Washing your duds in suds

[WhiskeySandwich]

@Oaktavia uh lol, no good reason really. We ran out once and I tried it, cuz they say it’s gentle, and I’ve used it for my car too, so I figured it’s worth a shot. Turned out fine and made cool, trippy suds. Hahaha
I have soft water so no probs really. I guess I kept doing it because the kitchen is closer to the tub than the laundry room….lazy excuses! I should probably use laundry detergent huh?

[Oaktavia]

@WhiskeySandwich haha I thought you were on a strict dish soap routine there for a moment. Either way, seems to work just fine eh?

[ZackB]

@Oaktavia I know with tie dye you use dish soap to get rid of any loose dye that is not bonded to the cotton. Usually boil the shirts with some dish soap and then wash with normal detergent after. Never thought about it with denim.

[WhiskeySandwich]

@Oaktavia Nah, i just use whatever. soap is soap as far as i care. I also just really liked the scent lol ...to note though: i didn't see any more blue in the water than usual since using different soaps. i think they all do the same thing. I've noticed hot water and agitation makes the water more blue than any other variables, from my exp. so i guess technically my looser jeans get the hotness, so that may speed up the fades? hahaha

[Tago Mago]

@Oaktavia I’m fairly certain that @Giles at one point mentioned that for soaking he grabs whatever is closest, could be dishwasher soap or something else

[WhiskeySandwich]

One thing I definitely do is make sure they're rinsed extra thoroughly though, i hate residual soap feel. I know almost nothing about laundry detergents, but i'm convinced they all have an ingredient that coats the fibers in addition to cleaning them...

[Giles]

Yep, what ever is easiest to grab. We have a sink next to the washing machine, so there’s usually Fairy Liquid or the like close to hand….

[Boit]

I usually wait to machine wash until the garment is done crocking. i couldn’t wait that long with my 295ib…it had acquired too much sweat and silica sand. FWIW, I did a hand wash in the tub with Dr. Bronners. I didn’t measure the amt or say any prayers 🫨

[Oaktavia]

@Tago-Mago yeah I remember what you are referring to. I bookmarked that actually because it was solid and straight forward. Made me think of the same.

[GraemeE]

De-funking (machine wash/air dry) some of the indigo rotation tonight

[Boit]

Into the void!

[Boit]

*** **

[Gavin666]

Bath washing, soap and agitate for half an hour. After doing so what do you all do to rinse?

[Boit]

@Gavin666 Bath soak then ring and hang dry. Careful where it drip dry as it may bleed indigo (esp when denim young) ️

[Gavin666]

@Boit no rinsing soap out or no need to?

[goosehd]

@Gavin666 you should rinse out the soap. I recommend that you drain the water from your tub and replace it with fresh until there are no soap bubbles. The number of times done will depend on how much soap was used in the beginning.

[Boit]

@Gavin666 yeah. I’ll run under fresh water in tub midst draining then refilling tub. You want to get soap out of the garment. FWIW, I only go through this tub washing/soaking malarkey while garment iscrocking. Afterward I just turn inside out and run in machine (low to no spin). Might think harder about it if you’re washing SBG (or something else known to marble) or/else wabi sabi.

[WhiskeySandwich]

Heyo, i thought it worth repeating here (from the 362 thread) about SBGs....and its funny cuz Boit mentioned it in the very last post above - SBG is finicky with marbling. Not a prob if you dig the look. I dig it, but it can make for an awkward fade process, although a cool end result.

I hand wash only for SBG. At least a presoak is recommended but always keep them inside-out if you're trying to avoid marbles.

If you do happen to botch a wash and end up with hard white lines in the middle of your SBG, the best thing to do is embrace it, wear it harder, and wash it more often just trying to vary the creases so the fades are varied.

...figured since the SBG runs are coming back thru, it'd be a good time.

[Oaktavia]

@WhiskeySandwich good to see you back on here more Mr. Sandwich.

[seawolf]

I wash all of my IH jeans the same way. Inside out, buttons buttoned, regular cycle, mild detergent, spin at whatever default speed my washer uses, and hang dry once the washer is done. Once dry, I turn them right side out. I've never experienced marbling with any of them, and that includes SBG, 14oz, 21oz, 21oz od, and 25oz. Not sure how anyone is getting marbling, but I've never had any issues.