 or 4 of these tiny stains. They aren't really that noticable but still kinda annoying.

OK guys so I'm pretty much a huge denim noob. I own a pair of Levi 505's, 514's, and some raw denim from GAP that I got for sale. Being aware that there is a certain way to 'wash' your jeans, I've yet to wash any of mine and I've had them since about the beginning of the year. However, I'm in the market to purchase another pair and I'm thinking of getting the 501's (shrink to fit, I guess, because every one is suggesting that to me), but I have no idea how to actually take care of them. I read the first few pages of this thread and got some insight, but I'm not exactly sure which method to go with because there are plenty of them. Which is the best one to follow?

I'm talking about the actual method of 'shrinking to fit' and also, what should I do to wash my current jeans? I haven't worn them every day and I've kind of rotated throughout the 3 of them. Thanks.

Is there like a YouTube video for these methods? lol. I'm just excited to start taking care of my jeans better and I don't wanna mess up. When you say things like 'hot soaks for an hour each' I'm not exactly sure what you mean. So do I sit in a hot bath tub or something with these on or what? Sorry for the confusion.

That sounds simple enough to me. When you put weights on them, can you just put like a big shampoo bottle on each leg or something? And when you hang dry them, do you post them over like a coat rack or do you attach it to a hanger or something and leave it there? Or do you leave it outside? Lol, sorry for the questions just looking for some stuff that I should avoid. Thanks a lot.

Thanks for the help. I'll do some more research before I buy my Levi 501's but you gave me some good insight. I've got some 5 lb. dummbells at home too. Now does it matter where I place the dumbbells whether on the pant leggings or what not? All that matters is that the jeans stay submerged for that alotted amount of time, correct? Other than that, I can't think of any other questions or anything else I could possibly mess up (other than the size that I buy)! Thanks haha!

My weird guy deep indigos got rained on fairly hard yesterday. Not soaked or anything but I think it was a significant amount because today I noticed some hints of electric blue showed up.

I feel like it's not a big deal and I should go with the "whatever happens happens" philosophy here. If they get rained on then so be it? Not like I'm washing.

OK two questions:

-My Levi 505's kind of smell funny. They don't smell bad, they just have a smell to them, you can't really smell them unless you really put your nose right next to em. Should I wash them? I've worn them a lot but have only had them for like two months. Do I have to wash them or is there a way to get rid of the smell sometimes?

-My Levi 505's are a great fit except they will scrape the ground if I wear my Vans authentics. Is there a way I can prevent this other than cuffing them? Is there a way to slightly shrink the legging by like one size or so? The same can be said for my Levi 514's which are a good fit but like 1 or 2 sizes too long when I wear my Vans authentics... I'm thinking of just buying a tighter pair of jeans that I can stack like 501's, but if I can fix my 505's and 514's to make them shorter, maybe I'll just use the money to buy khaki's instead. Thanks.

My raw denim has stretched way too much. I haven't washed or soaked them as of yet, what do you guys suggest I do to make them more slim?

That's what makes me question my size length though. Maybe I'm really a 34x29 or something? Someone told me a 28 is kind of short so I don't know... When I cuff my shoes though it doesn't really matter with the Vans. Is it cause the Vans are so low that I think my pants are too long? Lol... I don't know how to judge my true size.

I wear 34x30 jeans right now (Levi 505's, 514's). I'm about 5'7".
I have the wear the jeans with a belt, but I don't have to tighten it that much, just to the first hole. Am I really a 33x29 you think?

Just confused about my sizing. Thanks.

I'd be interested, but how much would you be looking for? And what size is it at? Have no idea what those Samurai's are, but I figure they're high quality jeans and for a good price, I'm always down to get a deal.

I bought some GAP jeans a little over a month ago and wore them less than 10 times. They're too long and too large on the waist (34x30 but not like the levi's 34x30). Can i experiment with hot soaking it or is it too late?

I bought some GAP jeans a little over a month ago and wore them less than 10 times. They're too long and too large on the waist (34x30 but not like the levi's 34x30). Can i experiment with hot soaking it or is it too late?

My weird guy deep indigos got rained on fairly hard yesterday. Not soaked or anything but I think it was a significant amount because today I noticed some hints of electric blue showed up.

I feel like it's not a big deal and I should go with the "whatever happens happens" philosophy here. If they get rained on then so be it? Not like I'm washing.

When I got my Levi 514's, was I supposed to soak them? I bought them from Macy's but noticed they even stain my white iPod headphones lol. I don't know if soaking them gets rid of any extra dye or whatever, I'm a noob when itcomes to this kind of stuff so I was just asking. Thanks.

What's the purpose or advantage for sea washing you denim i saw it on this apc instruction and im just wondering if i should do it with my petit standards and also do you wear it while your soaking or do you just leave in water? how much will it shrink?