I’ve got a confession to make – I do not wash my pants. I’ve got a closet full of dungarees (I love that word! It is so much more cool than “jeans”) and I rarely ever wash them.
That’s correct, I rarely ever wash my jeans.
Sure I have my “work jeans” for when I am going to be rolling around under the car or if I am doing yard work where I will get particularly dirty. My Carhartt bibs serve me well in that environment.
I also have a pair of Levi 501s that I call my “weekenders”. Those are the jeans I wear on Saturday and Sundays for hacking around the neighborhood with my family.
Last weekend I washed those jeans after 18 or 20 months of weekend wear. They had been soaked previously; that was when I first got them and wore them from wet until they dried on my body (that is not as uncomfortable a process as some imagine). However, last weekend was the first full cold water machine-wash that they have received.
As for my other jeans – the ones pictured hanging in my closet – most of them have ever been washed.
On Monday morning or Sunday evening I choose the pair of jeans I will wear for the coming week. I have nine pair (and another pair on their way) that I rotate through.
If I get a little spill on my jeans I will spot clean them. However, most of these jeans, other than the dark grey, the light grey, or the khaki twills, have never been inside a washing machine.
And the most amazing thing? You can’t tell that they have never been washed!! They do not look dirty and they certainly do not smell.
I did say that I have a new pair on the way. They are a pair of super heavy weight (16 ounce denim) dungarees from my friends at Gustin that I purchased before the Canadian dollar plunged in value next to the US dollar. I will post more about them once they arrive later this week.
Until then, keep on not washing your jeans!!