Delaying the wash experiment

Tailors of fine wool suits recommend that you avoid dry cleaning, and instead brush the suit regularly. Dry cleaning chemicals damage the fabric, so should only be used when absolutely necessary (less than once in six months).


So, I was thinking about my denim.

After about 6 months they start to turn pretty ugly. They gather piles of shitty dust and stuff in the fabric. Heres a pic of what gathers after just a week.


This stuff gathers all around the belt loops and inside legs. It's all dust, hair, sizing, indigo, skin cells... pretty gross, and every time you take your jeans off, you generate a halo of this shit floating around the room.

I regularly shake my jeans outside to remove this stuff, but it doesn't effectively remove it... so I decided to get a suit brush and try treating my denim like a fine wool suit.



Well it works great. The bristles aren't too hard - so I don't think it removes that much indigo. Anyway, it is much less indigo loss than a wash would remove.

Try it on your denim instead of washing. Brush them inside out, and then brush the outside. I even brushed the dusty shit out of my pockets. The jeans come out of it renewed and refreshed.

Let me know if you have success or if you think it's a dumb idea.

Article on Jenny Balfour-Paul

The Times Online has an article on Jenny Balfour-Paul (author of the indigo book).
http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/gardens/article2785493.ece

There's also a link to an exhibition at the Brighton/Hove Museum that Jenny has curated.
Indigo: A Blue to Dye For
29 Sept - 6th Jan 2008