A suggestion for keeping them 'clean' and dark: No soap when washing. I have washed my STF 501s together for a couple years now. I wash 3 to 4 pair at a time, by themselves, and inside out. After visiting different sites and reading many comments about how much guys like the deep, dark color of the denim, it makes sense to me to machine wash them without soap. They're just getting a really good rinse, and dry, each time. I feel it supports the macho ruggedness of the jean. When washing my other jeans I use a tablespoon, or 1/4 of the recommended dose, of environmentally friendly liquid laundry soap (Costco's for me).
When it's time to wash your 501s
(26 posts) (11 voices)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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I wear my my new STF 501s raw and stiff for months with no thought of washing them. These new crisp dark blue 501s I keep neat and use only for "formal" wear.
When the time comes that they really need to be "washed", I slip them on and shower with them on, using luke warm water. They shrink up tight on my bod and give me a perfect fit. The blue dye runs down the drain, but enough is left to keep my STFs dark blue and still "hard". I always sun dry my STFs. Don't use soap, hot water or put them in the dryer.
When they become "old" 501s, I do wash them in the washing machine, and may use soap. They're only used for dirty work jeans at this point, so I don't have to keep them neat.
Posted 2 years ago # -
great thread Eric. I'd say if you are going to use the machine, I would definitely wash them inside out. I've had pairs get weird fading just from wrinkles while washing.
I think with the pair i'm wearing now i'm going to do a cold soak in the tub when they need to be washed...haven't decided whether i'll be in them or not
These jeans only saw water once when i soaked them for the first time in a hot tub. i may add a little bit of vinegar to the water to kill any nasties but I def want no fade and no de-wrinkle from the wash.
Posted 2 years ago # -
What's up! and Happy Summer everyone!
As a follow-up to my last post, I take back what I said
I realized that after not washing my 501s with soap they became a little musty smelling...and dirty feeling. Then one day I noticed I was sitting near an infant in a stroller at a coffee shop and it occurred to me that my jeans hadn't been washed with soap in weeks and weeks. This seemed gross and unacceptable to me. So now I wash all my jeans the same way -- inside out, on Cold, with 1/2 the detergent. A full dose of detergent makes so many suds I have to run another rinse cycle.As for the bathtub soak so many guys do with their brand new 501s, I did it
twice and won't do it again. A lot of work, and time spent wearing them wet/damp
till dry. Besides, all that wonderful dye goes down the drain that could be transferring into my older pairs when washing them with the new pair for the first time or two.Posted 2 years ago # -
The 501s I'm breaking in right now are absolutely reeking filthy. I gave them a bathtub soak to shrink them around the first part of March, and I've been wearing them ~3 days a week ever since. They've had two unintentional follow-up soakings. Once when I got caught in a downpour while out in my boat, and once during a huge hailstorm while mountain climbing. Recently, I've been wearing them to cut firewood, which is hot, sweaty, dirty work, and I'd say these 501s have definitely crossed the threshold into gross.
This particular pair, however, is wearing like iron. The cuffs are getting shellacked, but I'm only barely starting to see wear on the thighs. It's hard to imagine these getting any filthier, but I'm going to hold off on washing them until the first part of October.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Hey Cam, I think that you have the right idea in how to wear STF 501s. I work all week around dirty trucks in my 501s. By the second Friday, they're more brown than blue. Some of the grease and grunge washes out, otherwise they stay browned. Heck, they say that Levis are better the second or third week. They sell pre-"browned" jeans for big bucks.
The more you wash your STFs, the faster they bust up and fade out. I want em to last as long as possible before I toss em. Then there's that pair of STF 501s I bought in 2006. Did plenty of hiking in em at first. Wore these 501s at least once a week. Never washed these suckers. Only hosed em down once. They're still raw and stiff, wear patterns on the legs, frayed cuffs, butt pockets gettin holey. That wouldn't be so bad if the crotch hadn't started to bust out. Don't know what to do with these STFs now. They're dumped in my garage, cos they reek, and they are gettin holes in the wrong place. I don't want to wash these STFs and soften em up and I can't keep wearin em. What are your suggestions? Toss these 501s out or get duct tape?
Posted 2 years ago # -
i agree Tim and Cam, keep on keeping on
Posted 2 years ago # -
Tim, I hate it when the crotch busts. That's always the reason I finally end up throwing away a pair of Levi's. This current pair that I'm breaking in is showing definite signs of wear to the crotch. It's not too heavy on the outside, but on the inside the twill is already starting to fray. Seems like they wear from the inside out in this particular area. I wonder if it wouldn't be possible to proactively reinforce the material on the inside of the crotch with one of those iron-on patches or even a square of duct tape. I doubt it would prevent the crotch from eventually busting but it might significantly extend the life of a pair of Levi's.
