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What’s This About
Wash everyday jeans after roughly ten wears or when they are dirty or smell, inside out in cold water on a gentle cycle, and hang them to dry; raw denim gets fewer, gentler washes, by hand if you can.
This guide answers the questions men ask about the jeans on the bedroom chair, such as
• How many wears between washes?
• How do I wash jeans without fading or shrinking them?
• Is raw denim different, and when should it get its first wash?
• Does freezing jeans kill bacteria?
• Can jeans go in the tumble dryer?
and many more!
Check the care label first; it overrides any general rule, including the ones on this page.
Key Points
01Levi’s says to wash jeans “after about 10 wears, unless they are visibly dirty or start to smell”; Naked & Famous says “There is no required schedule”.
02To keep the colour and the size, turn jeans inside out, wash cold with a mild detergent on the gentlest cycle, and air-dry; Levi’s says “Using the dryer can damage denim, as well as shrink it.”
03Raw denim is washed less often and more gently, but it still needs washing: Levi’s warns that “excess dirt and bacteria buildup can cause the fabric to breakdown and tear.”
04Freezing does not clean jeans: a 2014 Stanford test for NBC Bay Area found about the same bacteria before and after, and Levi’s now says freezing may reduce odours but “may not remove dirt”.
The rule
Wash when they need it, not after every wear, and keep heat away: cold water, inside out, gentle cycle, air-dry.
How often to wash jeans
Jeans do not need washing after every wear.
Levi’s guidance is to “wash your jeans after about 10 wears, unless they are visibly dirty or start to smell”, and its help centre says once every 10 wears “at most to keep them fitting correctly and minimize sagging.”
Naked & Famous Denim takes the same line without a number: “There is no required schedule: wash your jeans when they are dirty, smell, or need refreshing.”
In practice that means: wash them when they smell after airing, when they are visibly dirty, or when they have stretched and bagged at the knees and seat.
Between washes, spot clean and air them; Levi’s says to “spot clean any stains with a mild soap and a damp cloth or an old toothbrush”.
How to wash jeans without fading or shrinking them
These steps are for ordinary washed or rinsed denim; raw denim follows below.
Step 1: check the care label; Naked & Famous says “The care label and product-specific instructions take priority”.
Step 2: empty the pockets, fasten the fly and button, and turn the jeans inside out; Levi’s says this step “protects the outer color from fading”.
Step 3: wash cold with a mild detergent; Levi’s says “Wash in cold water only”, because hot water “increases the chances of shrinkage and color loss.”
Step 4: choose the gentle or delicate cycle; Naked & Famous says to wash jeans separately, and dark denim can bleed indigo onto lighter clothes.
Step 5: hang them up or lay them flat to dry, away from the dryer.
Levi’s puts the drying advice in two words, “AIR. DRY.”, and Naked & Famous says to avoid “bleach, fabric softener and the tumble dryer.”
Levi’s also suggests drying them inside out “to protect the outer surface from dust” and to “avoid humid areas”.
Raw denim: when and how to wash it
Raw (or dry) denim is unwashed after dyeing, so it is stiff and dark and fades to the shape of the wearer as the indigo wears off at the creases.
Heddels, a denim publication, explains the trade-off: a wash removes indigo from the whole jean, so “the resulting fade will have less contrast”, while waiting longer lets dirt make the cotton fibres “more brittle and stretched out”.
So raw denim is washed less often, not never.
Heddels says its own interval is “about every 3-4 months of moderate wear”, and Levi’s says raw denim still needs washing rather than none at all, because built-up dirt can make the fabric tear.
Before the first wash: shrinkage
Raw denim shrinks on its first contact with water, so expect it before you have jeans hemmed.
Heddels says unsanforized, “Shrink-to-Fit” jeans “will reduce in size roughly 5-10% throughout the jean after the first wash and dry”, while sanforized jeans “will still shrink about 3-5% on first wash.”
It adds that “The waist on sanforized jeans will eventually stretch back out, but what you lose in inseam length will not.”
Check whether yours are sanforized: Naked & Famous says “All of our jeans are sanforized unless otherwise specified”.
