[swyche]

I thought I might raise a separate thread for this.

As one poster noted, Ryu is turning superfuture upside down, with his jeans fading so beautifully, despite washing it every month.

I thought the whole point of NOT washing it was that the indigo doens't fade away, increasing the contrast after the first wash. Evidently, as displayed in Ryu's jeans, that is not the case. So what exactly are the benefits of not washing for so many months, when you can keep them clean AND get the fades the same way?

He also adds that after his washes and his jeans dry, they become more rigid for more honeycomb reconstructions. Isn't that an advantage to us wearing them til they soft, and needing to layer starch over and over again?

[PG2G]

I think that in his month, he probably puts his jeans thru a good amount more work than most of us do. Its kind of hard to compare by time periods alone.

[Geowu]

washing takes indigo out. between the washes, the jeans get faded.
so, if they've been faded, and are washed, the faded areas get whiter and the dark areas get bluer. otherwise, if they haven't been faded, they get bluer all around.

there's another element that comes into play: the dyeing of the jeans.
if a good dyeing was made, the jeans are washed and they stay dark. if they've been faded, the faded areas get whiter and the dark areas stay dark. then you have contrast.
if a poor dyeing was made, the jeans are washed and they lose lots of indigo. if they've been faded, the faded areas get white faster and the dark areas will be no longer dark; they get blue. if you wash them a couple of times, there's no contrast.

so, in effect, time doesn't matter. what matters is the amount of fade before each wash. this way, when you wash them, there's contrast if there's fade, and there's less indigo and no contrast, if there isn't a fade.

but, if the denim received a good dyeing, you can wash it more frequently than if it received a poor dyeing.

Ryu's jeans were subject to what would generally be considered an unusually intense wear. In addition to that, Ryu's jeans received a good dyeing. So, he washed them in a month and they've got contrast.

If the jeans fade slowly because of little wear, and if they received a poor dyeing, you should not wash them in a month and expect the same results as Ryu's jeans.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

true----the fundamental rule hasn't changed, don't wash until you can't stand the smell anymore.
Using chain stitch, your train of jeans is fading wind.

[tweeds]

so all it comes to in the end is the smell. damn smells.

[watchman]

someone actually asked Ryu about how he can wash every month in the thread about his Canes. He said that it is because japanese denim is vastly superior to european denim, so while you have to wait 6 months with nudies, that isnt the case for Canes or Samurais. i think thats what he said at least haha

[shinobi2000]

I would tend to believe it though (about the Japanese denim vs the European ones). My Sugarcanes started fading really fast, nice contrast within 2 months, without washing. My APCs and Nudies last year only started fading after 5 months each AND a wash AND I was doing more intense activities with those.

Even considering all the above theories, there is still something that I don 't get about his technique -- after washing, no matter how much you restarch or how much it naturally becomes stiff again, how does he get the SAME wrinkles back? For the creases to fade so well and so consistently, they MUST be the same creases that return after each wash...otherwise with each new wash, he'd have a new crease/fade that begins and old ones that don't complete fading. I'm very wary of washing or even using starch nowadays because I find that I can't keep my wrinkles consistent. :-(

[wild_whiskey]

Heh, no. thats not what he said.

I like the enthusiasm, but we've had someone here all along who has been saying since day one that you don't have to wait 6 months + to wash your jeans. But because he doesn't host a Japanese website, he doesn't hold ultimate authority to you guys.

With all due respect to Ryu and all other denim enthusiasts, we have both Serge and Ringring here who post quite often to answer the same redundant questions, and has said countless times that it's perfectly fine to wash your jeans once a month or so and get great results. It comes down to preference and smell. There is no rule about when you should wash them - we've been saying this forever. All denim looks awesome over time, regardless of how often you wash it.

[wild_whiskey]

Quote: For the creases to fade so well and so consistently, they MUST be the same creases that return after each wash...otherwise with each new wash, he'd have a new crease/fade that begins and old ones that don't complete fading. I'm very wary of washing or even using starch nowadays because I find that I can't keep my wrinkles consistent. :-(

The solution is not to agitate the jeans when they're being washed. A nice soak with a little detergent and very little agitation will help this quite a bit. Most creases come out in the spin cycle.

[minya]

Actually, Serge washes his jeans very infrequently, iirc (even less than once per six months) and I believe he suggests the first wash be in cold water without any detergent at all.

But.. yeah, I agree, the real answer is "do it how you want to do it." If you want to wait six months, cool. If you wash every month, cool. They'll look great as long as you wear them hard enough.
Edited by minya on May 7, 2006 at 08:07 PM