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wash your jeans?

dudewuttheheck

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What is it that you find boring about sanforized? I look for fit and how they age as the two most important factors. I haven’t found a big difference between the two after wearing raw and selvedge denim since 2010 or so.

Right now I’m in 3sixteen unsanforized which are a great fabric. It takes me years to fade jeans as I don’t wear them to work but after a year and 3-4 washes they are soft and look good but not significantly different than the sanforized versions from previous years.
Well 3Sixteen is not who I look to for interesting denim fabrics. I definitely can tell the difference. For example, I can spot the difference between Iron Heart 25oz and Samurai 25oz without seeing the branding or anything else. The fabric differences are obvious both before and after fades. It depends on the exact fabric, but I have yet to see or experience any sanforized denim that has the same level of character as the better unsanforized models.

I'm not saying sanforized is bad and it does have certain advantages, but it is incorrect to think it gives the same character as unsanforized especially if you want something seriously textured like what Pure Blue Japan offers or something vintage like what TCB, Warehouse, and Conner's Sewing Factory offer.
 

navetsea

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In the eye of normal people leg twist looks like poor quality control, honest, my sister think her jeans is wonky because it twists. I learn to accept but surely dont love it, and it seems getting worse with every wash.
 

Edward

Bartender
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25,082
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London, UK
Looking agsin at the Wrangler site, I see my 13mwz are the 'rigid' denim. What's the difference between rigid and raw?


In the eye of normal people leg twist looks like poor quality control, honest, my sister think her jeans is wonky because it twists. I learn to accept but surely dont love it, and it seems getting worse with every wash.

Yeah, that's not a look I like either. I remember when Levi's dud their 'engineer' line about fifteen years ago where they made it a feature, and I really did not care for the look.
 

felix03

One of the Regulars
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124
Location
Castro Valley, CA
Well 3Sixteen is not who I look to for interesting denim fabrics. I definitely can tell the difference. For example, I can spot the difference between Iron Heart 25oz and Samurai 25oz without seeing the branding or anything else. The fabric differences are obvious both before and after fades. It depends on the exact fabric, but I have yet to see or experience any sanforized denim that has the same level of character as the better unsanforized models.

I'm not saying sanforized is bad and it does have certain advantages, but it is incorrect to think it gives the same character as unsanforized especially if you want something seriously textured like what Pure Blue Japan offers or something vintage like what TCB, Warehouse, and Conner's Sewing Factory offer.

I also prefer unsanforized. For me, the most important part jeans is the fabric itself and the less treated, the better. And given the choice between unsanforized 1-wash and unsanforized raw, I'll take the latter every time.
 

dudewuttheheck

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I also prefer unsanforized. For me, the most important part jeans is the fabric itself and the less treated, the better. And given the choice between unsanforized 1-wash and unsanforized raw, I'll take the latter every time.

That is part of it for me as well. The less treated, the better. Additionally, sanforized jeans do not have the same character as unsanforized jeans due specifically to the sanforization process.

i wonder how manufacturer do their one wash, just throw the freshly sewn pants and jacket into a swimming pool size bath or something more mechanical

It depends on the size of the operation. For most of them, it's an industrial wash, but I think some of the small brands may wash them more naturally.
 

Bfd70

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Traverse city
I prefer sanfordized simply because i find it easier to get the fit right due to less shrinkage. The smaller your waist the less margin for error. Bigger builds may fluctuate 1” or 1.5” in the waist throughout the year. Smaller builds maybe .5”. It doesn’t leave much margin for error in sizing.
 

felix03

One of the Regulars
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124
Location
Castro Valley, CA
I prefer sanfordized simply because i find it easier to get the fit right due to less shrinkage. The smaller your waist the less margin for error. Bigger builds may fluctuate 1” or 1.5” in the waist throughout the year. Smaller builds maybe .5”. It doesn’t leave much margin for error in sizing.

There’s no wrong choice. Some like unsanforized for certain reasons, while others prefer sanforized for other reasons. I’m an unsanforized guy, but I do love my Iron Heart 634s 21oz.
 

navetsea

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East Java
I read some manufacturer do their one wash jacket with sea water near their factory, i wonder if they send some employees to the sea to dunk the jacket near the coast on something like a fishing line and let the sea waves and current do their work for period of time before fishing them back up

or perhaps they have a tanker truck to suck seawater and bring that water into either a big bath or big tumble drum to wash the garment back in their factory

I think the previous is the romantic idea and the latter is the reality:)

This article talks about the processes used to finish sanforized denim: singeing, mercerizing, and calendaring. Unsanforized denim isn’t subject to most/all of these processes.

https://www.heddels.com/2013/06/what-makes-japanese-denim-so-special/

yeah but I doubt they can turn off the machine partially, to do only half the job. I guess the machine is built to finish milled fabrics in general not only for denim or twill, otherwise they would have done unshaved denim that stay hairy and rough with characters but not twisting, I would bet leg twist is tolerated but not the most loved aspect of unsanforized jeans, people who claim they love their leg twist must have believed their own lie over the years.
 
Messages
12,976
Location
Germany
What about summerly white, my loungers??

I picked up this Lee Slim Rider at Karstadt on half price. Lee calls it "Heritage Rigid Denim". The colour is "off white". Old fashion rough 100% cotton, no elasthane!! :)
For now, it seems to be OK.

But the marked sizes were not true! Because of my experience, I instantly grabbed the "31/"32 and my "32/"32 for the dressing room. The "32/"32 was much too wide and the "31/"32 seems to be around my usual "32/"32.

I made some quick DSLR-pics.
 

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