Breaking in Selvedge Denim - 14 oz. vs 21 oz.

nabottle · Jul 8, 2013

Well, as I'm about to buy a really decent pair of jeans, is there any advice as per weight/break in period? The best pair of denim I currently have....PLEASE NO LAUGHS ....is a pair of Levi's Selvedge Calder. They are the stiffest/heaviest feeling denim I have ever purchased and they happen to be my favorite fit and weight so far. Be fair warned, I have never spent very much on denim, but thanks to you great influences here, I'm going to give it a go. I have no clue what the weight of the denim on those is. I've found denim from different brands that range from 14.5 oz. to 21 oz. that I'm thinking of purchasing. Thanks in advance.

bretron · Jul 8, 2013

If raw- cold soak them before wearing, let hang dry then wear for as long as you can muster the strength (or handle the greasy feeling an odor

) before washing. You will develop better fades that way. I don't care what people say, it's true! (Let the arguments ensue) IMO jeans shouldn't be washed more than every nine months. Or possibly after longer durations (depending on frequency of wear, of course). My other advice would be to get one pair and exclusively wear them for about a year or so before buying another pair; that way you'll really do the jeans justice. Oh and find a reputable denim repair shop for when you experience your first "blow out" (!!) or if you decide to get them hemmed.

Good luck! Like trying to nail the fit on leather jackets and boots, jeans can be tricky.

GriffDeLaGriff · Jul 8, 2013

If you go for IronHeart 21oz they are very soft and cosy. They are just more substantial and alot warmer.

Sloan1874 · Jul 8, 2013

I'm going to give the 'don't wash 'em for as long as you can' approach with my Gustins when when they arrive, but I'm not sure how far I'll get...

Edward · Jul 8, 2013

Probably depends on how often, and where, you wear 'em. I don't dryclean suit trousers for several years at a time, but then I'm also not wearing them doing mechanical work or heavy lifting...

apba1166 · Jul 8, 2013

The IH 21oz sanforized feels good very quickly. Hard to beat. I have one pair of raw unsanforized 21oz by someone else and I don't wear them, because everytime I do I think how much I have to wear them to get them to work. I think raw unsanforized is much better in 17oz than 21oz, and breaks in/softens relatively quickly, with a soak and a couple weeks wear.

Plumbline · Jul 8, 2013

Yet another fashon habit I can't understand ....

NOT washing jeans for months at an end under some mistaken belief that they self clean and won't smell of sweat, dirt and wee !!!!

I've only ever stumped up cash for a few pairs of bluebells (ebay) and 3 pairs of vintage levis (Aero - 1940 something - cinch backs 501XX, 1954 501XX and 1967 505's ) ... even the cinch back ones get washed after a wearing or two.

My granny informed me that's what they did in the 40's and 50's ... when jeans were worn for work. So that's what mine get worn and washed. ( probably broke every fashion rule in the Fedora Lounge book but hey ho ... no change there) !

I STILL don't think they're any better than "mall" jeans and man the early ones are baggy .... and the price, jesus wept ... for a pair of work trousers ..... the marketers struck gold when they discovered this one !

Baron Kurtz · Jul 8, 2013

I don't think anyone ever said they clean themselves … at least I haven't seen it here. Probably elsewhere.

There are at least a couple schools of thought. Both are put forward above. There are certainly True Believers on both sides of the debate. One - that you should wear and wear and wear and wear, and then wash. The claim is that "fade" is "better". The other mob would suggest that the best look is obtained in "the old way". In most cases I think that the old way would probably be wearing for a week of work, then washing on Sunday. I would guess that a week working as a welder or panel beater will get about as much gunk into the jeans as 6 months at rockabilly weekends, so maybe the old way is about the same as the first option offered above.

It depends what you want out of the jeans. If you want a very specific fade pattern - tbh, the wear and wear and wear jeans I see are typically almost identical in wear pattern … whiskers, etc. If you want that, then wear and wear and wear, then wear again. Not my bag, and so I favour the wear a few times then wash, and while the fade is different they fade in the same places. The only difference I'd say is the lower contrast between the faded areas (whiskers, thighs, knee fronts, rear knee creases) and the less faded (sides, shins, calves, upper rear).

My only advice would be: don't sweat it. It's not worth fretting over.

10 years difference, same washing protocol. Both are about 14 Oz selvedge denim.

Approximately 75 years difference (1930s waistcoat, approx 2010 jeans), I suspect same washing protocol.

Mr Badger · Jul 8, 2013

Baron Kurtz said:
I would guess that a week working as a welder or panel beater will get about as much gunk into the jeans as 6 months at rockabilly weekends

:eusa_clap

majormajor · Jul 8, 2013

Here's a thing.

The supporters of NOT WASHING always maintain that there is NO odour problem.......

However, it is a known fact that YOUR OWN NOSE will reject smells that it gets used to - ie - YOUR OWN SMELLS. This is a defence mechanism, to enable your nose to pick up dangerous whiffs.

