Posts made by Damian

After getting minimal shrinkage from two hot soaks, I did a hot wash with Woolite Dark (no spin cycle) and got the inseam down to 37." I still would like to get another inch of shrinkage out of these, so I might try a final hot wash before giving up and sending these to be hemmed. Does anyone know if Woolite Dark is a good "lubricant" to use, or should I go with a "normal" detergent?

I love so many things about these jeans, except for the "bagginess" around the lower leg/ankle area. I really wish they tapered a bit more. I'm hoping that shrinking to 36" and throwing on a 2" cuff (vs. hemming) will help with this.

@davito:

I do 40 degrees celsius machine wash including spin (600-1000 rpm) (our machines automatically spin) for my unsanforised and all other pants, inside out no detergent. Line dry. But thats my way of doing it

And some Instructions provided by Paula

http://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2215.0

Thanks for the tips. Giles talks about using detergent as a "lubricant" to relax (i.e. shrink) the fabric. I might include it in the wash.

@mahlon321:

Sorry man, should've been more specific.  The warm/cold is for all subsequent washes following the initial hot wash. 

Ok, I see. So, to confirm: Because my two initial hot soaks did not get out much shrinkage, I should now use a washing machine to get out the remainder of the shrinkage. To do so, turn the jeans inside out, wash hot, with detergent, and with moderate agitation. No spin cycle. Then drip dry, or dry flat. Subsequent washes should follow the same instructions except that the water temperature should be warm or cold rather than hot.

Sound right?

@mahlon321:

Hey Damian, I don't think you are doing anything wrong, everyone has their own way of shrinking down their jeans. Personally speaking, I find soaking will only get a small amount of the shrinkage out. Agitation will (should) get the rest out. There was a really good conversation about this in one of the threads a few months back and it seemed like, for a lot of folks, an initial wash in the washing machine (at whatever settings you prefer) got it out the first time (couldn't find the conversation for the life of me, sorry) but here is a link to Giles explaining shrinkage…

http://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4549.0

For what it's worth, I like warm/cold wash, light to med agitation, no spin….good luck 

One more question: If you really wanted to get all the shrinkage out of the way, why wouldn't you go with a hot wash, rather than a warm/cold wash?

@mahlon321:

Hey Damian, I don't think you are doing anything wrong, everyone has their own way of shrinking down their jeans. Personally speaking, I find soaking will only get a small amount of the shrinkage out. Agitation will (should) get the rest out. There was a really good conversation about this in one of the threads a few months back and it seemed like, for a lot of folks, an initial wash in the washing machine (at whatever settings you prefer) got it out the first time (couldn't find the conversation for the life of me, sorry) but here is a link to Giles explaining shrinkage…

http://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4549.0

For what it's worth, I like warm/cold wash, light to med agitation, no spin….good luck 

Thanks for the tip! After reading Giles's pieces, this makes sense now. I wonder why washing (vs. soaking) isn't suggested in the first place.

Your washing recommendation sounds like a "permanent press" cycle on most front loading industrial washing machines. I need to make sure that I can remove the jeans before the spin cycle starts however.

@Bluegrass:

No new ideas, but I'm surprised they are still at 38 inseam… I think mine settled at ~36".

If I could get mine to shrink to around a 36" inseam, I'd be able to pull off a 2" cuff with no tailoring. Ugh. What the heck am I doing wrong?

After two hot soaks (the second of which was quite hotter than the first) of my tagged 31"X36" IH-666S jeans, it feels like I've shrunk them considerably. When I now measure them (following the IH way), they measure 34"X38." Surprisingly, the waist is perfect. I'd love to take away some more length, but I'm not sure that this would be possible. Any further advice before I send them back to be hemmed to a 36" length? Thanks!

@Giles:

@Damian:

Sorry for all the questions. I was assuming these jeans would come with some tips for care procedures.

My bad.  We made the stupid assumption that everyone knew what they were doing or that they would read this thread..

http://www.ironheart.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=2657.0

We will print out a version of that text and include with all jeans.products we ship….

Awesome. Thanks!

@Bluegrass:

Careful with boiling water, don't want to mess up your patch.  maybe wear awhile then wash'em and see what happens.  You can always hem later.

Thanks for the sound advice.

By washing (when I eventually do wash), do you mean machine wash? Cold, warm or hot? With detergent or without? Obviously, I will hang dry.

Sorry for all the questions. I was assuming these jeans would come with some tips for care procedures, but that was not the case. You guys on the forum have have been terrific resources however. Many thanks for helping out this newbie.

@Bluegrass:

I totally understand, if you've had raw denim in other brands it can make you wary… but as you see this denim does not shrink as much as you might think...

If I did want to get a bit more shrinkage out of the length, might another hot soak do the trick? Perhaps adding some boiling kettle water to the tub, as others have done??? I could wear these jeans as is, but I still have an inch or two more I'd like to shrink off the length. The waist is fine, but I could deal with a bit more shrinkage here if I had to.

@Giles:

I agree with everything Bluegrass says…

Did the hot soak (with water as hot as my tub faucet would go) for 1 hour. The jeans then air died flat on a towel. After trying them on, the shrinkage was surprisingly minimal. Now they're just a bit more snug in the waist. I was actually hoping for a bit more shrinkage in the length, but whatever. A 1-2" cuff should look great.

Thanks again for the tips everyone!

Thanks! Off to do my hot soak right now.

I received my IH-666S - The Devil's Fit Indigo jeans in 31"X36" and they fit perfectly in the waist (comfortably snug with just a bit of breathing room). The IH site says that these unsanforized jeans will shrink approx. 1" after the first soak but will stretch out to the pre-soak size with wear. That said, should I soak my jeans very hot and deal with the uncomfortable snugness while they stretch back out to the pre-soak size, or should I soak warm and then soak again if needed? In any event, should I soak for 1 hour, then pat dry between two towels, then air dry? These are my first pair of unsanforized jeans, and I want to make sure I don't screw things up!

Perhaps these images will offer some insight.
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m14/dbarneschi/photo-3.jpg
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m14/dbarneschi/photo-1-1.jpg
http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m14/dbarneschi/photo-2.jpg

Thanks for the clarification. These will be my first pair of unsanforized jeans and I want to make sure I do things right.

Just curious however as to how long I should hot soak for.

Thanks!

Thanks for the advice everyone. Just a few more questions: What is the preferred method of doing the first soak? Super hot water, warm water or cold water? And for how long? Once the jeans are done soaking, should you just roll them into a ball, squeeze the water out and air dry?

It seems that a lot of people on this thread are determined to get the water as hot as possible in the initial soak and I'm not sure why.

I tried on the IHS-666S 18 oz'ers in a size 31 this past weekend at Self Edge NYC and they fit perfectly - comfortably snug. Exactly how I would want them to fit after 6 months of wear.

What size do you think I should order? A 31 and warm soak? A 32 and hot soak? Perhaps another suggestion?

According to the IH website, these shrink and inch with the initial soak and stretch back to the tagged size with wear.