A New Old Method For Keeping Your Clothes Clean

In ancient days nothing shouted 'Clueless' like a brand new pair of jeans.  People would buy Levis and torture them so that the first time they were worn was after they had shrunk and faded. 

Today, people buy cheap jeans which look as if they suffered.  Of course washing these cheap jeans leads to collecting threads from the washing machine. 

Speaking of washing machines, I don't know the purpose of washing machines,  I never met one which didn't take raw pleasure from destroying clothes or vomiting lint all over them. This destructive nature was useful in the ancient days when one needed to fade and shrink their jeans before wearing.  Not any more.   Especially considering the cheap crap that claims to be clothing today.

And nothing is more fragile than black jeans.

A few months ago I bought a pair of black jeans.  They are now grey. 

I don't want grey jeans.  I want black jeans.  So I had to buy another pair.  And I knew I could never wash them.

I decided to try something I'd only read about.   That is, sponging. 

You know that a dry sponge rubbed along cloth with remove lint and dust.   So I used that.  Then I moved (after ten wears) to a damp sponge.  Working quickly, going along the leg I got most of the surface grime.   After fifteen wears, I turned them inside out and went over them with a damp sponge.  So far so good.

They aren't standing by themselves and haven't picked up any high odor, so I'll see how long I can go without washing them.

 

7 Comments

Written by LPerry, 377 days ago.
Great article :) This reminds me of a time when I was in junior high school and wore a brand new pair of super-stiff Levi's to school without washing them. It poured down rain on the way home and I had navy blue legs for a week. Back then, jeans didn't come "pre-washed". Good luck with your black jeans!
Written by Jaye, 377 days ago.
I am going to wear them on Thurs. Really, I want Black jeans. With Levis, yeah, what we used to do is wash them, then put them on when they are drying...(after all the dye came out) and they would shrink to fit.
Written by Jaye, 371 days ago.
I wore them 15 times without washing...on Sunday I washed them as delicate in a gentle cycle...they still faded...not too much...but enough...alas
Written by LPerry, 371 days ago.
Not everyone is into this, but I have had great luck using Rit Dye to make fading colors fresh again. A pair of jeans would take a BIG pot as they have to be in boiling hot water. Black dye would be messy. of course, but your jeans would end up as black as midnight. Some folks will do it in their washing machines, too.

The fun part is telling people what's cooking in the pot when they ask ha ha :)
Written by Jaye, 370 days ago.
That is the last resort; I once did the Rit thing...what a mess, and the dye keep running out. I did a pair of navy pants years ago which still fades. So far tho; after the 15 non-washes I did the delicate thing...they aren't that faded, tho...
Written by LPerry, 365 days ago.
Yes, there is definitely a messy factor with fabric dye. I have had a few nightmares with my attempts at tie dyed t-shirts when they were popular when I was in junior high school. No cool patterns for me...just blobs of yucky brown when the colors mixed together because I didn't tie them right ha ha
Written by Jaye, 361 days ago.
The tie dying thing was really cool....my mother was pretty good at it. I only tried to dye solid colours with deathly results.
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Written by 378 days ago
in Cleaning
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