The unspoken, golden rule amongst denim heads is clear – do not wash your raw denim for the first six months. Putting the germaphobe’s concerns aside (though there is no argument to be had – see “After 15 Months without washing, Nudie pants show ‘normal’ bacteria levels”), this can pose quite a challenge. A lot can happen in six months, and needless to say, your raw denim will face a variety of “adversaries”. Case in point…
The solution for removing blood from raw denim is unfortunately not so clear. Some advocate dumping it in cold water with any detergent, others recommend hydrogen peroxide (beware of this method), and of course there are those that will always argue to just leave it!
To be honest, if the amount of blood is not too serious and you could care less, we would vouch as well for leaving it. Regardless of the cleaning agent or process, when applied you run the risk of fading your jeans.
Otherwise, if you are looking for a cleaning method, here are the 5 steps to removing blood from your raw denim:
- Lay jeans flat and isolate blood stained area
- Draw cold water (as cold as possible) and soak a cloth towel. Note: cold water is optimal for protein-based stains (i.e. blood) so it is vital you do not use warm/hot water
- Dab (don’t scrub) stained area until as much blood as possible is removed
- If denim is still stained, apply tiny amount of soap (ideally Woolite) or use stain remover pen
- Dab again with cold, wet cloth towel
Have you taken a different approach for removing any blood stains? If so, we’d love to hear from you below via our comment section.
Stay Raw!
-Nick
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