Levi's Vintage 501 shrinkage

[Kaplan]

I just bought a pair of Levi's Vintage 1947 501's in raw selvage.

How much can I expect them to shrink on the first wash? (Considerably less than 501's STF, I guess?)

How much can I expect them to stretch, due to wearing?

Is there any reason to be wearing them on the first soak/wash? (Isn't this only for STF?)

These are my first raw denim - is there any advice you would offer?

(I searched the forum but couldn't find much info on these.)

 

[Get Smart]

IME with LVC (i've had the 1947 501, 1929 201, 1966 505) is they'll shrink about 2" at waist and around 3" on the inseam. If the 2" waist shrinkage is too much you can do it the old school way of sitting in a bathtub and letting the denim shrink and dry on you that way it wont shrink past the point where your actual waist is at

your 1947 raw selveage ARE shrink-to-fit (i've never heard of LVC raw denim being sanforized). your post seems to be implying that you think they are not

 

[Superb0bo]

Theres a huge thread in superdenim on superfuture.com about this, read up there.

 

[Chip]

damn...

 

[Kaplan]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

your 1947 raw selveage ARE shrink-to-fit (i've never heard of LVC raw denim being sanforized). your post seems to be implying that you think they are not
Thanks for clearing that up.

I was a bit confused, as I've read several places that you might wan't to size down, as raw denim will stretch, but I guess this is only really true for sanforized raw denim?

If a 3" inseam shrinkage is too much, will I be able to stretch them while wet, to retain their current lenght, or is there no way to avoid this shrinkage?

 

[entropy kid]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

i've never heard of LVC raw denim being sanforized.

With the exception of the LVC 67 505s which are sanforized...

 

[Superb0bo]

Kaplan, in my experience the inseam doesnt shrink 3" on lvc, but its possible to stretch if a bit in any case.

 

[Kaplan]

Thanks.

For those with experience with this denim, how much does a soak or gentle wash affect the color? Will it become noticeably lighter or a brighter blue?

Will a soak or gentle wash affect the fading process? Will they fade just the same if you soake them once, then wear them for 6 months+ before washing, as if you hadn't soaked them and worn them for the same time before washing?

 

[Eason]

The LVC's dont lost much indigo. My 1947's stayed the same even through a soak and machine wash. I would recommend against sizing up on the 1947! Take a bath wearing them if you're worried, but even machine washing them to get max shrinkage I was still able to button them the first time. Anyway, you absolutely need to wash them before you wear them, they're STF so you need to buy +3 inches to your regular inseam. They wont fit, at all, without washing them. Period.

 

[Kaplan]

Thanks for the clarifications and great advice

After the first soak, when I need to wash these down the line, I'm planning on doing so pretty gently, propably by hand in cold or lukewarm water.

Considering this, how warm should the water be for the first soak? As hot as possible to get as much shrinkage out of the way? Or no warmer than I plan to wash them in the future?

And for how long should they be soaked?

 

[Eason]

Hot = more shrinkage, longer = more shrinkage. At least 30 minutes, 4 hours if you want to get it all out of the way.