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.

  • you_are_dust@lemm.ee
    28·
    2 days ago

    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.

    • wjrii@lemmy.world
      23·
      2 days ago

      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.

      • you_are_dust@lemm.ee
        10·
        2 days ago

        That’s interesting. So the don’t wash jeans thing is originally from original denim production and now it’s just trendy.

        • wjrii@lemmy.world
          6·
          2 days ago

          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.

      • you_are_dust@lemm.ee
        3·
        2 days ago

        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.

        • ArtieShaw@fedia.io
          5·
          2 days ago

          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/

          • you_are_dust@lemm.ee
            2·
            2 days ago

            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.