Denim has become an indispensable part of fashion today. It comes in various styles, washes, and looks to complement any dress. Various technological advancements, such as improved spinning, weaving, finishing, etc. And it has contributed to making denim the fashion icon it is today. To create beautiful denim jeans, washing is essential. There are numerous effects consumers look for on their jeans, which is why washing plays a significant role in the denim chain. Let’s take a look at about to Denim Jeans Washing Process.
What is Denim Washing?
The Denim jeans washing process increases the value of denim garments. The process also makes denim garments more comfortable to wear. Unwashed denim is sometimes tricky to wear. In addition to increasing the appearance of denim garments, washing them adds value. A better-washed product assures a higher standard of denim. Because of the differences in denim washing methods, the purpose of washing denim and the outcome also vary.
There are numerous buying house in Bangladesh and they are using the below method to do denim washing.
Today, we are going to discuss the different types of denim jeans washing processes. Let’s get started.
- Denim Jeans Washing Process
- Regular washing
- Stone washing
- Acid wash
- Bleach washing
- Enzyme wash
- Ozone fading
- Water jet fading
- Laser treatment
- Dip dyeing
- Pigment washing
- Tie-dyeing
Regular Washing:
One of the simplest and most commonly used denim jeans washing processes is regular washing. A standard washing procedure involves using a detergent for approximately 15 minutes at temperatures between 60 °C and 90 °C. after the denim jeans washing process there need to apply softener. It is possible to improve the softness and comfort properties of denim garments and the aesthetic properties with regular washing.
- Light washing (Washing takes about 5 minutes.);
- Regular washing (Washing takes about 15 minutes.);
- Heavy washing (Washing takes about 30 minutes.).
As the washing process is dependent on the actual condition, there is little difference between light, regular and heavy washing (Chong, 1994; Zhao, 2008; Li and Liu, 2013). Generally, the process involves:
Wetting → Desizing → Regular washing → Softening.
Stone washing
In the denim jeans washing process, volcanic or pumice stones serve as abradants. In this process, color fading is less uniform and more apparent. The amount of color fade is determined by the washing time (60-120 minutes), stone ratio (weight of stones compared with the garment weight) (0.5: 1–3:1), stone size (1-7 cm), and liquor to fabric ratio (*10:1) (Chong, 1994; Pal, 2010; Li and Liu, 2013). There are several significant producers of pumice stone worldwide, including the USA, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Iceland, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, and the Philippines. There are a few basic steps to denim stone washing.
Desizing (10–15 min) → Rinsing → Stone washing → Rinsing (with perborate and optical brightener if necessary) → Softening.
The look of denim garments produced by stone washing can be described as vintage or ‘used.’ It is the result of the garment’s varying degree of abrasion. Stonewashed denim garments with pumice stones can achieve a soft hand and a desirable look. Different shapes, compositions, harnesses, and porosities of denim fabric result in different washing effects.
Acid wash
After the stone has been infused with a potent oxidizing agent (either potassium permanganate (3–6%) or sodium hypochlorite (5–10%)), it is applied to the garments by dry tumbling. Depending on who you read (Chong, 1994; Pal, 2010), this technique is referred to as ‘acid washing,’ ‘snow washing,’ or ‘ice washing.’
Sodium hypochlorite and potassium permanganate are both potent oxidizing agents used to soak stones.
Desizing (10–15 min) → Soaking stones with an appropriate oxidizing agent → Draining excess liquor → Dry tumbling (10–30 min) → Rinsing to remove stone-dust → Rinsing with oxalic acid (in case of potassium permanganate)/antichlor with a reducing agent (in case of sodium hypochlorite) → Optical brightening → Softening.
Enzyme washing
in enzyme washing there need to sue cellulase enzyme. The type of cellulase employed determines the temperature and PH. The pH of neutral cellulases is usually between 6 and 7, whereas acid cellulases are generally between 4.5 and 5.5 (). However, the latter stain more deeply due to its penetrative nature. If the enzyme activity is not impair, an enzyme dose of 2–4 g/L should be sufficient.
Generally, enzyme-washed goods have a more uniform color, especially without adding stone. Below is a step-by-step diagram demonstrating the basic process of enzyme washing denim.
Desizing (10–15 min) → Rinsing → Enzyme washing, e.g., 30–60 min at 50–60 °C with pH 4.5–5.5 → Hot rinsing, e.g., 80 °C → Softening
Ozone fading
Denim garments bleaches in water with ozone dissolved in them in this technique of denim washing. Among the benefits of this method are (1) the minimal loss of strength and (2) it’s simple, environmentally friendly nature.
Using ultraviolet light, you can easily deozonize ozonized water after laundering. Today, it is also possible to achieve ozone fading with plasma equipment (Jeanologia, 201; Cheung et al., 2013a,b). Plasma treatment generates electrons with high kinetic energy.
Laser treatment
Denim fabric can be treated with CO2 lasers to quickly fade the color from the surface, depending on the laser parameters (Kan et al., 2010; Kan, 2014). Fig. 1.16 shows a representation of the color fading effect of denim fabric under different resolution and pixel time combinations (Kan, 2014). In this experiment, we see that the color fading effect in denim fabric increases with an increase in resolution and pixel time.
Waterjet fading
Denim garments have been treated with hydro jets for patterning and improving the surface finish, texture, durability, and other characteristics. The garment is generally expose both surfaces by hydro-jet nozzles during hydro jet treatment. Environmentally friendly by using a water recycling system.
Dip dyeing
Dip dyeing machines are used to achieve the desired effect on denim garments (AKDMKS, 2009). In addition to do pigments, dip dyeing is also possible. The bleaching effect can be achieved on clothing if a bleaching agent is used.
Pigment washing
Applying pigments to pigment-dyed or printed garments is known as pigment washing. Here are some reasons why pigment washing is necessary:
- You can fade the garments along the seams to get an aged, faded appearance
- Based on the buyer’s preferences
- For additional color and rubbing
To wash pigments, you must follow these steps:
Immersing garment in pigment → Drying → Baking (130–150 °C) → Washing (with or without pumice stones/with or without enzyme, 30–90 min) → Double washing at 70 °C → Stone removal → Softening → Drying.
Final thoughts
In the above discussion, we have learnt about the Denim Jeans Washing Process. There are many process of washing jeans, but these are the most popular process to complete the washing process. These methods gives a better result to do washing in jeans.
