Care For Your (Denim/ Wool/ Cotton)

[Giles]

I'm actually watching and dreaming that I could do Skii Cross at the mo

[Guest]

I'm totally with you Giles. Wearing knee pads when you do a lot of physical work on your knees is just as smart as wearing a seat belt when you drive a car or a helmet when you ride a motorcycle. You can concentrate better on the task at hand because it's more comfortable. You reduce the pain and the risk of injury and lastly you prolong the life of your jeans. A man's gotta know when to be smart and when to be handsome.

Till

[Beatle]

xpost - grooming thread got carried away. For those who are interested in hand washing your jeans

Using Dr. Bronners bar soap.

Soak while wearing, apply while wearing ..rinse while wearing

take off and rinse in soapy water plus repeat cleaning dirty parts again (cuffs, pocket openings)

rinse again, thouroughly, hangdry

[Beatle]

ur want to know when you wash them , right ?

The whole process takes about 30 minutes…

[Beatle]

why would you soak with ur jeans on ? Unless they are too tight..

Normal soak - warm - hot water , 1 - 2 hours.

If really tight, u can do cold and 30 min

[deadendpro]

she meant when you clean them. lol. soak for 30 min cold if too tight, but i say soak hot->warm for the 45-1hr and then feel the pain of the stretch! it hurts SOOO GOOD!

[Guest]

Yes, use either cedar blocks (or actually use shelves made of cedar wood) or use the aleppo soap. Naphta balls are killer. My gf's closet is a gas chamber. Nothing would survive in there. I took 80% of what she put in there out and sealed it in ziploc bags and it still reeks. There are perfumed mothballs that are supposed to be not that bad but I haven't tried those yet. One of the main things is to wash your stuff regularly. When you start accumulating pullovers it is well possible that you don't wear one for more than a year. In that case you should still wash it.

[DrPat]

Moths don't eat cotton.  They prefer the protein (keratin) in animal fibers.  Silverfish like starch and will therefore eat cotton.  Also, the larvae of some beetles also like cotton.

[Guest]

Just purchased my first Dr Bronner products…..no idea if better than any other organic soap, but had to give a try as keep reading on various treads/forums.

Damn...Till, only just seen your soap recomendation....will give that a go some time in the future too.

[Beatle]

I hope it smells a lot different than what it looks like…

[Guest]

looks like some sort of French cheese

[Guest]

@DrPat:

Moths don't eat cotton.  They prefer the protein (keratin) in animal fibers.  Silverfish like starch and will therefore eat cotton.  Also, the larvae of some beetles also like cotton.

That's interesting. I wonder what it was that put holes in my t-shirts then? I know for sure I have no silverfish in my room. Beetle larvae perhaps? Which kind to look for? Anyway, that's interesting and might explain why they like cashmere.

Beatle, it smells delicious. Very fresh and manly. Not much of the smell stays on the skin, though, even if the soap smells quite strongly.

Stewart, apparently the higher the laurel oil content the better. The one I got here has 30%. Normal is 15%; figures range from 5-40%. Hard to find in the US even online. I ran into mine in an old school German store. In England it should be possible. In Germany and France it should be rather easy to get. Prices I've seen are around 7-10$ for a 150-220 gram piece. The higher percentage laurel is allegedly very nice for shaving, too. I didn't try it yet. Currently working on perfecting the lather with my shave cream and new brush.

And, yes, there are liquid and flake versions. Good for washing.

Till

[Beatle]

Moths do indeed feast on cotton

Clothes moths larvae feast on woolens and any other animal-based fibers, including feathers and furs. Sometimes synthetic fabrics will suffer clothes moth damage too, if the fabric is a wool blend.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/528489/are_bugs_eating_holes_in_your_clothes.html

[Beatle]

Solution

Line your closet or storage area with cedar wood. This is the best way to keep moths away.

Step 2

Purchase cedar bags from your dry cleaner. These bags can be used to hang over certain items, such as wool garments, to keep moths out.

Step 3

Put moth or cedar balls in your closet or storage area.

what also helps - little bags filled with Lavender

[DrPat]

@Beatle:

Moths do indeed feast on cotton

Clothes moths larvae feast on woolens and any other animal-based fibers, including feathers and furs. Sometimes synthetic fabrics will suffer clothes moth damage too, if the fabric is a wool blend.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/528489/are_bugs_eating_holes_in_your_clothes.html

Cotton is not a synthetic fabric.  Nowhere in that article does it say that moths feed on cotton (unless it is a blend).  Since jeans are 100% cotton, moths will not touch them.

[DrPat]

That's interesting. I wonder what it was that put holes in my t-shirts then? I know for sure I have no silverfish in my room. Beetle larvae perhaps? Which kind to look for? Anyway, that's interesting and might explain why they like cashmere.

The carpet beetle is known to eat cotton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermestidae

Holes in t-shirts can also be caused from your washing machine.  This can happen if there is rough metal in the drum.  It can also happen if the clothes penetrate the small holes too far while spinning and rub against something behind the drum.  Front loaders with a washer and dryer together are notorious for this and was the cause of holes in my t-shirts before I realized what was happening and got rid of the machine.

[Guest]

Thanks for the great answer, DrPat. I haven't seen those beetles around. I have sometimes a little beetle that comes in from the outside (this is Texas and even cockroaches occasionally find their way in) but that's all.

I do have one problem that is insect unrelated with my Smedley polos. Often I don't tug those in. So they rub against my belt buckle. They have a tiny hole all in the same place.

My machine is a washing only LG frontloader that's very gentle on the clothes. Fortunately holes appear rarely and, as you say, more often in wool fibers. I am not as good about washing my sweaters regularly as I should be.

Till

[Seul]

http://zeepsoap.com/

Only soap I use. Not only to wash my jeans, but also to wash mysélf!.. Excellent products!..

[DougNg]

I was in Atlanta this week, eating at South City Kitchen (some of the best food I've ever had) for the fourth frickin time in a week, and got a big glob of banana pudding on my SEXIH07BKs that I just got last week…left a weird looking mark on my thigh and couldn't take it anymore...off for a soapy soak...

[Guest]

@DougNg:

…got a big glob of banana pudding on my SEXIH07BKs that I just got last week...left a weird looking mark on my thigh and couldn't take it anymore...off for a soapy soak...

I think the reason I can get away with washing my jeans very infrequently is because I don't eat desserts – which can get very messy ! The most I spill on my jeans is drips and drops of coffee -- which just sorta blends in and adds to the patina, so I don't worry about it.