I give them a wash when I first buy them, then never again unless they actually get something on them, which is very infrequent.
This question doesn’t apply to jeans you’re wearing to work in, and expect to get dirty.
Okay, I’m sensitive to the fact that both Unilever and Levi’s want to sell more product, and that 24 hours is not some magic number for everything, but for fuck’s sake people, wash your goddamn pants sometimes. I personally will wear unstained, unsmelly pants for three or four days, but for special stuff, sure, you can go longer. The “never” or “once a year” thing is just yucky though.
Denim is not magic, and neither are you. Your legs have skin cells and sweat glands and your jeans cover your asshole. You never fart with your pants on? Ever? For months on end? Then there’s the environment. You sit on things, walk alongside busy roads, etc. You know, LIFE.
Never washing your pants simply because you like the particular shade of slightly unstable dye they came with is nasty and a very weird, bullheaded flex.
You never fart with your pants on? Ever? For months on end?
During the holidays I am farting for months on end.
I get around the issue by farting right into a little tube and piping it away from pants. Usually into a camel pack so I get release farts when appropriate. On my enemies.
Similar concept to a stack exhaust. Nice.
Detergent and washing are not the only ways to remove smells. Airing out cotton works quite well, and if it’s merino wool, even better.
Also, genetics play a role as some people just dont sweat much or have BO.
There is no one size fits all here, and reducing wash cycles makes cloths last longer, especially cheap ones. That being said, smell your cloths. If they smell, at all, wash them.
Hah, yup, that is a nice one.
Yeah, my SO has the gene where they have no BO, but I have the opposite. Fresh out of the shower I can ruin 48h deodorant in under 6.
Mine too, but backwards. I can go backpacking for a week and smell nearly the same, while she smells like… well… unsavory.
What the fuck?
Sounds gross to me. The human body is dirty. All that oil and dead skin gets caked into the jeans like any other piece of clothing. That then starts to decompose and attract bacteria and other microbes in addition to holding on to your body odor. Those microorganisms can’t survive on denim alone, but that skin oil and flakes are plenty to keep them alive for a while.
Unwashed clothes are a common cause of acne and other skin conditions because even if you wash your skin, the oil and bacteria just rub right back off of the clothing into your pores.
I’m not saying you have to wash every piece of clothing, every time you wear it. But be logical. If you wear it with clothing in between, like a jacket or hoodie over a T-shirt, it doesn’t collect as much gunk. If you wear it while exercising, it probably gets more gunk. If it’s made of a material designed to repel water and oil, it probably doesn’t need to be washed as much. But plain denim is absorbent and not directly a hostile environment to the microorganisms.
My dad told me when he was a teenager some type of corduroy pants were really popular and the thing was never to wash them. So people would wear them until they go so stiff you could literally stand them up in the corner by themselves.
Yeah, my jeans get like 20ish hours of wear before they get washed, mostly because I usually only leave the house for an hour or two at a time.
I know everyone says it but why would it be okay to not wash your pants just because they’re jeans? All pants get dirty the same amount regardless of material.
I wash mine regularly and don’t notice any change after washing but maybe I don’t buy “nice” jeans
I have 20 year old jeans that get washed once a week.
If you’re actually worried about damaging the fabric, hang dry them and wash with cold water.
It’s like cast iron, you want a nice seasoning to them.
… but you still clean the pan with soap and water.
This is the equivalent of saying break your pasta in half to fit it in the pot. People will be triggered.
People are wrong a lot, about a lot of things. But saying that food residue is part of the seasoning is just gross. The seasoning comes from fat polymerization, not leftover burger grease.
They’re busy being triggered by my joke comparing jeans to cookware.
fucking gross
That’s… kinda filthy.
y
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Dirt, sweat, dead skin are all things that will get on the fabric just by wearing it. I’d rather have it regularly cleaned ;)
direct contact clothing washed after single use. mid to mid outer layers 1-3 uses depending on physocal exertion and environmental filth. outermost layers up to a month only for non porous. I don’t buy rain gear with non removable fabric.
I don’t understand this “don’t wash jeans” concept. Prior to this post, the only time I have ever heard this said before was that old college humor sketch with the woman that has shit stains on her pants and she yells “you don’t wash jeans!” When it’s commented on the fact that she has shit on her pants.
So when Levi’s first started selling denim work pants forever ago, they came “raw” meaning they’ve never been stretched or pre-washed. Much later, raw denim became some sort of fashion statement, and because the pants were specifically not made with any concern for color stability or shape retention, they can look and feel very different after washing, especially in residential equipment.
