FAQ #1: How long does it take to fade raw denim?
The response depends heavily on your lifestyle, the weight of your jeans, and how much you wear them. Let’s take a look at each of these in turn. One of the things that draws so many of us to raw denim is his ability to tell a visual storey about us. Our lifestyle is imprinted on what we’re wearing. Everything else is equal, the faster we live, the faster we fade away. Do you want to fade sick? You’re going to have to work with them. You should expect to see fades occurring in three to four months with a vigorous life style. to wait a little longer than that.
You’ve got an uphill climb ahead of you if you’re a nine-to-fiver who just gets to wear your jeans in the evening and on weekends. If you make the most of your available denim-wearing time (and if you’re in the middle of the denim weight scale somewhere), you can see impressive fades beginning to grow within eight.
FAQ 2: When should I wash my raw denim?
This is possibly the second question most often asked in denim circles.
For years, normal practise was to wait six months for your raw denim jeans to be washed. But over the past few years, the opposing voices have become louder and more insistent.
Pre-soaking and daily washing (and we support both) are now common procedure, but we know that this would cause howls of indignation from the minority.
1) Most raw denim is not ‘raw’ necessarily.
It is extremely doubtful, first of all, that your raw denim is really raw (that is, fully dry). In a process that uses either water or steam, 99 percent of denim (yes, including raw denim) comes to you.
2) Less washing = more holes
Second, when we hold off on washing our jeans for months and months, lovely fades are not the inevitable outcome. Jeans that break down prematurely are the inevitable consequence of this procedure.
FAQ 3 : How am I supposed to wash the raw denim?
If you’re machine washing or hand washing, always wash the denim inside out! Ever! Always!
Using detergent that is colour-safe. A common favourite is Woolite Black, and there are quite a few denim-specific detergents that will do the trick. The detergent can make a difference if you just want to keep your denim black, so choose carefully. The best option is to turn the spin cycle off if you’re using the unit. This helps to reduce the loss of indigo and protects areas of denim (the fly and the pockets) that may be exposed in the washing process to unnecessary tension.