Denim Washes & Finishing Process
The ultimate display of detail is found in true vintage denim.
The story of each wearer has been indelibly recorded on each pair- each
abrasion pattern, area of wear and whiskering, each grease stain are tell tale
signs of what each pair has lived through. To achieve this effect naturally
takes years of wearing in dry denim without washing- the patinas created
through wear are completely personal to you and tell a very special story.
This also takes a great deal of patience. A lot of blood sweat
and tears has gone into discovering techniques to speed up denim aging and wear
processes that produce a naturally vintage look. The majority of this very
skilled work is done by hand and the process is very time consuming.
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ABRASION
Process of making garments look worn and aged by scraping or
rubbing the surface of the fabric causing abrasion. Pumice stones are most
frequently used by industrial laundries.
ACID WASH
(Marble/ Moon Wash/ Snow Wash)- This finish gives indigo jeans
sharp contrasts. The process is achieved by soaking pumice stones in chlorine
and letting these stones create contrast. The process was created in Italy and
patented in 1986.
ATARI
Japanese term describing the selective fading of the ridges of
creases. The most common areas for ‘Atari’ are along side seams, on the front
and back of the knees, the upper thigh, along the hem, on belt loops and along
pocket seams.
Atari effect on belt loops - Martin Margiela Blue Jeans pictured
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BLEACH
A chemical used to make denim fade. Liquid bleach is usually an
aqueous solution of sodium hypochlorite, and dry powdered bleaches contain
chloride of lime (calcium hypochlorite).
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CAST
A term that describes shading. Depending on the method and type
of dye used, indigo denim can have a black, brown, gray, green, red, or yellow
cast to it.
CELLULOSE ENZYME WASH
Enzymes which are like yeast , are used to physically eat away
the cellulose in cotton. Since the colour in denim fabric is actually on the
outside of the yard, when the denim is washed in a cellulose enzyme bath the
indigo is removed along with the fiber. When the desired colour has been
achieved, either changing the alkalinity of the bath or heating the water stops
the enzymes from reacting. A rinsing and softening cycle follows. This process
is more environmentally friendly than stone washing because strip-mined pumice
stones are not used.
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DESIZING
An amylase enzyme rinse (desize) used to soften denim. A type of
size such as cornstarch is added to the warp yarns prior to weaving in a
process called slashing, which adds stiffness to the yarns. During the desizing
step, the amylase enzyme attacks the starch and removes it from the fabric. Although
this process reduces colour slightly, it is primarily used to give a softness
and drapability to denim.
DIPS
Used to describe fabric or yarn when they are immersed in dye.
Indigo yarns are usually dipped in an indigo bath six times.
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ENZYMES
Enzymes, which are proteins present in all living cells, speed
up chemical processes that would run very slowly if at all. They are non-toxic
and readily broken down. Enzymes are used in textile processing, mainly in the
finishing of fabrics and garments.
ENZYME WASH
Considered a more efficient and environmentally sound way to
stone wash jeans. Rather than using pumice stones, organic enzymes (proteins)
are used that eat away at the indigo. Jeans finished using enzymes tend to be
stronger than those broken down by traditional stone washing, as the fabric is
not subjected to the same level of abuse.
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FINISHING
The techniques or processes performed on a garment, which give
it it’s unique look.
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GARMENT DYE
A dyeing process performed on finished garments, as opposed to a
yarn dye, which takes place prior to the weaving of yarn. If you see pocket
linings or labels that look the same colour as the self-fabric, the garment was
likely garment dyed.
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HAND
A description of the way a fabric feels. A subjective judgement
of the feel or handle of a fabric used to help decide if a fabric is suitable
for a specific end use. The hand can be described as crisp, soft, drapable,
smooth, springy, stiff, cool, warm, rough, hard, limp, soapy etc. Finishing and
garment wash will affect the final hand of a fabric.
HANK DYEING
This is a very special dyeing process that very few people use.
The yarns are loosely arranged in skeins or hanks. These are then hung over a
rung and immersed in a dye bath being dipped in and out and left to oxidize in
the air between each dip giving the yarns a natural irregularity of patina and
caste. In this method, the colour penetration is the best and the yarns retain
a softer, loftier feel.
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INDIGO
The dye used for denim, initially taken from the indigofera
tinctoria plant. It was synthesized 14 years after it’s chemical structure
was identified by Adolf Bayer in 1897. Indigo’s inherent features are good
colour fastness to water and light, a continual fading and it’s inability to
penetrate fibers completely. This allows the blue colour in jeans made dyed
with indigo to always look irregular and individual. Pre-1920’s jeans were
generally dyed with natural indigo and were- as far as one can tell by
comparing vintage examples- paler in colour, with a green cast. Later jeans
were a darker blue, particularly used in combination with sulphur dyes. The
majority of indigo used today is synthetically made. Natural indigo has a
slightly red cast.
IRO-OCHI
Japanese term referring to the fading of indigo dye in denim.
The term specifically relates to fading in exposed areas and not across the
entire garment.
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LAUNDRY
In the ‘Denim Industry’, a Laundry is a manufacturing company
that takes unwashed jeans and processes them. This processing includes washing,
stone washing, sandblasting, garment dyeing , finishing, use of ‘Tonello’
machine with abrasive bristles, applying enzymes to simulate a ‘whisker’ effect
and sandpapering by hand. Laundries today are critical in making jeans look
commercial and wash development has become as important as fabric development
in the denim industry. The best Laundries and wash developments come from the
U.S, Japan and Italy.
