New denim help (question regarding soaking)

Hey all! I am new to this board as a user, however I have been lurking for a few weeks now, catching up on all the nitty gritty about denim as I am quite new to the whole denim scene. For the most part, most of my questions have been answered thanks to other quite informative posts. Hopefully my reading up on things will keep my noobish questions to a minimum. However i am left with one question, that is: Soaking.
I Just purchased a pair of Gap Raw Indigo jeans (please do not hate, its the best I could do with the small budget I have for the time being. Plus, for essentially my first pair of raw indigo denim, I was a little lenient about spending too much.)
What is the best way to go about wearing these jeans. Should I soak prior to wearing for the first time, or should I wear them as long as possible without going for a soak. Also, what would be more appropriate, a cold or warm soak? Lastly, if an initial soak is suggested, how long should that soak be for? Essentially my goal, just as everyone else, is to have a nice pair of unique jeans, whiskered, honeycombed and faded
Thanks all for taking the time to help me out!

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...=33849&page=74 http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...=33849&page=74 http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...=33849&page=74 http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...=33849&page=74 Please, post this there so we don't have YET another thread. You'll make more friends this way and heck, maybe you might even find this question already asked and answered.

With unsanforized denim it is typical practice to soak the jean in warm/hot water to get all the shrinkage out of the denim before you start to wear. Except that doesn't apply to you as I'm quite sure your Gap's have been sanforized during production - therefor a soak would yield very minimal shrinking.

Also you state that your goal is to have a nice pair of unique well-whiskered and faded jeans. To be frank, I highly doubt your Gap's with ever reach this stage because after about two months of lurking around here you'll more than likely own an expansive collection of rare Japanese denims and you'd much rather break in your dior x eternal.

Originally Posted by whodini

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http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...=33849&page=74

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...=33849&page=74

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...=33849&page=74

http://www.styleforum.net/showthread...=33849&page=74

Please, post this there so we don't have YET another thread. You'll make more friends this way and heck, maybe you might even find this question already asked and answered.

My apology, I was debating whether to post this question on the main page of in that thred to begin with. Thanks for the suggestions And Evil, dont worry, I have my eye on a nice pair of A.P.C.'s, they will come shortly in the future. I just figured that a cheap pair of Gap's would suffice for a guinea pig pair.

While it would have been appropriate to ask your question in the aforementioned thread, I cut you some slack because your original post was pretty long winded. Whodini was less kind, but that's because he's bitter because he can't get good wings in Costa Rica or wherever the hell he is

P.s. If a mod could kindly delete this thread, I will go ahead and post it in the questions thread, thanks!

I cold soaked my Gap raw's to stiffen them back up, because they were soft when I first got them. This didn't shrink them, and they lost a little bit of indigo, but it stiffened them up some and it has prevented me from losing any indigo on my furniture or the seat of my car. My Gap rigid japanese selvage (purchased for 15 bucks!) stretched from a tagged 30" waist to about a 32" in the first week, so if you haven't worm them really yet, you might think about returning them and sizing down

*EDIT* I cold soaked mine for about 25 minutes, but if I had it to do over again I would have probably used warmer water and let them soak for an hour.