Did that to an old denim shirt I had with decent results. Can't wait to see it on the iron hearts!
Back when I first got into the denim game at the age of 15, I was too impatient to fully understand the beauty of natural fades and such. Therefore, as any impatient kid would do, I tried to speed up the process by pinching at the creases, excessively rubbing my hands on my lap, and purposefully sitting on rough surfaces so that I could slide off when I got up in order to break my jeans in faster. I know realize the flaws in my logic because those jeans (nudies haha) look like crap. The fading is too exaggerated in some parts and not enough in others which makes for a "true religion" like effect. I've since stopped doing these things and now my jeans look great, IMO.
As for washing, it depends on the jeans. Usually, I'll soak them in hot water to get any shrinking out of the way and to make them stiffer (I like the feeling). Then, I usually just wear them until they're unbearably dirty and hot soak them with a little detergent. I usually hold off on the first machine wash until about 6-8 months and then machine wash them every other month. I feel this prolongs the denim as the dirt and grime don't have a chance to seriously build up and break down the denim.