I used to go through a pair of work gloves about ever other month because I would blowout the fingers. Then it dawned on me to just wrap the fingers with some duct of hockey tape, and now my gloves pretty much last indefinitely. I just keep replacing the tape. I throw my gloves away now because they get too stretched out and/or stinky.
Anyway, I'm going to start doing this and see if it makes a difference.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yep, I'm blowing out the crotches of my work STF 501 blues all the time. I try to get em to last longer by not washing my 501s until they're really sweaty.
The first sign of a crotch bust is a lite spot under your buttonfly. That'll tell you where you're gonna get a hole. Sometimes it's farther away from the fly, and you might get away with wearin your Levis longer. I think that new unwashed raw denim tends to bust up quicker. This is cos of the friction of the stiff denim.
The quickest way to fix holes in your 501s is duct tape. When my STFs get some hole in the crotch or leg, I reach for my role of duct tape and stick a piece on the inside of the jeans. Afterthat, it's to the garbage can with em ole 501s. Easier to toss out a torn faded pair of 501s than try to mend em. I just pull out another pair of crisp hard new STF 501 blues from my closet.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Well, it looks like I'm going to have to wash these 501's sooner than I really want to. I thought that if I wore them while doing dirty work, it would help break them in faster, but that idea backfired, more or less, because these 501's have crossed into somewhere that is beyond disgusting. They reek. It's foul, and I can't wear them anymore. I tried to deodorize them by putting them in the dryer with some fabric sheets, and that worked temporarily, but after working in them again for about 20 min., the stink returned as strong as ever.
Oh well. I had already resolved to not obsess much over the look of my 501's anymore. And this pair could actually use a wash to shrink them up again because they have really stretched out.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Since you are going to wash them anyways you may want to try soaking them to see if that does the trick first. You can do a cold soak or a warm soak and you don't have to wear them while soaking them if you don't want to. I've also heard that a bit of vinegar and salt in the water helps clean and deodorizer as well. the advantage to this is that your wrinkles won't be reset like they would in the washer so you can continue fading those same whiskers and honeycombs you have now. i'm going to try this method first when it's time to wash mine.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Cam/ Ned,
Reading your posts with interest. That pair of never washed STF 501s was hanging in my closet. I know that they've never been cleaned since I bought em in 2006, just turned the hose on these STFs once. Did my share of freeballing in em too- that didn't help.
Well, I couldn't decide what to do with these 501s, didn't plan to wear em again. They didn't look or smell that gr8 round the buttonfly. Besides that crotch hole was developing. (This isn't the first pair of STF 501s that busted up in the crotch by the first washing- makes a guy want to switch to Wrangs).
I then remembered that tight snug fit of these unwashed STFs against my bod. I pulled them on again, "as is", and wore em to an outdoor event. They're just too cool to wash or trash. The dark blue dye hides the raunch, and I let my top hang out to cover some of 501 front. Nobody noticed or cared. They just saw a dude in some snug good fittin jeans.
Don't think I'll ever wash them with soap anyway. I might try hand washing in cold water with vinegar and salt. Want to retain the "new" look and feel. Keep me updated.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Since you are going to wash them anyways you may want to try soaking them to see if that does the trick first.
I considered doing as you suggest, but this pair was so caked with filth that they really required a full washing. Once all the grim was off of them, they turned out to have worn quite nicely. After they've faded a little more, they'll look just like I want them to look.
Posted 2 years ago # -
i have many pairs of Levi's that are busted or destroyed in some way, not as many as i would have liked to keep but still quite a few. sometimes i will pull a pair out of retirement, like my pair of skinners (there is no way i could ever throw away a pair of Levi's that expensive and even more so because they were a gift and they have so many amazing stories attached to them). i don't know about you guys but i look at every pair i retired and i see a story or great memory behind every hole and stain. im saving every pair i can so that when i get my next apartment i can line my living room with meat hooks and hang the ones that have the most meaning to me from them. i think it would be great to walk into a room and just need to see one hole on one pair of 501's to be reminded of the crazy awesome night that caused me to make that small tear. and if something that small on just one pair of 501's can remind me of such great times imagine what a whole room or wall filled with jeans just like those with so many different stains and holes and tears and frays all hanging there with there own story's can do. so yeah i have to vote for not throwing them away. if its got to that point clean the up and hang them up, or put them away. you are not going to wear them anymore if you plan on tossing them so some damage to the color and what not wont matter, but days, weeks or years from now when you look at them and remember all the fun things you did while wearing them it will be worth holding on to them
Posted 2 years ago # -
Hi 501sand, like your postings. I've got a bungh of old levis that I can't part with either. lots of stories and activities to tell. check pm for more. I wonder where all of our 501 experiences will end up. read rangers in belts blog. I explain how to hookup 2 steel rings on a belt.
