In 2014, Levi’s CEO Chip Bergh wrote a post called The Dirty Jeans Manifestowhere he argues that jeans shouldn’t be washed frequently due to environmental reasons, and denim should be cared for without going through a washing machine. He further emphasised on this by saying he washes his jeans the old-fashioned way – by hand washing and hand drying them!
According to UK fashion site Who What Wear , your jeans ought to be washed every four or five years because anything else will fade the dye.
Mary Bruno, fashion brand Jay’s head of design says “most jeans stretch and have such great extension that it’s no longer necessary to wash your jeans to get them to shrink back up again. Don’t wash them every time you wear them. There are optical brighteners in most laundry detergents, which will change the colour of your jeans too quickly. I think it’s best to wash them every four or five times.”
The opinions from these three fashion experts might seem conflicting but on a closer look, they agree on something – your jeans must not be washed regularly.
It has been proven that washing jeans regularly, especially when done with a washing machine or with hot water makes the jean lose colour, stretch out of shape and age quicker. So it’s best to clean a dirty spot on a jean with a wet wash cloth and then airing out. Jeans should be washed only when they have become absolutely dirty or stinky, in that way you are saving both the quality of the jeans and saving water too. win win.