The hand-wash soak
Levi’s says that for raw denim “hand washing your jeans is the best approach”.
Heddels gives a tub method: dissolve a little detergent in “a cool-lukewarm bath”, submerge the jeans, and leave them for “30-45 minutes”.
Drain, refill with cold water and rinse for another 5 to 10 minutes, then hang them to drip-dry.
Expect blue water: Heddels warns “Don’t wash your jeans with anything that you don’t intend to dye blue!”
A washing machine on a cold, gentle cycle also works; Heddels calls it “a perfectly valid and probably more sanitary way to wash your pants”, with the caveat that tumbling can soften the creases that make raw denim fades.
Does freezing jeans kill bacteria?
The idea spread after a Levi’s campaign, but a test did not support it.
In 2014, NBC Bay Area had a Stanford microbiologist swab a pair of jeans before and after a night in a lab freezer; afterwards there was “about the same amount” of bacteria as before.
The microbiologist, Adam Perez, said “this shows pretty conclusively that freezing your jeans does not kill the bacteria, at all!”
NBC reported that Levi’s “had changed its position on freezing jeans”, and Levi’s denim guide says freezing “is effective at reducing odors, but may not remove dirt the same way washing does”.
If your jeans smell, air them or wash them.
Common questions
Q. Can I put jeans in the tumble dryer?
Not for the main drying: Levi’s says the dryer “can damage denim, as well as shrink it”, and Naked & Famous says to avoid it.
Levi’s does allow a few minutes in the dryer to soften the denim: “Ideally, jeans should be air-dried, but you can always put them in the dryer for a few minutes to soften the denim.”
Check the care label first, especially on raw denim, which shrinks most after its first wash and dry (see the raw denim section above).
Q. How do I stop black jeans fading?
Wash them less often, inside out, in cold water with a mild detergent for dark colours, which Levi’s says “can help prevent fading”.
Q. Should I dry clean jeans?
Heddels does not recommend it: it is more expensive, “you won’t know what chemicals they’re using on your jeans”, and some cleaners may simply put them through a washer and dryer.
Q. Is it unhygienic not to wash raw denim for months?
Spot cleaning and airing keep jeans fresher between washes, but they do not replace washing; Heddels’ advice is “if you’re ever in doubt, you should probably wash your jeans.”
Sources checked for this article (5 October 2026)
Levi’s, The definitive guide to denim care: https://www.levi.com/US/en_US/blog/article/the-definitive-guide-to-denim
Levi’s help centre, How often you should wash denim: https://levihelp.levi.com/hc/en-gb/articles/17526849861137-How-Often-You-Should-Wash-Denim
Levi’s help centre, How often should you wash raw denim?: https://levihelp.levi.com/hc/en-gb/articles/17527822456081-How-often-should-you-wash-Raw-Denim
Naked & Famous Denim, FAQ (care): https://nakedandfamousdenim.com/pages/faq
Heddels, How to clean and wash your raw denim: https://www.heddels.com/2011/03/how-to-wash-and-clean-your-raw-denim-tips-instructions-video/
NBC Bay Area, Can you really clean your jeans by freezing them?: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/cleaning-your-jeans-by-freezing-them/86427/
Mandy Meyer’s focus at The VOU is men’s body-shape styling, garment fit and outfit proportions. Her coverage addresses the practical questions behind a wardrobe choice: how a jacket sits across the shoulders, how trousers fall and how different cuts change the silhouette a wearer wants to create.
Her subject areas include the triangle, inverted triangle, rectangle, oval, trapezoid, hourglass and diamond labels used in body-shape styling. These provide starting references for comparing visible proportions; they do not capture every body or prescribe one correct way to dress. The focus connects those observations with garment shape, construction, length and the relationship between the upper and lower parts of an outfit.
Mandy’s editorial coverage combines visual comparisons with fit checks for comfort and movement. Readers can consider whether a cut gives them the room they need, where clothing pulls or gathers and which changes might support their preferred look. The aim is to make menswear choices more understandable while keeping personal preferences and the wearer’s own styling goals central.
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