I have a jean...(The Ultimate Jean Thread For Beginners) - ask questions here. - Page 1101

Wow, seriously?

You linked sanforized jeans. Why the fuck are you talking about them and while quoting a description taken from a pair of STF, ie, unsanforized, jeans? Then, I go on to tell you that "raw" doesn't mean unwashed.

Let's try this again: No.

I've preferred the use of "raw" in a general, simplified sense for a variety of reasons. For example, just by typing in "raw" it immediately conjures an image of dark, unfaded jeans. It gets a lot trickier when I type "wash" because could I be talking about jeans that were merely soaked in water or were they treated jeans?

BiG plays to a very specific consumer and, given their inventory of the same pair of unsanforized jeans being sold as either pre-soak or post-soak, it would make sense to make a clearer distinction of their product so that there is little confusion. But in a broader context, using "raw" to describe non-distressed/treated and "washed" to describe everything else has personally made more sense. Once you start talking about "raw," then you get clarify it with further specifics and descriptions.

I'll give an example: you walk into a reputable store that sells jeans and ask the SA, "Hey, can you point me to the raw jeans." Is he going to point you to two separate areas on unsanforized and one-wash jeans?

If anything, "one wash" is a more confusing term than "raw." A "wash" can be anything, like Left Field's enzyme wash or other companies that soak their jeans in Woolite Dark and sun bake them so that they become stiff and take creases, or even just plain water. And yet how often is "one soak" used?

"Raw" is just a more accurate description because it's giving visual information, and it's logically why it's used so often for many different contexts. Is a soaked pair of unsanforized jeans any less raw than a pair of "dry" sanforized? That would seem a bit pedantic because both jeans would be starting out their wear raw.
No one wants to fade light jeans, so raw doesn't make much sense nor would it have much of a sale advantage to the average consumer. Good greys are hard to come by. Loads of cheapies, though...

Again, I think the distinction is made at the retail level more out of necessity than staying true to a term's definition. Further, "one wash" doesn't suggest that the denim is sanforized or not, on top of what I explained about using water or other chemicals in the process, which is another ambiguous term that probably needs correction. I can't say I've seen jeans marketed as "one soak," either, but doesn't that sound more concise?

If anything, the big definition that you use for "raw" is interchangeable with "dry." Why not just use "dry" to mean "dry?" And this is really the heart of the problem I have with the big definition: they're going by their own retailer's definition but not necessarily a manufacturer's. The proof is in the number of brands that market jeans as being "raw washed," "raw rinsed," etc. These aren't just mass-market brands that have a tendency to include buzz words, either. I'm talking about reputable brands like RRL, PRPS, etc. that get what we say on here all the time about water not greatly changing the state of the fabric, that a soak won't kill or change raw jeans. It's only water.
That's easily the less headache-inducing route. Lighter jeans exist (RRL makes a ton) but there isn't a big reason to sell them as raw.