Care For Your (Denim/ Wool/ Cotton)
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Splattered's question over in the 634S thread reminded me of one I've been thinking about for while, so here's me sharing.
Sometimes when I use the regular, blue bottle, or single serving Doc Bronner's detergent we get from the Castle, I see residue after the cycle(no spin), that's clearly left by the eco-cleaner. It's soapy and filmy, like that scum that'll accumulate around the bathtub. Now, it goes away with another rinse, but I haven't used that kind of Doc Bronner's in a while because of it. Instead I've recently gotten and used Sal Suds, which seems to remedy the issue:
http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/SAL.htm
What are your expeiences, if any, with Bronners? Any issues with left over residues?
The problem lies in so called eco-frienly washing mashine detergents. They do not contain phosphates, but instead zeolite.
Nowadays people use mainly 30-40°C washes. Zeolite will accumulate into the washers drum and create mudlike greyish sediment.
To clean your washer you need to run it 1-3 times with hottest cycle (empty) and add citric acid where you put washing detergent. Or use old school detergent that contains phosphate every once in a while. (whe have only one brand left here) That'll also clean your washing machine.
The zeolite stains are pain in the ass to get off light colored clothes, it'll take many washing cycles to get rid off.
end of education…edit typo
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Well, then. The last few posts have spanned the chasm between great information and Way Too Fucking Much Information. Doug and injunjack dropped the science in this thread though. I think I'm going to modify my method a little at this point and only go withs soapy soaks, which are more zen-like anyway. The calm, before the stubborn storm, if you will.
I'm gonna have a go at that citric acid thing as well. The Zeolite wikipedia article is way to heavy to read before 10AM.
??? 
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I also tend to get weird rub marks from the washing machine, so I rarely ever use one for my denim
I will, however, do a machine wash maybe 1-2x a year. I feel like the soaking doesn't get them as clean as I like, and over time, they start to feel kind of grody no matter how many times I soapy soak then. I usually do a machine wash at that time with some Woolite Dark, then soak a few times in clean, cold water to get all the soap out
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Splattered's question over in the 634S thread reminded me of one I've been thinking about for while, so here's me sharing.
Sometimes when I use the regular, blue bottle, or single serving Doc Bronner's detergent we get from the Castle, I see residue after the cycle(no spin), that's clearly left by the eco-cleaner. It's soapy and filmy, like that scum that'll accumulate around the bathtub. Now, it goes away with another rinse, but I haven't used that kind of Doc Bronner's in a while because of it. Instead I've recently gotten and used Sal Suds, which seems to remedy the issue:
http://www.drbronner.com/DBMS/SAL.htm
What are your expeiences, if any, with Bronners? Any issues with left over residues?
Add half a cup of washing soda to the wash, it makes the world of difference, no idea why but it does. My Grandma used to swear by soap flakes and washing soda and she really knew a thing or two about washing clothes!
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Thanks Simon. That actually sounds like my great aunt saying that no more than a cup of vinegar per load works wonders. Lovely to hear about the variety of washing opinions!
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didn't know where else to put this:
but for the IH shirts that have the washing instructions written on the inside, is that the general consensus on how people wash them? or is it hand wash all the way?
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Delicate settings is what I use… IF I wash them, that is...
just wash when dirty, cotton/poly blend for the most part, no real benefit of not washing
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^ sounds good then, anyone recommend a special kind of soap to use for something like, say, the hickory shirt?
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^ sounds good then, anyone recommend a special kind of soap to use for something like, say, the hickory shirt?
Why, they are just shirts for normal use…though a bit more expensive ones.
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Hey there -
I just got my first pair of Iron Heart Jeans (634S) and I actually want to shrink the thigh and soften them up just a little bit.
However, I don't want the inseam to shrink at all. Any recommendations? Would a tumble dry on low be dangerous for this sort of thing. The crew at Self Edge in San Francisco told me that these wouldn't shrink much. What's been your experience?
Thanks!
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never tried tumble drying any denim and probably never will - maybe someone else on forum has practical experience of that (good or bad)
but the 634s won't shrink (maybe marginally) but will stretch back out, but you can't selectively shrink areas of the jeans if that's what you're suggesting
i also found them pretty soft to start, and general wear takes any of the residual stiffness out
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I put my Samurais in the dryer hoping to get some additional shrinkage after their first wash. I had read about people getting weird fade marks from doing this without care, so I turned them inside out and I was very careful to align the seams, etc, so that creasing, if anything weird would be along the selvage line or inseam.
Well, nothing happened. There were no negative affects. But, to be honest, I don't think they shrunk at all either, at least not after a day of wear. And this is on a pair of unsanforized denim. The IH 21oz is preshrunk, so, for you there should be even less of an affect. And with a fresh pair, I think the risk of inducing bad fades is far greater. For all of these reasons I would say DON'T DRY. Not worth the risk.
Sounds like you want Beatle Busters. Either that or size down IMO.
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