How do manufacturers give their jeans a vintage look?

Question

How does the vintage wash work? What is used? It's not just bleach and stones, because some vintage jeans have a darkish blueish yellowish tinge to them. How, how, how?

Answer 1

i swear, some of them throw the jeans on a gravel driveway, and drive over them repeatedly, slamming on the brakes and skidding on the jeans, and pealing out on them... then they soak them in really rusty water until they get the look they want. I just don't understand why people pay extra for pre-destroyed clothing. Why not buy affordable/cheap ones, and wreck them yourself? (I know, I"m a party-pooper.)

Answer 2

Use a weak dye solution to get the color. Dip for the splotchy effect. You can also just get a mechanic or construction worker to wear them for about a week straight! Not only will they look vintage, they will smell vintage!
The groovy holes come extra... shoot with shotgun, from 20 paces, then wash repeatedly. Note: you may have to get the mechanic to wear them again after all that washing!

Answer 3

This page describes how manufacturers give jeans that vintage look.
Go to: jeans-and-accessories.com to learn more


Let's Distress this Denim

Industrial pre-aging of jeans makes results predictable, and offers a huge gamut of options. Some of the processes employed to make vintage jeans are reproduceable controled techniques and others are very expensive, hand made finishes. Choose your favorites, but remember that you are buying into what is by definition a “half-aged” garment. It is estimated that a distressed pair of pants has gone through what would have been 25 regular washes. If used and washed frequently, they will not last as long as you would want. Check out our suggestions for care of your vintage jeans to get the most mileage out of your investment.

Some of the processes available are listed below. There is no limit to what designers can achieve with these options, so rest assured that you are bound to find something that suits your own taste and personality:




Most Common Finishes


Enzyme Wash: Creates an antiqued look by taking advantage of the catalytic ability of enzyme cellulase. The enzyme catalyses the hydrolysis of the cellulose fibre and so leads to the breakdown of fibres on the surface of the fabric and the subsequent loss of the indigo dye they have encapsulated. Since this process is not abrasion based, it does not damage the fibres the way that a stonewash does and creates a great vintage jeans look. It does, however, require the use of special softeners and smoothing agents. This should theoretically give the jeans a longer life.
Fraying: Fraying is the actual directed destruction of denim fibers in a selected area. Natural looking wear of the fabric can be simulated on tops of waistbands, pockets or hem of the jeans.
Garment Dyed: The garment is dyed after it sewn to achieve an intense saturation of color
Hand Sanding: A way of reproducing wear patterns, such as whiskers, chevrons, or other damage marks in localized areas, simulating long term wear
Rinse: Garments are washed with softener to soften the fabric and this process can be done with clear softener where it only achieves a softer touch. A black softener can also be used to achieve a softer touch and to darken the denim. This is one of my favorite approaches to vintage jeans.
Sandblast: Jeans are sprayed with sand by hand before washing to create a used and old look in specificareas of the garmentSunbleached: A combination of sandblasting and bleach which gives the denim a very soft powdery feel.
Stonewash: The garment is washed with pumice stones. The stones break some of the fibres and release the indigo dye. giving the fabric a lighter, weathered look and soft feel . There are different levels of destruction for this wash: light, medium and heavy. Different size stones give different effects. Bleach can also be added during this process to lighten the color and further age the garment. The process is fundamentally an abrasion technique.
Tint: A little tint (color) is added to the garment to change cast, hue, and color appearance. This achieves different tonalities and shades, changing the fabric color. This finish was made very popular by Diesel Jeans some years back when they used it to achieve a “dirty” look. A brown dye was used to achieve this look.
Torn Jeans: A manufactured tear, made to appear natural.
Whiskering: Pigment is removed in areas where natural wear would occur due to creases, as in the crotch area. In my opinion, very difficult to pull off and usually looks phony.



A lot of what today we refer to as “vintage jeans” has started to develop a meaning beyond the old, used jeans look. Some combinations of finishes can take on some truly edgy, fashion forward charateristics. Treatment on top of treatment can create results that are totally novel, impossible to achieve through regular wear.
Now, if you’re a bit of the do it yourself type, you may want to learn how to make your own vintage jeans at home. It’s easy and fun, but it takes practice to achieve results anywhere near what the professionals offer.

Some awesome results can be still be achieved with these simple methods.


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Answer 4

I know that the Gap hand destresses their jeans. First, they just dye the canvas/material to the desired darkest wash for the single pair, then they have people acctually sand them in the desired areas.
... that is one of the reasons that it's hard to find 2 pair exactly alike. Now, never finding the 2 same sizes in the same length is another deal involving machinery and stacking too much fabric ontop of eachother... but i digress

Answer 5

You can bleach them first and then dye them a different color...the color of your dye will mix with the denim color of the jeans and give a different 'tinge' that will vary in color depth according to how the jeans have been bleached...I used this technique on re-vamping old jeans with intereting results...good luck.

Answer 6

Buy RIT dye in yellow and blue mix lightly then after you have done everything else to your jeans that you want spray lightly where you want the color take a nail brush work it in and then wash in cold water.

Answer 7

Can't say as I understand why jeans that look like they were dragged down the road and peed on by the dog are fashionable

Answer 8

Its all about the finishes that the manufacturers use. It could be certain dyes or stone washing.

Answer 9

Size 3 is a junior size. You might be more comfortable a misses size 4.

Answer 10

they put a little bleach on them for a while and fade out the color