LOOP DYED
One of the three major industrial methods of dyeing indigo
yarns. In the loop dyeing process, the yarn is dyed in a single bath instead of
several. The desired depth of colour is attained by passing the yarn through
the vat several times. Subsequently as part of the same process, the yarn is
sized.
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MERCERIZATION
An industrial process used on yarn or fabrics to increase it’s
lustre and dye affinity. For fabrics used in the denim industry, mercerization
can be used for keeping dye on the surface of the yarns or fabrics and to
prevent dyes from fully penetrating the fibres.
Mercerised cotton yarn reels
MICROSANDING
In this fabric treatment process, a series of cylindrical rolls
in a horizontal arrangement, either wrapped with an abrasive paper or
chemically coated with an abrasive , are used to create a soft, sueded hand.
The denim is pulled over the face of the sand rollers creating a raised surface
finishinig. Some colour reduction is experienced.
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OVERDYE
A fabric dyeing process in which additional colour is applied to
the fabric or garment to create a different shade or cast. ‘Dirty Denim’ is
often created by applying a yellow overdye to denim. By localising the
application of the tint, you can create specific areas that look dirtier than
the surrounding areas.
OXIDATION
Occurs when oxygen and another substance chemically join. This
occurs when indigo yarn comes out of the bath between dips.
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PIGMENT DYES
Dyes that do not have an affinity for fibre and must therefore
be held to the fabric with resins. They are available in almost any colour and
are used extensively in the denim industry by fabric dyers who want to create
fabrics that fade more easily.
PUMICE STONES
Volcanic stone used for stone washing garments. Pumice is
popular because of it’s strength and light weight. Before the use of pumice,
rocks, plastic, shoes and just about every other material was used to wear down
and soften denim during the laundry process.
Pumice stones
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RING DYEING
Describes a characteristic unique to indigo dye in which only
the outer ring of the fibres in the yarn is dyed while the inner core remains
white.
RIVER WASHING
A washing process using a combination of pumice stones and
cellulose enzymes to give denim a vintage, worn hand. The washer is loaded only
with stones and fabric for the first cycle. Enzymes are introduced for the
second stage in combination with the stones and they are tumbled until a
naturally aged look is produced.
ROPE DYEING
Considered the best possible method to dye indigo yarns. The
threads of denim yarn are twisted into a rope, which is then fed through
sequence of being dipped into a bath of indigo dye, followed by exposure to
air, multiple times. The frequency determines the ultimate shade of blue.
Rope dyeing machine at Shandong Wantai
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SANDING/EMERSING
A fabric finishing process where fabrics are sanded with real
sandpaper to make the surface soft without hair. It can be performed before or
after dying.
SANFORIZATION
A pre-shrinking fabric process that limits residual fabric
shrinkage to under 1%. The process includes the stretching and manipulation of
the denim cloth before it is washed. Raw, un-sanforized jeans will shrink 7-10%
after the first wash, and continue to shrink slightly up to the third wash.
Developed in the late 1920s by the Sanforize Co. and patented in 1928, the
process was reportedly first used by Erwin Mills in 1936 to make denim for
overalls marketed under JC Penney’s Big Mac label. Lee jeans were made from
Sanforized fabric soon afterwards, Lady Levi’s introduced around 1935 were also
Sanforized although most other Levi’s jeans remained shrink-to-fit for another
three decades.
SANDBLASTING
A laundry process performed before washing in which jeans are
shot with guns of sand in order to abrade them and cause a worn appearance.
While originally done by hand this process is now automated at most large
laundry houses.
SLASHER DYEING
One of three main methods of dyeing indigo yarn.
STONEWASHING
A process that physically removes colour and adds contrast. A 20
yard roll of fabric, generally 62 inches in width, is put into a 250-pound
washing machine along with pumice stones. The fabric and stones are rotated
together for a set period of time. The washing time dictates the final colour
of the fabric- the longer the denim and stones are rotated the lighter the
colour becomes and more contrast is achieved. The denim is then rinsed,
softened and tumble dried. Both Marithe & Francois Girbau from France
and the Japanese ‘Edwin’ claim to have pioneered this finishing technique.
Stone Wash Denim - Levi's® Vintage 1947 Frayed Dry Jean pictured
SULPHER BOTTOM
Many manufacturers apply a sulphur dye before the customary
indigo dye; this is known as Sulpher Bottom dyeing. This can be used to create
a grey or yellow ‘vintage’ cast.
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TATE-OCHI
Japanese term referring to occurrences of ‘Iro-ochi’ forming in
vertical lines in vintage denim. As the thread width is not uniform in vintage
denim, the colour fades the most where the thread is the thickest. This creates
a white or severely faded thread of several centimetres along a single vertical
indigo thread.
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WHISKERING
A fading of the ridges increases in the crotch area and back of
the knees, which gives the appearance of aged denim. It can also be inverse-
dark creased in faded denim.
Whiskering effect - Levi's Vintage Golden Ochre 505's pictured
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YARN DYE
Refers to fabric in which the individual yarns are dyed prior to
weaving- denim is a yarn dyed fabric.
