Keeping Your Jeans Dark

Nothing is worse than buying a dark pair of jeans and watching them fade. There are a few simple things that you can do to make sure they look new for as long as possible!

1. Soak Them In Vinegar

Try soaking your jeans in cold water and vinegar instead of washing them. Yes, vinegar. Add one cup of distilled white vinegar to a cold water bath and soak your jeans for about an hour. Hang or lay flat to dry, and don’t worry about smelling like vinegar—the odor goes away after your pants dry. This technique locks in the dye’s color, keeping your jeans dark and your furniture clean.

If you must use a washing machine, toss in a cup of vinegar on a hand-wash setting—but please, no detergent. Detergent does not play nice with your jeans.

2. Try A Steam Shower

Water, both warm and hot, not only fades your denim—it causes shrinkage. If you’re barely able to squirm into your skinny jeans, a hot bath is the last thing they need. Even if you don't use a dryer, hot water will cause fabric to expand and then shrink.

3. Hang Your Pants Outside

Your dryer poses just as much of a threat to your denim as the washer. High temperatures will make your jeans shrink, and all the tumbling leads to unnecessary wear and tear.

If it’s a nice day outside, hang your favorite pair outdoors. Having your jeans air out gives them a rejuvenated scent—just make sure they’re out of direct sunlight. The bright star we refer to as “the sun” can bleach your jeans faster than you'd think.

4. Freeze Your Jeans

Got an impromptu date and need to quickly freshen up your luscious raw denim? Stick your pants in the freezer for a few hours to temporarily eliminate odors.

Raw, or "dry" denim is denim that hasn’t been washed after dye is applied. The appeal of these jeans is the unique way their aesthetic develops over time. The rule of thumb for raw denim is to not wash them for six months. Washing will fade the dye too quickly; wearing them for an extended period of time will naturally fade certain areas and distress others. In other words, given enough time, raw denim becomes totally you.

5. Wash Them Properly

Always use a COLD/COLD cycle to keep dyes intact. You might even want to use a detergent specifically for dark clothing.

Launder jeans inside out using the gentle cycle to reduce the friction that rubs away their dye. If you clean everyone’s jeans in the same load, any color that does leach into the water will boost the colors of the other pairs.