How to Care for and Iron Pants

Proper care for pants can extend wear time and maximize the investment you've made in your clothing. Knowing how to care for and iron pants will keep them looking their best and ensure that every pair of pants in your closet is ready to wear at any time. Caring for your pants  takes only a few extra minutes every day and can reduce the amount of money you spend on repairs or special cleaning.

Caring for Pants:

1 Examine your pants after wearing them. Look for loose buttons, unraveling seams and tears. Keep a needle and thread on hand to make repairs. While a few loose stitches may seem like a minor problem, loose stitching can quickly lead to holes in the clothing, which are more difficult to repair.

2 Treat stains before they have begun to set. Stains on washable pants can often be treated with a prewash stain product or a small amount of laundry detergent rubbed into the stain and rinsed with water. Place a clean cloth under the stained area to absorb the stain. Stains on clothing marked "dry clean only" must be treated at a dry cleaner.

3 Wash machine washable fabrics immediately after wearing them. Remove items from the pockets and close buttons and zippers before washing. Open zippers can become caught in a washing machine's agitator or damage other clothing in the load. Take your pants out of the dryer while the clothing is still warm to minimize wrinkling.

4 Air out clothing marked "dry clean only." Letting pants get some air after they have been worn allows excess moisture to evaporate and minimizes wrinkling.

5 Use the appropriate heat setting for the fabric type when you iron pants. Cotton and wool pants can usually be ironed at a medium heat setting, while more fragile fabrics may require ironing on a low setting. Women's pants fashioned from silk or chiffon may need extra care as well

6 Turn the pants inside out and begin ironing at the waistband. Pass the iron over the clothing in smooth strokes, ironing the pockets, fly, seams and hems. Turn the pants right side out and iron any remaining wrinkles in the front of the pants and the legs.

7 Always hang your pants again before wearing them. Line up the seams first and use either rubber or cloth-padded hangers if draping the pants over them. These types of hangers will prevent creases from developing. Hang pants with pleats carefully to minimize puckering. You can also avoid wrinkles by hanging your pants from hangers that have clips to hold clothing in place, draping them either from the cuffs or the waistband. Don't use wire hangers to hang pants; wire hangers can cause creases and rust stains if exposed to moisture.

Denim Care Guide

An Introduction to Raw Denim

Dry denim is at its very best in a raw state – left unwashed the cotton becomes an organic map of its wearer’s body and a record in fabric of their personal story. Particular abrasion patterns, locations of wear and whiskering will appear over time as the fabric shifts and settles; the longer the denim is kept dry the more developed and indelible these coveted features become. Knees, ankles and crotch will develop wear and fading, which can be accelerated with grease or oil treatments.

With this in mind, raw denim’s first wash should be put off for as long as possible (if it has to happen at all). 6 months is considered the optimum time to let natural creases consolidate in the fabric but many true denim aficionados opt out of washing their raw denim altogether. Stuffing pockets with tumble dryer sheets or hanging jeans outside over night are ways to combat smell without compromising the true nature of raw denim.

Storage

As creases and contours mature, dry denim will fall into them naturally when you take them off. The easiest storage is to unbuckle your jeans and leave them where they fall. Aged, unsanforized denim can be hung to air without creases falling out.

Denim Shrinkage

Traditionally before denim is woven, the threads it’s made of are treated with wax or resin to stiffen them and make them easier to weave (although with most repro denim starch is used instead). When dry denim is washed for the first time, the fibers constrict and the denim shrinks. Raw denim can be sanforzied (treated with a sanforizing process that lessens shrinkage) but all raw denim will shrink to some degree upon immersion in water, up to its third wash.

Raw, unsanforized denim (untreated with the sanforizing process that minimizes shrinkage) will reduce in size between 10% and 30% over its first three washes, even when washed cold (the best way to keep shrinkage to a minimum). This is only an approximation however; shrinkage varies from brand to brand and even from style to style. If dry denim has been pre-treated (sanforized), shrinkage is greatly reduced – from the 10%-20% of unsanforized raw denim to an approximate 3-5%. Again, this shrinkage occurs predominantly over the first three washes.

Washing Methods

Rinsing denim before its first wear has practical advantages – mainly that any loose, transferable indigo will be lessened. The majority of starch will be removed so creases and whiskers will be softer but that is a look in itself that some denim fans want to achieve. A softer crease also lessens the chance of a fabric break.

With that said, all indigo is precious and jeans should not be washed if possible. Even if they’re worn all day they shouldn’t smell too bad. If they do need a clean, a proper denim laundry should be able to bake them to kill bacteria without shrinkage. Some people think that cotton becomes weak and dry without washing but there are denim fans who believe the opposite too. Some people choose to use odour eliminating sprays such as Febreeze to keep their jeans smelling decent.

If you do chose to wash your denim use as little soap as possible and if you can find a neutral or non-biological washing powder use this. Biological washing powder contains enzymes best avoided to preserve your denim. Don’t tumble dry. Even if you want shrinkage tumble drying doesn’t guarantee an even reduction.

There are many ways to wash your jeans. Many true denim geeks prefer to wear their jeans for as long as possible before washing and this is now one of the most commonly used techniques. This method means wearing your newly bought raw denim for a minimum of 6 months before finally machine washing at 60c, inside out and without washing agents. The jeans should then be worn in again and washed every 3 months at around 30 degrees. You should dry your jeans by hanging them in a shady spot where fresh air is flowing.

A little known Japense method recommends taking a bath in your jeans after a few months of wear. After around 90 days of wear, jump in a lukewarm bath with your jeans on and use a scrubbing brush to create a colour fading effect.

A third method known as the ‘reverse technique’ involves wearing your jeans after you have washed them. To try this, prepare water in a bucket between 30c and 40c and steep your jeans in it for 1-2 hours, making sure the jeans are fully submerged. If you like, you can add a table spoon of salt or vinegar to the water. Afterwards, take the jeans out of the bucket, and wash inside out at 40c without washing agents. Dry the jeans and wear! Using this technique, you should look to undertake your second wash after around 6 months of wear.

More Information on Drying

To maintain consistent colour dry indigo jeans flat. The dye can ‘marble’ when it’s wet if the denim’s resting unevenly. Make sure you dry thoroughly, as it can take denim up to 2 days to air dry. Hanging outside is best for your jeans but not always possible. To dry indoors you need a well ventilated room or airing cupboard. Never place directly onto a heat source such as a radiator, this will damage fabric and its finish. Lie flat and allow to dry as naturally as possible.