Would you wear your blue jeans for a year without washing them?

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

EWWWWWW!

Pants in general, I tend to wear 2 or 3 times before washing, jeans, dress pants, sweat pants that I just lounge around the house in, all of them. Tops, only once, no matter what type they are. And if it has been hot, then the pants will get washed more often as I sweat. (sweating is my super power, and I do an amazing full body sweat)

I just can't imagine not washing my pants for a whole year, or even 2 weeks.

[sj4iy]

I can't make it that long without my jeans getting actually dirty, but I get lots of wears out of them before they need to be washed.

Same. Jeans aren't meant to be washed often.

[Batman]

Whats the average time people actually wash their jeans?

Does this take into account how sweaty people are?

[sologdin]

jeans needn't be washed at all, provided one wears absorbent innerwear prophylactic leggings as well as durable outerwear latex coveralls, which, if deployed correctly in tandem, should keep the jeans in pristine state in perpetuity.

the question then becomes how often to wash the absorbent innerwear prophylactic leggings and the durable outerwear latex coveralls, and one will find no end of controversy there.

[IheartIheartTesla]

Levis is probably coating (or embedding) their textiles with some sort of antimicrobial for them to claim the bacteria is the same 2 weeks and a year after in an unwashed state. Of course, it would be interesting to hear what kind of use patterns the two jeans in question got.

The main reason people tend to wash clothes is more because of the perception of uncleanliness (and odor and whatnot). Antibacterial effects of laundry are one, but they are nowhere near the top of consumer reasons to do laundry So I guess I'd need to read more of what is going on here.

[Whitestripe]

My jeans get all stretched out in the ass after a few wearings. I need to wash them to make them fot better.

[Suttree]

Levis is probably coating (or embedding) their textiles with some sort of antimicrobial for them to claim the bacteria is the same 2 weeks and a year after in an unwashed state. Of course, it would be interesting to hear what kind of use patterns the two jeans in question got.

That isn't the case.

Josh Le, 20, bought a pair of Nudie Jeans in September 2009. He wore them nearly every day and even slept in them for about a month to really let the sweat shape the creases. He spilled food on it, wiped it off with a paper towel, and kept on going. “I wanted to push it to the extreme,” he said.

But when Le and assistant human ecology professor Rachel McQueen swabbed the inside of the jeans and tested them for bacteria in December 2010, they found levels pretty normal. And after Le washed the jeans, then wore them for 13 days before re-testing them, bacteria levels were nearly identical.

Think the point here for Levi's comes down to sustainability. They are the original "durable" brand and they are trying to combat "fast fashion" like H&M where the clothes start coming apart very quickly and get tossed because they are pretty cheap.

Denim aficionados will tell you jeans should be washed as infrequently as possible. While that will vary for each person, unless you are wearing the same pair every day two weeks would seem far too often.

[wolverine]

No, because ass sweat.

So you don't wear underwear? Or you profusely sweat through that?

A normal wearing is only a couple hours for me with jeans. Occasionally a whole day. I don't really feel the need to wash them very often unless there is a specific event where they actually get dirty. T-shirts that actually contact the skin and sweaty parts are washed frequently. Button up shirts only as needed as there is always an undershirt.

[wolverine]

All I can say on this is ...ewwww, I heard the same basically, and that you should only wash your Blue jeans twice a year. Not the whole bacteria thing tho. For me after wearing my blue jeans I have to wash and dry to get them snug in right places again. Now that I know this new bit of info every time I see someone wearing blue jeans i'll be wondering when they washed them last. And being a woman and knowing how high maintnence it is and should be.......... to keep girly parts so fresh and so clean, as I like to be........ yeah for a lack of good way of putting this i'll leave the rest to the imagination :unsure:

See I am the opposite. The first few hours after some of them are washed they need to get stretched out in the right places to be comfortable again.

Girls jeans do seem to contact areas where risk of becoming....soiled?...is more likely than how my jeans are worn.

[IheartIheartTesla]

Suttree, if we are talking scientifically then I'd need more than 1 grad student doing some sort of uncontrolled experiment on one/two pair of jeans to even remotely consider it seriously.

Also, I was discussing what Levi's was talking about, not what some prof at the university of alberta is doing with an unrelated brand.

[IheartIheartTesla]

What i meant to say (since I cant edit) is that a link to a publication would be nice - I dont trust the way news orgs report these things.

[Suttree]

Also, I was discussing what Levi's was talking about, not what some prof at the university of alberta is doing with an unrelated brand.

As am I, Levi's has no special "anti-bacterial" treatment whatsoever and Le's fun little experiment backs that up in relation to other brands. Look I work in the apparel industry here in SF for a direct competitor of LS&Co. There is nothing at all unusual about the story except they pushed things out to a year for the soundbite. Washing denim every week or two is is far too often.

[Alex.]

I'd be worried about them getting a bit slack/baggy around the knees if i wore them for that long. You look a right bellend with crinkled up knees on your kecks

ETA: spelling, innit

[The Notorious]

I have seen, and smell, plenty of hobos who wore their jeans for months on end.

