Fans of Nudie Jeans or fans of Raw, Selvedge denim will know all about the ‘breaking in’ process of the item. In terms of mens designer clothing, it is part and parcel of the journey of buying a pair of raw, unwashed denim. For those of you that have maybe heard of these terms but are unfamiliar with it, here is a little rundown of exactly what the point in buying Raw denim is.
Raw denim in a nutshell is denim that is in its most natural form and hasn’t been through a washing process to give it any defining faded patches. No abrasions or tears have been applied to the denim either. A recommended 6 month journey can then be undertaken to achieve a ‘lived in’ pair of jeans. For those 6 months it is recommended that you don’t wash the jeans. If you do, the dye will run and you will lose the authentic look to your pair. What you are instead aiming for is for the dye to naturally fade and for your life to be imprinted on the denim. This could be a variety of things like faded patches on your bottom and knees, abrasions on the bottom where they drag on the floor which you probably find over time from a normal pair of washed jeans. What raw denim also gives you is the ability to transfer what you keep in your pockets to the outside world. For example the outline of your phone will start to show through, your wallet maybe or anything else that you keep in the same pockets over and over again.
Throughout this time obviously if you aren’t washing your jeans they might start to smell. Communities on the Internet have sprung up share their hints and tips. These include putting your jeans in the freezer to stop them smelling without washing. The cold freezes any bacteria in them and you’ll get a few more weeks or months out of them.
We hope that this article has been useful to anyone that has heard of the breaking in process but wasn’t sure what it was all about. Please let us know if there is anything else denim related that we haven’t covered that you might be interested in.
