Taking care of your raw denim and achieving spectacular fades may seem like a monumental task, but it’s a lot easier than you may think. While there are some people who know what they’re talking about on the Internet, there is even more incorrect information that gets passed along. For instance, everybody swears by the 6 month rule. That is you should never wash your denim for a bare minimum of 6 months, but this arbitrary number doesn’t apply for everyone. Depending on the nature of things you do while wearing your jeans, that will ultimately decide how often and when you should wear your jeans. Some people may sit on their butts all day can prolong the period of time they can wash their jeans. Others wear their jeans doing physical work outside may want to wash them earlier.However, washing your jeans is not as complicated nor is it as detrimental to the final outcome as most people perceive to be. I strongly recommend soaking your jeans with a splash of laundry detergent whenever they smell terrible or have visible grime accumulated. The laundry detergent I strongly recommend is Woolite Dark. You can find this at your local supermarket.

Raw Denim Washing Instructions:

1. Fill tub with lukewarm water.
2. Add a small amount of laundry detergent. I recommend Woolite Dark for minimizing indigo loss.
3. Place jeans into bath tub turned inside out if you prefer. Move around in water to loosen up any dirt and grime.
4. Rinse jeans with clean water until soap is gone.
5. Hang to air dry.

Below you will find a video documenting the process, along with photos after the wash.