Posted 2 years ago # -
You guys need to realize that 501's are not made as durable as they used to be. When the great progressive Levi Strauss Company switched from paying union wages to third world slave wages, the company also reduced the thickness of the denim from 14 oz to 12.5 ounces, 14 oz. denim is considered the beginning of heavy weight denim. 12.5 oz denim is mid-weight. As a marketing gimmick (lie), instead of calling mid-weight denim, for what it is, mid-weight, it's often refered to as 'premium' denim. Hey, lets go to McDonalds for a steak dinner.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Welcome, 501sandadderall! Great there is some action again, the forum has been quite dead for a while.
Steven, great post!
Posted 2 years ago # -
I never wash my jeans and denim jackets, I just wear them in 3 stages: Office - Outdoor activities like climbing - really bad jobs out in the dirt (cutting wood in the forest,...).
With this kind of wear schedule, I have made very good experiences so far and after some stuff isn't wearable anymore, the leftovers will end in my Jeansmuseum, where I try to rescue as many raw denim rags as possible.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I have a "new" pair 501 stf, started wearing aug. 09, still unwashed 3/10. Fading on thighs and seat. mostly freeballing, so crotch is showing more wear and stuff. Interesting how the creases begin to show more and more. I wonder what will happen to the creases when I wash/rinse them I also think they are shrinking slowly to my body shape as I wear them daily, for all activities I do. I like swiss's post and sandadderall's posts, seems we all have a lot in common.
Posted 1 year ago # -
swiss-jeans; interested in your museum,I have a donation for your collection. I lost your e-mail address. e-m me @ bud501@hotmail.com I enjoyed your web site, its interesting in german.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Regarding the crotch wearing out, one method I use is to "retire" these types of jeans to the home front. If jeans have the seat and/or crotch worn a bit too much to be worn out in public, I save them for the winter months and wear long johns underneath. The long johns provide the necessary security for any exposure accidents. With long johns underneath, a pair of crotch busted jeans is good for at least a winter and usually two or three before the hole(s) get too big for even home use.
If you don't live in a climate that justifies long johns, I just don't know what to tell you. Donate? Not sure who'd take them. Save them for material? That's getting into pack rat territory. Put them in a box on the side of a country road like a box of kittens, free to kind hearted souls passing by?
Posted 1 year ago # -
In regards to your long john method, do you typically use these worn out jeans as winter work clothes or are they so worn that you wear them more as lounge-about type of clothes?
Throwback, I use them as lounge wear as any additional work could/would really tear the crotch and/or knees further.
I've seen one method for reinforcing the crotch of jeans that looks like it'd be fairly easy for someone with basic sewing skills.
I've yet to try this and it may come in handy as a means to prolong the life of the jeans.
If you Google: +denim +"crotch reinforcement" you'll get some ideas, especially with the images option.
Personally, by the time the jeans need crotch reinforcement, they're lounge jeans. The crotch reinforcement would simply be a means of prolonging their "lounge life." Something about the crotch and seat area of the jeans coming to it's end lets me know the jeans are in their "golden years" and shouldn't be pushed too hard.
Knee rips and patching is another story. I can still work in jeans with knee patches. That's one of the reasons I'm not throwing out old jeans. I plan on using the good bits as reinforcements for when the knees start to give out. This might also look pretty cool as the jeans that are being used for the reinforcement parts will have different character from the originals. When I end up doing this, I'll be sure to make a thread on it, as it really does justify it's own pictorial.
Posted 12 months ago # -
Thanks a bunch for the info, Hank!... and also for the illustrative photo! I actually have nearly zero sewing skills, but my father is surprisingly good. Maybe I could get him to fix a beloved pair in the future.
It would be a shame to retire a beloved pair to their "golden years" as you said, but it would be better than bringing them to the point of no return.
Do you, or anyone else, have a pic of a "golden year" pair of STF 501's. Would love to see what they look like!
Here's a relevant commercial:
Posted 12 months ago # -
Throwback, I don't have a picture of any personal "golden years/retirement" jeans. Yet.
I can post a clip of a new pair of Levis 501. It made such an impression on me when it came out. "Man the jeans are so hard, they scuff you."
http://www.naden.de/blog/bbvideo-bbpress-video-plugin -->
Levis had all these great commercials. I'm not sure if they're still making great commercials, as I don't watch television as much these days.
Posted 12 months ago #
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