Random questions to which you seek an answer

[Guest]

Hey guys, can anyone give an example of some hand agitation techniques? I plan on presoaking today and would like to try and get rid of a bunch of shrinkage. Plan on doing a very hot soak and just move the jeans around in the container for a bit. Is this enough? Or since they'll be folded, should I unfold, dip in the water, fold, etc..? I don't like using a tub to soak.

[Guest]

I would use a tub and turn the knob on your water heater to the hottest it goes, the temp will be almost boiling. It will get rid of all shrinkage, in about 30 min, if you soak a long time all the starch will come out esspesially if you agitate, leaving you with softer jeans. Which to me is a bad thing, others may want that..

[Guest]

It also depends how fast you dry the jeans. I don't think agitation has anything at all to do with shrinkage, mike c will tell you different I'm guessing but I believe it's 100% how hot the temp is..

[Guest]

Also, after soak, should I flip them back to normal? So they'll be even stiffer once dry? Instead of flipping them after drying which would lose the stiffness correct?

[Guest]

I personally don't soak inside out, indigo loss is nominal, I turned them inside out once when I soaked a pair of flatheads and yes I turned them right side before hanging to dry by the fan

[Guest]

What are you soaking , if its the 634s, then none of this matters

[Guest]

634s-raw

[Guest]

Don't need to soak inside out if there's no abrasion to the denim. It all gets wet, and like I said you won't lose much indigo either way. I would not soak in a container, lay flat, for further info you can pm me, I'm shitting up this thread

[jacoavlu]

special soaking instructions were written by the boss himself for that denim, they involve a washing machine, not sure where they're at here but I'd go searching around in the 634sr thread

[Guest]

No washing machines!!

[Guest]

I think J's right about there being special washing instructions, though…

[madmonday]

@Giles:

I always do it the Haraki way:

The following is Haraki’s advice on how to treat your Ih-634SR before you wear them:
"This denim is not processed. It will shrink and skew. I have made this pattern "shrink to fit", after washing or soaking a couple of times it will shrink to tag-size
When you get your jeans, soak them in a bath tub of cold water overnight. Turn them inside out and then wash them in a washing machine at no hotter than 30 degrees C, you do not need washing powder or detergent
Don't spin too fast and don't put them in a tumble dryer, it is far better to allow them to air dry (still inside-out) in the sun, try to smooth all wrinkles in the fabric before the jeans get too dry
After the initial soak, the leg will shrink about 2", after the wash, there will be further shrinkage of about 1". So in total you will get about 3" shrinkage. Please bear this in mind if you are hemming before washing”

On subsequent washes, always wash inside out and do not spin too fast or tumble dry.

[FurattoHeddo]

^You can find above info on the original product page of the IH-634SR (same denim as RAW) here:

http://nostalgia.ironheart.co.uk/html/IH634SR.html

[Guest]

You guys are amazing!

Thank you very much. A bunch of info right there! I might even do this with every pair of unsanforized I get. The soaking begins tonight!

Now the question is…how many hours is overnight? :p

[Chris]

Washing machines always work best for shrinking denim, and I'd consider anything more than 5-6 hours "overnight."

[Guest]

I've always wondered when soaking jeans in the tub…should I just set them in there or put glass cups filled with water or something to keep them submerged?

[joesaintjohn]

Quick question, what happens if you just wear the raw denim?

[Guest]

I use water bottles or ten pound weights…whatever's closest to me at the time.

[Guest]

@joesaintjohn:

what happens if you just wear the raw denim?

you will end up with two sets of honeycombs and creases.  One, from the time you spent wearing them before the first wash.  And another set when the denim finally shrinks and the jeans fit you like they are supposed to.  Aside from the separate markings, the unsan. denim is super stiff, so the first/second soaks also help (after you wear them a minute, of course, cause they dry like cardboard) to relax the weave so it doesn't shred itself.

[Giles]

@joesaintjohn:

Quick question, what happens if you just wear the raw denim?

The constructional threads burst and the denim does not last as long…..