Splash of bleach to SBG wash?

(Allow me to preface the following by saying I’ve spent a long time achieving fades the slow and old fashioned way. But in the true spirit of denim, I like experimenting with new techniques to achieve a variety of results.)

When I first saw EllaHarp — a singer-songwriter who also makes her own jeans — demonstrate the results of a “splash of bleach” method on her 888s, I was surprised and impressed. This was a far more vintage-looking fade than any of my jeans looked like with heavy wear.

After a year in Texas, including a long, hot, humid summer, my 21 oz indigo IH denim had already started taking on beautiful whiskers and other cool fades, so I decided to experiment. The 777s had high contrast knee fades which I wasn’t a fan of (even tho I love my two young kids!). I hoped this “splash of bleach” technique could even out the difference and make the knee fades less obvious.

Using about 50 ml of bleach in my washes every 1-3 months has resulted in a very gradual change that evolved into absolutely stunning and complex vintage-style fades with a million hues of blue. The texture was also different than, for example, the thigh fades achieved without chemicals. It’s really not too dissimilar from what she shows in her photos.

This also had the benefit of smoothing out the contrast with the knee fades, making me fall in love with these jeans more than ever.

Question: would the same method cause a similar effect with my 8301 SBG 777s? Or will the sulfur-dyed fabric react differently? I don’t need super high contrast fades, but I like that middle ground, and these SBGs are really showing some character after almost 12 months of regular wear.

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