Soaking Unwashed Denim?

[weirdnjfan1]

Alright, I finally got up to H&M and try on the other size. Let's just say that that I'm keeping the 31s. So after deciding that I was going to keep them, I was telling my sister that I was going to soak them to get some of the indigo out, she told me just to wash them, I know that this is a bad idea. So anyway, after searching a little bit, I didn't see a topic about soaking raw denim to lose some of the indigo. I was wondering, what is the best way to do this? I really do want to sit in them and wind up putting a ring around my bath tub, my parents will kill me. I think I might just do a cold soak in a bucket, is that a bad idea or not? I really want to soak them before wearing because I don't want the indigo to stain all the place. What's the best way to do this?

 

[PG2G]

You want to do a cold soak to lose indigo? People normally do it for shrinkage, but I doubt H&M is selling unsanforized denim so I don't think there is any point in doing it.

 

[j]

Do want to sit in them in the bath? Or don't?

I soaked my Uniqlo selvages before wearing. You can do it in the sink. First the sizing will come out turning the water a light tea color, then if you swish them longer the indigo will start coming out turning the water green/blue. It's up to you how much you want to take out. If you are really into getting "interesting wear patterns" you should probably not soak them for very long, as the sizing keeps them stiff and helps with that. If you are most worried about indigo stains, you will need to soak them for a while to get a good amount of the loose indigo off.

Be sure to lay them or hang them flat to dry, since however they dry, they will stay that way. You don't want them to dry wrinkled.

 

[minya]

put them in the washing machine

 

[weirdnjfan1]

Originally Posted by minya

put them in the washing machine

With or without detergent, probably without. Also, Warm/cold or cold/cold? Ill post the pic tomorrow.

 

[minya]

Originally Posted by weirdnjfan1

With or without detergent, probably without. Also, Warm/cold or cold/cold? Ill post the pic tomorrow.
Without detergent, use warm or hot water to shrink them as much as possible.

 

[weirdnjfan1]

yeah, I was thinking that, I do the warm/warm later tonight.

 

[weirdnjfan1]

Washing them in warm/warm right now. Ihey look like they are losing a crap load of indigo, the water is turing a dark blue. I hope they lose enough to wear without worrying the staining.

 

[jamesbond]

Why are you worried or should i say what are you worried about staining? The whole point of raw denim is to wear it as much as possible before washing, if you wanted pre-washed denim wouldnt you just go to the Gap? Not trying to sound condescending just looking for a reason.

 

[PG2G]

Yeah... did the actually start staining things? Of all of the raw denim I've had, none of them have stained a thing (RRDS, Acne Raw, Kicking Mule, Rag & Bone). Well, some of them may have gotten on the shoes a bit, nothing bad though.

Seems like most of the bleeding I hear about comes from the Japanese brands and those limited/new Nudie SSDS

 

[minya]

I have never owned a pair of H&M's raw denim, but I've heard from multiple people that they bleed like CRAZY. Washing them before wearing them is a wise idea.

 

[weirdnjfan1]

Originally Posted by minya

I have never owned a pair of H&M's raw denim, but I've heard from multiple people that they bleed like CRAZY. Washing them before wearing them is a wise idea.

When I first started looking around for raw denim, I wasn't really worried about anything like shrinkage or the bleeding. So after I found the SLIQs and saw that they might stain anything white or light colored, I knew that befored I started to wear them, was that I had to wash them. If you go into "Post Pictures of your Denim" topic, you'll see that they do have a warning sticker on them, along with almost every other jean that H&M makes. So, if you ever go out and get a pair of the raw denim from H&M, I suggest going at least two sizes up from your regualr waist, they are super tight, and wash them.

 

[minya]

Actually, most brands include stickers like that on their raw denim products (Nudie for instance does). That doesn't necessarily mean that crocking will occur.

 

[block]

I have had H&Ms for two months and have experienced absolutely no bleeding. I wear white shoes, and i do'nt have the ring there, and i wear alot of cream shirts - no bleeding. I wouldn't worry about the bleeding if i were you.

As for the soaking, I recently did a warm soak in the bathtub for about an hour and a half. The water ended up the "tea" colour, and i had no ring around the tub. You may want to do a soak just to get the final size; my jeans shrank about 0.5-1" in length (nothing major) and the waist shrank, but stretched back after an hour of wearing.

 

[weirdnjfan1]

Well, that good info and that's why I like coming here. The smaller shrink isn't that bad, meaning that they'll look better and I won't have to cuff them, they were super long the first time I tried them on. I'm gonna start wearing them on monday, cause I work is pretty messy. If you must know, I push carts and have to clear up spills.