There's no better feeling than slipping into those favourite impeccably-fitting pair of jeans. But how many of us actually know how to give our beloved denim the TLC it deserves? Well, we've done the hard work for you. 

 

First up, let's debunk the mystery of what denim actually is. Denim is a woven twill fabric, usually made from cotton. It's made by weaving two yarns together; the yarn that runs across (known as the weft) is threaded over and under the yarn that runs downwards (known as the warp). This cross weave is what makes denim so much stronger than regular cotton. 

Denim is usually then yarn-dyed with indigo, which means the warp yarns are dyed before they're woven in, and the weft yarns are left untouched (or sometimes bleached) to create that visibly woven look. 

They need a little extra love and care because over washing denim runs the risk of prematurely breaking down the fibres of the weave, losing that "stiff" feel, and fading the indigo dye. 

 

 

We turned to the eco denim experts over at Max to teach us the golden rules for washing their 100% natural and recycled fibre denim: 

  1. Wash less. Try to give it a good couple of months of wear before the first wash of your new jeans. From there, they can keep going for about 3-5 wears between washes. The microbes that build up on unwashed jeans are not actually harmful (or visible) so the general rule of thumb is just to wash when they are visibly dirty. If they need a little freshen up along they way, a good spritz of Fabric Spray will do the trick.

  2. When they are looking (or smelling) a little worse for wear, just turn them inside out and pop them in a maximum 40 degree cycle with some regular Laundry Detergent

  3. Then, dry inside out, and preferably in the sun - the ultra-violet rays from the sunshine will kill off any pesky microbes. 

So there you have it - with a little love and care, your denim will stay strong and stylish through whatever life throws at you. 

For our handy life hack on stretching out shrunk jeans, check out our video here

Zoe Goldberg