Uniqlo Kaihara Slim Straight Selvedge: How To Wash Raw Denim

After 500+ long days of wear, give or take, I've decided to wash these jeans. I don't have a bathtub in Paris so I've decided to give these a hot wash in a large mop bucket.
It's always a bit emotional to wash a pair of jeans you've been washing for ages - so I have a lot of wear images from a bunch of angles to really show you all the character that these have built over a year and a half.
Since I started wearing raw denim, I've found that Uniqlo has an aesthetic closest to APCs and they're hyper affordable. They don't actually rip on the stress points as often either I find, so these are definitely an investment even if they're outside of your budget.
I hope you guys like these - they're called the "Slim Straight" Selvedge at Uniqlo but if you turn them inside out you can see that its sourced from Kaihara. They sometimes come in the button-fly variation which I've found are truer to the APC fading.

[@josephwurm7852]

youre a legend man i picked up a pair of these today hopefully i can get as lovely fades as you.

[@middlemane]

Glad you liked the video! I’m sure yours will turn out well 💪

[@analogworld7]

Subscribed! 🔥

[@remmasangcay5348]

I just got mine on my birthday, i size down because I knew it would stretch out...wearing them alot in the house

[@middlemane]

Happy belated! Good call on sizing down bro - lemme know how they turn out!

[@remmasangcay5348]

@@middlemane sure dude, mine are still kinda crispy but they molden slightly, at first they were pretty tight on the waist but they've loosen, thanks man❤️ lets hope 2021 is a goodyear Rem❤️👌

[@middlemane]

@@remmasangcay5348 Bless man! Glad it’s so far so good!

[@smorelax8608]

How much did they shrink? I ordered mine without knowing these were unwashed jeans. Also, did the dye bleed onto light colored shirts?

[@middlemane]

They shrunk back to roughly the original size on the waist and they lost about 1.5 inches on the inseam. The dye didn’t bleed onto light shirts, thankfully. Hope that helps

[@smorelax8608]

@@middlemane thank you!!

[@middlemane]

​@@S-A-M. I can confirm them stretched back out after a few wears and have gotten even longer! I'd consider the free hemming service on length with a more roomy cut in 2022, anyhow!

[@remmasangcay5348]

hey man its me again, my pair is starting to fade slightly. But so far it's going good, by the way what's up, how you been

[@middlemane]

Great to hear - keep us posted on progress, it would be cool to see a video on your outcomes. I’m good though, bro. Thanks for asking! Working on a new pair of APCs right now

[@remmasangcay5348]

@@middlemane I've been more focused on school work 😅

[@middlemane]

@@remmasangcay5348 That’s the smart thing to do, man. Good luck with your school work!

[@35mmlove_eric]

Damn man. 500 days

[@ihsanariffin1286]

Did you wash them before 1st wear or wear them straight?

[@middlemane]

I wore them straight off the rack

[@rightSye]

Need an update on these

[@middlemane]

100% dude. I’ve machine washed these now and they look completely different so I’ll post an update when I’ve got some time off work!

[@rightSye]

@@middlemane I got a pair of those too. But the quarantine hit so long that I haven't had a chance to wear them out so your vids are all I've got :'(

[@middlemane]

@@rightSye I’ve got you, bro. I’ll try and get something for ya up soon - keep me posted if you drop a progress video for your own stuff. It would be cool to see how yours are going

[@brilianfairuz5139]

how long that your uniqlo denim wearing before it washed?

[@middlemane]

I’d say, well over 500 days total over the course of almost 2 years!

[@topshiba293]

@@middlemane How many hours a day did you wear them?

[@middlemane]

@@topshiba293 ​ Sometimes 24 hours straight and sometimes just a few hours

[@Americansikkunt]

@@middlemane any soaks? I have seen people suggesting 1-2 soaks per year can help prevent wear/tear/rips

[@middlemane]

@@Americansikkunt I didn’t soak on this particular pair - I think heavier/stiffer jeans benefit more from that generally. Hope that helps!

[@superandz]

Washing machine inside out 30/40 degrees no problem.

[@middlemane]

Agreed!

[@myplaguesify]

bought these jeans today,didnt know these are raw jeans or are they?

[@middlemane]

Welcome to the club! Turn it inside out and check the print on the pocket to see if they’re raw, if you’re still not sure!

[@SuperPussyFinger]

You don’t lose less indigo by using a smaller bucket. Container size plays no role in the degree of indigo loss. Soap, agitation, water temp, and duration of soak are the key contributors. If you want to minimize indigo loss, adding vinegar and salt to the bath will help set the dye and retard bleed.

[@middlemane]

Great tips bro! Thanks for sharing this info!

[@MDZR2283]

how can vinegar and salt reduced the indigo loss scientifically?

[@Baazigar427]

Hello bro, is this jeans 98% cotton 2% stretch?

[@middlemane]

That’s right this pair is 98% cotton, 2% elastane. Bear in mind there’s 2 navy models and one is shinier than the other, this is the shinier one!

[@Baazigar427]

@@middlemane bro little confused.. How many time soak in 1st six month?

[@middlemane]

@@Baazigar427 Hey! So, I didn’t wash these or soak these prior to this. They may have accidentally gotten wet through wearing (rain or something)

[@bdfybdfyjd3497]

Штаники норм.

[@middlemane]

I dunno what that means bro haha

[@leonardourbina5673]

This is painful to watch compared to everything I read on treating raw denim. Hard rule is no warm/hot water. Also no typical detergent. Woolite dark or something for fabrics like that which prevent the indigo from bleeding. Warmer water will also cause fabric to shrink compared to below 40 degrees which most want to prevent (I did see that you switched to colder water on final rinse). Five hundred day wear is great but soaking in warm/hot water basically shrinks the fit that you worked on for so long. Yay for air drying. I was afraid that you were going to throw it all in a dryer at the end too.

[@middlemane]

I feel that man haha. I used to care a lot about sticking to stopping the shrinkage/ preserving indigo loss. After probably 4-5 pairs of different brands over the years I’ve kinda realised that I don’t care that much. When I let go of the rules, I feel like my fades/jeans look so much cooler!