Washing heavy denim without wrecking it

Heavy cotton denim is hard to destroy with wear and easy to destroy with heat. Nearly every ruined pair we hear about died in a dryer, not on the street.

The base routine

• Wash cold, 30 degrees C or below. Hot water lifts dye out of dark washes fast.
• Turn the pair inside out before it goes in the drum. This protects the face of the fabric and any surface work.
• Use half the detergent you think you need. Residue stiffens denim.
• Hang dry, hem down, from the waistband. The weight of the wet fabric pulls wrinkles out on its own.

Wash frequency is a matter of taste. Every five to ten wears is plenty for a pair that has not been through anything. Spot-clean small marks with a damp cloth instead of running a full cycle.

Embroidered pairs

The stitching on our dragon and floral fits is dense, and dense embroidery holds water. Two extra rules: never wring the embroidered panel, and keep the pair out of the dryer entirely. Tumbling snags thread ends and heat shrinks the backing fabric at a different rate than the stitches, which is what makes embroidery pucker.

Ironing: inside out only, and press around the panel, not across it.

Patchwork and distressed pairs

Frayed hems and open holes are meant to fray further, slowly. A mesh laundry bag slows the process down. If a loose thread appears at a patch seam, trim it with scissors; pulling it can open the seam. Distressing that grows a little with each wash is the fabric doing what it was set up to do.

Camo and printed fabric

Printed patterns sit on the surface, so they fade before woven colour does. The cold-and-inside-out routine matters twice as much here, and sun-drying printed pairs face-out will fade them unevenly. Shade or indoors, always.