I could go into details about your own toilet smells (and your ability to catch them) but this is NOT the place.

Suffice to say that YOU will be the very last person to pick up your own odours. But, rest assured, EVERYONE ELSE will be retching at the stench!!

So yes, the fades will be excellent. And you will be VERY alone whilst you look at them!!

Plumbline · Jul 8, 2013

I recall VERY few times when I have agreed with the Major ............. but this is one of them.

Sloan1874 · Jul 8, 2013

Reminds me of the time at uni, a flat mate of mine came back early from a class, changed into a fresh pair of jeans and announced that he'd been overcome from the stench of his own trousers while sitting listening to lecture. Mind you, he wasn't looking for good fades in his jeans, he was just lazy.

schitzo · Jul 8, 2013

14oz don't need breaking in.

I say you either want heavyweight denim or you don't and if you do, then buy something 20oz+.

re the contamination from toilet activities and backside blowhole emissions that some seem to love talking about, may I suggest you wear underpants with your jeans and allow those to take the brunt. If - with the underpants in place - after a few weeks/months you feel like the jeans could still use a clean then sending them to the dry cleaners is another option

nabottle · Jul 8, 2013

Excellent advice guys. Thank you to everyone. I've always been a clean freak, so to hell with it! I'm going to get some good denim and wear them until I can't stand it any more. It's going to be an experiment, I guess. I actually pretty damned excited to give this a try.

Mr Badger · Jul 9, 2013

I rotate my jeans / trousers nearly every day, and air out the ones I've had on. I've got around 12 pairs of jeans and half a dozen 'washable' trousers (Cramerton K1s, Garbstore French peasant trousers, Hunting World adventurer pants, etc) so I very rarely need to wash my jeans but usually do my trews after three days of wear. Each Spring I tend to cold wash my jeans with a soap-free travel wash, the kind that comes in a tube, which takes quite a while cos I've got so many pairs, then I just line dry 'em outside. If my jeans really started to pong, my wife would doubtless let me know about it!

Only very occasionally have I had to wash jeans more than once a year, such as if I've been on a two-week holiday and only took one pair, or was doing something sweat-inducing (Ebay doesn't count!). For some reason, Lees and Wranglers always seem to attract niffs, while Levi's and Edwins are pretty good for just a simple airing to remove any lingering smells – just my experience!

Nabottle, I think you'll enjoy the experience of good quality selvedge jeans, they're like a top notch leather jacket, and just get better with age, no matter how many times you do / don't wash 'em!

Here's a totally unnecessary shot of drying denim!

bretron · Jul 9, 2013

I use my kids wading pool to wash mine. :lol:

Made that mistake as a teen going with the old skinhead method of breaking in 501 STFs by wearing em in the tub (my mom was pissed!!)

nabottle · Jul 9, 2013

bretron said:
I use my kids wading pool to wash mine. :lol:

Made that mistake as a teen going with the old skinhead method of breaking in 501 STFs by wearing em in the tub (my mom was pissed!!)

A W E S O M E Story bretron! I'm totally laughing!

nabottle · Jul 9, 2013

Very good info Mr Badger. And an equally cool photo!

apba1166 · Jul 9, 2013

I washed a pair today after 4 wears, the last three for only two hours a day clearing brush from a forest. I thought of going a fourth day but they were filthy, sweaty, stiff with gunk etc. So I'll switch to another tomorrow and go a few with that and then back to these. I have a couple other p[airs I haven't washed for fifteen or so wears, just wear'em hanging around. But since I am not office bound, but more out in dirt-world, that's as far as I go, 2-3 weeks off and on. I like the fades, but not enough to wear one pair forever; the hi-con fade doesn't do it for me. Nor does grinding for it or thinking about it.

wanz · Jul 9, 2013

I started experimenting with selvedge a while back (leather jackets must be a gateway to selvedge jeans). I am not an expert by any means, but the one piece of advice that I would give if you are going to commit to wearing them as long as possible without washing is really WEAR them. I wore my first pair to the office, out to the bar, etc. but didn't really wear them in any situations where they took abuse. As a result, the overall effect was underwhelming and I probably could have achieved the same thing by washing them on a more regular basis. Nudie Jeans (advocates for the "don't wash in under 6 months philosophy) allude to this on their website as well.

The other piece of advice that I would throw out there is don't tell your friends that you're not washing them. I found that even when I wore a completely different pair, I still had to provide assurances that, no, these were not the disgusting pair of jeans that I refused to wash. Although nobody ever mentioned / complained about the smell.

One question that I would ask is in what temperature range to people find the 21+oz jeans comfortable to wear? It seems like a lot of the people that have mentioned them are in the UK (where the winters are a bit different than Texas or Florida).

Breaking in Selvedge Denim - 14 oz. vs 21 oz.

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