How to wash jeans and how often to do it

How often should you wash jeans

There is no single number, but Levi's suggests washing jeans after about ten wears unless they are visibly dirty or start to smell, and many denim enthusiasts go longer. Washing less keeps the color deeper and the fit closer to how the jeans have shaped to you, since each wash tightens cotton slightly and each wear relaxes it again. Jeans worn for gardening, a sweaty commute or a toddler's lunch need washing sooner, and there is no virtue in wearing dirty clothes to protect the indigo.

Between washes, spot clean small marks with a damp cloth, a drop of mild soap and a soft toothbrush, and hang the jeans somewhere airy overnight. You may have heard that freezing jeans cleans them. Levi's notes it may reduce odor but does not remove dirt the way washing does, so treat it as a stopgap at most. For lingering smells, our guide to getting smells out of clothes has better options.

Check the label and the kind of denim

The care label tells you the maximum water temperature and whether tumble drying is allowed; if a symbol is unfamiliar, our guide to reading laundry symbols explains it. Then look at the fabric content. Rigid jeans in 100 percent cotton tolerate the most. Stretch jeans contain elastane, also called spandex, and that fiber is sensitive to heat, so high dryer heat can leave stretch denim baggy at the knees or with a puckered, rippled surface over time.

Raw or dry denim, which has not been washed after dyeing, is a separate case covered below, as is anything with embellishment, leather patches you care about, or a sherpa lining. Black and very dark jeans lose color the same way indigo does, so they benefit from the same cold, inside out routine and a detergent made for dark colors.

How to wash jeans in a washing machine

For most jeans, a washing machine is perfectly fine as long as you control the temperature and the company they keep.

1. 01

   Empty pockets, then zip and button

   A closed zipper cannot chew other clothes or the inside of the drum, and a fastened button keeps the waistband from stretching out of shape. Remove belts and anything in the coin pocket.

2. 02

   Turn them inside out

   Should you wash jeans inside out? Yes. Levi's recommends it, and Iowa State University Extension explains that turning garments inside out reduces the rubbing that strips color from the outer face. You will see fewer white streaks along seams and pocket edges over time.

3. 03

   Wash with similar dark colors

   New dark jeans can bleed dye into the water for their first few washes, so Levi's suggests washing them apart from lighter items at first. After that, wash denim with other darks and avoid towels, which shed lint that clings to denim.

4. 04

   Choose cold water and a gentle cycle

   Cold water keeps fibers from swelling and releasing dye and limits shrinkage. Use a gentle or delicate cycle and a mild detergent, ideally one formulated for dark colors, at the dose on the bottle. Skip chlorine bleach on colored denim, where it leaves pale patches that cannot be reversed, and on any stretch denim, because chlorine also weakens elastane.

How to dry jeans

Air drying is the kindest option. Levi's recommends hanging jeans or laying them flat, inside out and in the shade, and avoiding the dryer where you can. To air dry jeans evenly, give them a firm shake, tug the side seams and hems straight, and hang them by the waistband from clips or over a drying rack so air reaches both legs. Expect them to take most of a day indoors. They will feel stiff at first; ten minutes in a dryer on low or air only setting, or simply wearing them for an hour, softens them again.

If you do use a machine, know how to dry jeans in a dryer without damage: choose low heat, take them out while the waistband and pockets are still slightly damp, and let them finish on a hanger. Overdrying, when fabric that is already dry keeps tumbling in hot air, is where much of the avoidable shrinkage and stretch damage happens.

Washing raw denim for the first time

Raw denim buyers usually want to wear their jeans for a while before the first wash, so the creases at the hips and behind the knees set into distinctive fades. Brave Star, a denim maker, suggests at least one and preferably two to three weeks of wear first. Check whether your jeans are sanforized, a treatment that preshrinks the fabric. Brave Star expects sanforized raw denim to shrink up to about 3 percent on the first wash and unsanforized denim up to about 10 percent, which is several inches in length.

For the first wash, most makers suggest hand washing. Levi's advises cold water, a gentle cleanser and no wringing for raw denim. Turn the jeans inside out, lay them flat in a bathtub of cold or lukewarm water with a small amount of mild detergent, press them under, and leave them to soak for up to about half an hour. Rinse, press out the water without twisting, and hang them to dry. Hotter water shrinks raw denim more, which some owners of unsanforized, shrink to fit jeans use deliberately to reach their size; follow your maker's instructions if they give them.

Hand washing jeans and denim jackets

Knowing how to wash jeans by hand is useful for raw denim, jeans with delicate details, or when you have no machine. The method is the raw denim soak above: cold water, a little mild detergent, inside out, press and swish rather than scrub, then rinse twice. Heavy wet denim holds a lot of water, so press it against the tub and let it drip in the bath for a while before hanging it.

A denim jacket follows the same logic. Button it fully, turn it inside out, wash cold on a gentle cycle with other darks, and dry it on a sturdy hanger so the shoulders keep their shape. Tug the collar and front edges straight while damp. If the jacket has a sherpa, wool or quilted lining, check its label: some linings need hand washing or a cleaner even when the denim shell could take a machine.