The issue is that in turning obsolete work pant technology into a fetishized aesthetic, some people give up all perspective and wear disgusting dirty clothes. I am all for indulging a little anachronism and inconvenience for personal preference, even making it a hobby, but you gotta wash your fuckin’ pants sometimes. That goes double if they’re not actually raw denim and could undoubtedly hold up longer because the cloth had been processed, and/or they are already much less resistant to dirt and farts.
That’s interesting. So the don’t wash jeans thing is originally from original denim production and now it’s just trendy.
I don’t think the original idea was to avoid ever washing them. You’d just buy them big and wash them yourself every so often, and the color hardly mattered at all. They would have held up better to hand washing and line drying anyway.
But yeah, preserving the exact fit and look of raw denim is where this idea of never washing jeans came from. It’s not my look or an area where I put a lot of my energy, but I get it, the process and the extra maintenance of some things can be worth it. I have fountain pens for god’s sake, LOL. That said, if you aren’t willing to trust the gentle cycle with Woolite three times a year, maybe raw denim is not for you, because I will die on the hill that never washing your pants is gross.
FOUND THE JEANS WASHER
GET HIM BOYS
And I’ll keep washing them too! Not that I actually need to often. I work from home and I’m not going to wear jeans around the house like some sort of psychopath.
Hello fellow non-psychopath!
I might wear jeans if I have to leave the house to shop, but that’s usually just for an hour or two at most. When I get home the pants come off and put aside for use on another day. The same holds true for all of my “outside” clothes. It’s just wasteful to wash something that’s been worn for an hour a day.
That being said, there was a whole thing a decade ago with Levi’s. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140714180558-14928043-the-dirty-jeans-manifesto/
Yea, I do that same thing. I have home clothes and outside the house clothes. I don’t wear my house clothes when going out and the outside clothes don’t stay on in the house. That article uses the term denim aficionado several times and that was really strange to me. But then I realized that everyone has a weird thing that they like. So I guess if someone’s favorite thing is denim then I guess do it up.
I am so turned on right now. what are you wearing
Nightmare before Christmas pajama pants. You can resume being turned on even more now.
dies
…do you not?
Oh no
I typically wear my jeans for about a week at a time (barring spills, mud, etc.) and wash them and all my other clothes on whatever the washer’s regular setting is. I do this with hoodies as well.
I wash all my clothing
Yes and thanks, this reminds me I need to wash the jeans I bought a couple months ago. They’re finally relaxing and I need to wash them so they tighten up again. I hate wearing belts.
I’d say I wash a pair of jeans about 10-14 days after first wearing them (often in rotation with another pair). I wash them inside out at 30 degrees and use a laundry sanitiser in addition to a non bio detergent, and hang dry. My jeans are mostly Levi’s 501s (nice enough, not crazy fancy or anything), and I’d say even the pair that’s a few years old now doesn’t look much different from when they were new
Yes. Washing isn’t that hard on them. Hang dry only. Putting them in the clothes dryer is what causes them to shrink and wear out faster.
I have a few pairs of jeans that are probably ten years old and have been washed many times that still look nice.
Also dirt can cause wear and tear too. It gets into or between the fibers and acts as a light abrasive as they flex with movement. Honestly I don’t know where the inflection point is between dirt wear and washing wear, but the minimum wear point is not “never wash”.
I don’t get how anyone thinks washing wear is what limits the lifetime of any pants. Knees and thighs are always what gives out first on any pants I’ve owned with the exception being tears from snagging. Wearing pants is what wears them out, not washing.
Well, I don’t have a single pair of jeans, because I don’t like the fabric. Hearing there are filthy pigs not ever washing their clothes because of some sort of a fetish is just disgusting. People don’t be stupid, wash your clothes, you’re not animals anymore.
There’s different frequencies for different clothing items though:
- Socks, underwear, sports kit: Daily
- Dress shirts: Every two days
- T-shirts: Every 3 days
- Shorts, jeans, chinos, gloves: Weekly to fortnightly or when they get dirty
- Trainers, beanie hats: Every few months
- Leather shoes, caps, formal hats:
Different parts of the body produce different levels of sweat, different materials pick it up at different rates. If you’re washing all your clothes at the same frequency you’re either a clean freak who’s apparently fine with wearing socks that very clearly need washing after a day’s use but not with wearing other things which are pretty much clean, or you’re just wearing out your clothes way faster than you need to
I agree with you. As I never said wash everything at the same time, did I?
