Wash & Care For Your Dry Denim!

dry denim.

dry denim is denim fabric in its purest form - it has yet not been washed or treated. this means a pair of dry denim jeans has never touched water before you do your first home laundry.

to understand how to take care of dry denim jeans, i will divide it into two categories: unsanforized and sanforized denim. the difference between the two is that unsanforized denim will shrink up to 2 sizes in waist and length during the first couple of home laundries, while sanforized denim has minor shrinkage abilities.

bdd only uses the second category, so I will focus on to wash and take care of sanforized denim.

how to take care of dry denim.

taking care of you dry denim jeans is quite easy - just follow these 3 rules:

rule #1.
wash your dry denim jeans as less as possible. water and detergent will gain too much loss of indigo and cause unwanted creases. too much washing will also create an equally faded out pair of jeans - what we want is high constrast fading on our dry denim jeans.

Nudie Dry Denim - Brand New & Unwashed!

rule #2.
delay the first laundry as long as possible. how long depends per lifestyle, fabric and fit - 6 months is good period of time to start with - a longer wait is recommended.

Gstar Raw Midge after 7 months of wear and no washes yet!

rule #3.
wear your jeans as much as possible - preferbly every day.

Levis 501s after no washing and 1 month of everyday wear!

how to wash dry denim.

when the time comes to do the first home laundry, follow these steps:

*measure the inseam and take a note - this is important to check if the jeans have shrunk in length after wash.
*turn the jeans inside out and close all buttons.
*put the jeans in the laundry machine without any other clothing.
*set the machine on 40° C for standard fading effect or on 60° C for higher constrast.
*add a small amount of detergent.
*turn off the tumbler dry setting.
*turn on the laundry machine and wait.
*when finished, immedeately take out the jeans.
*measure the inseam again and check your note.
*if the inseams have shrunk, you can now stretch them back while they are still wet by holding the waistband with one hand and pulling on the hem with the other hand, untill they have the same length as before.
*lay them down flat to dry.
*when still a little damp, turn them back and put the jeans on.
*now check if all creases that have become more visible after wash still match with the foldings that appear when kneeling down.
*if they match, take them off and let them dry completely - if they don't match, manually rearrange the foldings at the correct areas and kneel down a couple of times before taking them of again to dry completely.
*when completely dry, take some pictures of the jeans and send them to info@benzakdenimdevelopers.com to earn a spot in the gallery page.

for the next couple of home laundries it is suggested to follow the same steps as above, but try not to wash more than once per 30 days of wear. after this you may wash together with similar coloured clothing, but remember to:

*always turn the jeans inside out.
*never use the tumbler dry function.
*get rid of most folds before dry, to avoid unwanted and perminent creases.