Go ahead and join their rank, jean purists. :agree:

[phedre]

I could maybe see wearing pure denim jeans a couple times before washing ... maybe ..

But since all my jeans are more of the 'jegging' species (demin + lycra), they definitely get washed & dried after each wearing.

*edited for spelling

[Ken Stone]

One of the best things that happened in fashion was when they started selling jeans that looked like they had already been worn. It meant the longer you went without washing them the newer they looked. Good stuff.

[Unlady B]

That isn't the case.

Think the point here for Levi's comes down to sustainability. They are the original "durable" brand and they are trying to combat "fast fashion" like H&M where the clothes start coming apart very quickly and get tossed because they are pretty cheap.

Denim aficionados will tell you jeans should be washed as infrequently as possible. While that will vary for each person, unless you are wearing the same pair every day two weeks would seem far too often.

I'll admit I've never owned a Levi's. They cost 1/3 of a basic wage in my country, so no thank you.

I have family that works at the fabric/cloth circuit and, at least here, big companies use the same kind of fabrics (and employees and technics) that some cheaper generic brands. So the only difference I see with costly jeans and cheaper ones is the brand printed on the tag (and the price, of course).

Being said that, jeans don't last me more than 2 and a half years of perpetual use. I friction the inside part of my thighs, so when I dispose a pair of jeans it's because there's a huge hole there that can't be covered with any patch. So it has nothing to do with wash habits, or price, or "quality". Jeans just don't last me any longer due to my way of walking.

So... why should I wear dirty jeans to make them last.. what? another six months? It's not that I'm saving a lot of money on soap and water! I really get my jeans dirty and smelling (specially if I've been somewhere smoke allowed) after three or four days wearing them. Where am I to store them until next time I feel like wearing again? It's simpler to wash them, fold them and pile them inside the wardrobe.

I understand if you don't own a washing machine, or you rotate them with other jeans. But Levi's statement is ridiculous. I think Arkhangel got the truth out of it:

Well if the claim is that "the amount of bacteria on a pair of blue jeans that haven't been washed for 18 months is about the same as on a pair of blue jeans that hasn't been washed for 2 weeks", all that really says to me is that you should be washing your jeans a hell of a lot more often than two weeks if you're wearing them daily.

One of the best things that happened in fashion was when they started selling jeans that looked like they had already been worn. It meant the longer you went without washing them the newer they looked. Good stuff.

I got on sale a pair this kind of jeans, and thinking they were dirty because of storage, or shop window exposure, I did a pre-wash plus a regular wash, and after using them and still looking dirty, I gave up. A friend had to point it out to me that the effect was on purpose.

[IheartIheartTesla]

As am I, Levi's has no special "anti-bacterial" treatment whatsoever and Le's fun little experiment backs that up in relation to other brands. Look I work in the apparel industry here in SF for a direct competitor of LS&Co. There is nothing at all unusual about the story except they pushed things out to a year for the soundbite. Washing denim every week or two is is far too often.

My company sells textile modifying entities (not me though, different division) and I've seen a fair bit of data about bacterial cultures in different kinds of fabric (not denim specifically though, mainly cotton and polyester) so I was a bit skeptical of the jeans claims.

[Suttree]

I'll admit I've never owned a Levi's. They cost 1/3 of a basic wage in my country, so no thank you.

I have family that works at the fabric/cloth circuit and, at least here, big companies use the same kind of fabrics (and employees and technics) that some cheaper generic brands. So the only difference I see with costly jeans and cheaper ones is the brand printed on the tag (and the price, of course).

There is a pretty big difference when it comes to the quality of denim being used and techniques(not to mention Levi's has a "terms of engagement" to ensure ethical standards in the non owned and operated facilities). Even with brands like Levi's, Ralph Lauren, Gap etc. there can be different high end lines under their umbrella that vary a good deal. That said the quality of low end denim has never been better. Here is a quick article on the topic:

http://www.askmen.com/fashion/trends_150/167_fashion_men.html

[Wise Fool]

no apprentices this year

Willow reference, yay!

So you don't wear underwear? Or you profusely sweat through that?

A normal wearing is only a couple hours for me with jeans. Occasionally a whole day. I don't really feel the need to wash them very often unless there is a specific event where they actually get dirty. T-shirts that actually contact the skin and sweaty parts are washed frequently. Button up shirts only as needed as there is always an undershirt.

Of course I wear underwear. (I feel like I'm having to say this a lot in this thread. And in life. And in job interviews.) But yeah, if I'm sitting down, the sweat and ass-juice just has no place to go. The acid test is to remove your jeans, bring the area of the butt crack right up to your nose and inhale deeply. Alternatively, you could get someone else to volunteer to do that while you're wearing them. You'd have to be really close friends to be smelling your butt. (That is what friends do, right? I read it somewhere. God I'm so lonely.)