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Student Wears Raw Denim Nudie Jeans for 15 months Without Washing

Feb 1, 2011 at 12:29 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 28
joneeboi

joneeboi

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Hey guys,
 
Wow, it's been a super long time since I've posted in this forum. Anyways, I just wanted to know if you guys heard about this kid from the University of Alberta who didn't wash his raw denim jeans for 15 months.
 

 
http://abcnews.go.com/US/canadian-student-josh-le-year-washing-jeans/story?id=12722442
 
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/dirty-jeans/xgzpmkm?mediaid=7909867&from=39
 
It's my little brother. 
tongue_smile.gif

 
It's surprising how far this story has gone, but I was hoping you guys could help spread the story a bit more. For the record, the bacteria tests showed no difference between wearing the jeans for 15 months and for 13 days, though it was indeed a very informal scientific test. The jeans would get smelly after a while, but it appeared that throwing them in a plastic bag and into a freezer treats the smell. This practice is very familiar territory for anyone who wears raw denim, though I'm not sure many people wear them for this long. His jeans look really great, and I'm doing my part as a good big brother to help his little bit of fame. He's working on his new set of jeans by a Canadian company based in Montreal called Naked and Famous, and he'll be competing with his friend to see who wears it best.
 
What do you guys think?
 
Feb 1, 2011 at 12:46 AM Post #2 of 28
I go weeks between washing my jeans and usually only after I get them dirty somehow. I think jeans just feel better after being worn for long periods of time without washing. As long as they are not visibly dirty and pass the sniff test, they are good to go. I've never done 1+ year though.
 
Feb 1, 2011 at 1:16 AM Post #3 of 28
Holy crap, I think I read about that on Gizmodo. Just this week, I decided to go all week without changing my jeans (because I read that article), just to see what would happen. They still looked relatively clean, to my surprise. It truly is a small world, huh. 
 

 
 
Feb 1, 2011 at 1:24 AM Post #4 of 28
Also, I forgot to mention his wee blog: http://joshyle.wordpress.com.
 
There are lots of economic benefits to not washing your jeans too frequently, few of which were covered by the media outlets. Think of all the water you're spending washing something that doesn't necessarily require washing. How many times do you wear each article of clothing? I think it's acceptable to wash underwear regularly since it deals with much higher temperatures and moisture levels conducive to bacteria growth, but things like shirts, pants, sweaters, etc. don't necessarily need to be washed after every wear since they don't face the same environments as underwear does.
 
Further, what do you think happens to the lifetime of the garment you wash once per wear? You're not stretching your dollar (or equivalent currency) as far as you can when you wash clothes too often. A bit more study is required for an authoritative figure on how often clothes should be washed, but it depends heavily on how hard people wear their clothes too (read: how sweaty you get wearing your clothes).
 
Of course, this isn't to suggest that everyone shouldn't wash their clothes for 15 months, but it would be interesting to delve into the numbers, balancing dollars against bacteria growth.
 
Feb 1, 2011 at 7:51 AM Post #5 of 28
Just not very sanitary in the crotch area, that's all.
 
Feb 1, 2011 at 2:35 PM Post #10 of 28
joneeboi said:
lol No, he washed his undies regularly. He has 25 pairs, so he didn't have a problem so much with that portion of the process.
Click to expand...


I just meant the odd accidental drippage and farts :D
 
Feb 1, 2011 at 9:11 PM Post #12 of 28
Currently wearing jeans that I own 6 months and they still don't know what a washing machine is. Indeed standard practice in raw denim, 6 months at least is recommended, and even then, don't give them a full wash, just a cold handwash to remove some indigo. Some wash the excessive indigo out directly, but I prefer the unwashed hipster way, comes with bragging rights and all. I actually prefer the unworn look of raw denim though, so I don't go as far as 15 months, planning on buying some new APC's soon.
Oh, by the way, why do you know how many undies your brother has? :p
 
Feb 1, 2011 at 10:42 PM Post #13 of 28
When I try to keep my jeans dirty so I don't have to wash them as much they get dirty but when I don't usually care about them they stay clean longer. I know it's off topic but the original post had me thinking about jeans haha.
 
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