Not washing jeans... So how are they cleaned?

Originally Posted by tallguy1337

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Q: whats a snuggle?


fabric softener

Originally Posted by ino

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its probably just me but febreeze seems to make it smells more.

At first it smells funny but you have to let it set for a day. Then all the odors are gone.

i use those big tub wear storage boxes throw in like 2 boxes of arm&hammer and some sheets of fabric softener and leave my jeans in there over night

I got over the idea of washing them. I just don't do it anymore.

I don't like the Febreeze smell that much, but I use it every few weeks. Sometimes I'll spray a little cologne on. I think I might give my Nudies a quick soak one of these days though.

I think Americans have some sort of complex about having to wash clothing after every wear. You simply have to get over this, it's not rational.

For example, I have several cashmere or merino wool sweaters which I have never cleaned in over 2-3 years of wear. I always have a t shirt underneath and haven't spilled anything on them yet.

The same goes for jeans, or any other pants. If they arent noticeable dirty or smelly, what makes you think they need cleaning? If you arent sure if they need cleaning, they probably dont.

Originally Posted by ghulkhan

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put some snuggles in the pocket and throw em in the dryer
Death to fabric softener.

The main reason I was hesitant to buy raw/one-wash denim was because I was worried about wether I could handle not washing them. I am an absolute clean freak so this was a big thing for me. I'm two months into my first pair, and just started another one, and it really hasn't been an issue for me. Airing them out is a must though and I do this nearly every day.

If I could overcome the dirt factor, anyone can.

I do the same as Drizzt, in that I keep a few pairs in rotation and this allows enough airing time between wearings.

(But I do wash the underwear after every wear... Socks to)

K

It's one thing for a article of clothing to appear dirty, and yet another for it to actually be dirty, at a microscopic level. If you never wet the bed, do you go a couple of years without washing the sheets? All the nasty bacteria you put on it is there, whether we see it or not. I guess its just one's tolerance of dealing with that. fumes from whatever don't really appear as a stain on clothing so you can't possibly consider saying its perfectly fine. Take Chile and the smog issue. If you are out long enough in a white tshirt in Santiago, the capital, you will notice a hint of black to your shirt, from the polluted air. a lesser degree to where the black isn't noticeable doesn't mean it isnt there. I will wait the proper amount of time but i definitely know its dirty, regardless the stain.

Originally Posted by cldpsu

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It's one thing for a article of clothing to appear dirty, and yet another for it to actually be dirty, at a microscopic level. If you never wet the bed, do you go a couple of years without washing the sheets? All the nasty bacteria you put on it is there, whether we see it or not. I guess its just one's tolerance of dealing with that. fumes from whatever don't really appear as a stain on clothing so you can't possibly consider saying its perfectly fine. Take Chile and the smog issue. If you are out long enough in a white tshirt in Santiago, the capital, you will notice a hint of black to your shirt, from the polluted air. a lesser degree to where the black isn't noticeable doesn't mean it isnt there. I will wait the proper amount of time but i definitely know its dirty, regardless the stain.

I'll try to put this as simply as possible. If you get DIRT on your jeans, or live in a polluted area, then washing them may potentially be necessary. However, for people that don't wear jeans in a way that they get dirty, or clothing in general, they don't need to be washed because the oxygen from the air will oxidize much of the detrius that collects on the jeans. Bacteria or fungus don't grow on your jeans unless they've gotten wet or have some sort of media to grow on because they have no nutrients. Bacteria can't digest cloth (well at least most bacteria) and in any case they gain no nutritional value from it. This is completely ignoring the fact that bacteria and other microorganisms are on everything we touch anyways. If you are really worried about jeans being dirty, airing them out outside on a sunny day will remove most scents and the combined effects of light and wind will clean them quite a bit.

didn't you know, jeans are made of a magic material called denim which is NEVA DIRTY! Little clean fairies live in them. Only substantial amounts of guk, mud or liquid stains should substantiate a wash. [That or if they get too loose and you have to shrink them]

Simply throwing my jeans over the back of a computer chair every night while I sleep is more than enough to keep them smelling fine.

Interestingly, my non-raw jeans retain smells way more than my APCs do.

Funnily enough natural indigo has some antibacterial properties supposedly, although I have not seen any actual studies on this. Maybe there are some. Have seen this primarily on sites that sell kendo gi and equipment that are natural indigo dyed. Look here for such a statement: Nine Circles kendo shop

Originally Posted by skalogre

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Funnily enough natural indigo has some antibacterial properties supposedly, although I have not seen any actual studies on this. Maybe there are some.
There's actually a lot of preliminary research into the antibacterial and antifungal properties of chemicals in plants that are used to produce indigo dye. I don't know enough about the process to know which one to look into, but all of these have some antibacterial results:

• Indigofera tinctoria
• Polygonum tinctorum
• Indigofera suffruticosa
• Indigofera oblongifolia

(I believe Baptisia tinctoria, which has better documented medicinal properties, is not used for dye?) But to what extent do those antibacterial contaminants remain in the resulting indigo? I believe the following paper found that synthetic indigo is not antimicrobial, but I'm too lazy to get the full text: Gupta, D; Khare, SK; Laha, A, Antimicrobial properties of natural dyes against Gram-negative bacteria. Source: COLORATION TECHNOLOGY, SOC DYERS COLOURISTS, Vol.120 Issue. 4 pp.167-171 2004 PS: If you have blue diaper syndrome, you may not need to wash your underwear, either.