I’m a pretty sweaty person, generally, and I’m overdressed for NYC at the moment (I was expecting it to be a lot colder, like it usually is) and I normally live in CA where I sweat a lot. My jeans don’t smell fresh… but they don’t reek. There is barely a smell, and it mostly goes away after airing them out.

I know this for a couple reasons: one is that I have clothes with me right now that do smell bad and it’s a night-and-day comparison. Second is that when you take a shower, you’re no longer used to the smell and smelly clothes become obvious.

I find that simply airing them out is generally fine. I do wonder about those who wear their jeans daily for 6 months to a year without laundering, but I suspect they don’t get as smelly as many here seem to be assuming they would.

If you don’t have jeans whose appearance and feel will be greatly affected by normal laundering (i.e. most jeans), you wouldn’t even consider things like freezing them instead of laundering them anyway. But if you have raw denim and such and don’t want to turn them into normal jeans (and yes it’s a fashion thing, though the way they ultimately conform to your body is also uniquely comfortable), you will do what it takes. Some people definitely take it too far, of course.

(Edit: Okay, considering the context you’re probably kidding.)

Just about any washing machine in continental Europe allows you to choose the temperature, from not heating the water at all to 90°C (pretty damn close to boiling) in my case. While there is a trend towards lower temperatures for energy saving reasons, most people around here wash their clothes somewhere in the 30-60°C range. Washing your bed sheets at 80-90°C is not that uncommon (this is quite a bit hotter than “hot to the touch” and will in fact kill most bacteria — not all of course, but it _does_ keep your stuff from getting smelly for much longer).

I’d be curious about the effect of washing machine temperature on bacteria. Plain old soap/detergent is useful enough to remove and kill plenty bacteria (along with the grunge that bacteria like to eat), and my hot water, while hot to the touch, isn’t all that hot. Maybe a professional laundry service can provide real sterilization from hot water, but that’s beyond the capability of many households.

It’s amazing how precious denim has become since my youth. A quick search yields an array of detailed rituals for making jeans suit one’s particular sense of fashion, from washing, to wearing, to shrinking, to preserving, etc.

You use hot water to help remove things from the things you’re washing (grease and food), I’ve never seen it as a way to kill anything.  That’s what soap is for.

Are you for real?

1. Most Japanese washing machines don’t use hot water, yet somehow the Japanese still manage do clean their clothes.

2. You’ve never heard of washing linens, towels etc. at high temperatures to kill bacteria? Hospitals and hotels do that all the time for obvious reasons. I find that even washing towels at not-so-high but still elevated temperatures (say 60°C instead of 40°) really helps keep them smell-free longer.

(PS: Disqus really _does_ suck equine testes. Refuses to load sometimes for no good reason, takes forever when it does. Hope you find something better soon.)

I’m probably preaching to the dumpster behind the church, but…..you buy clothing that fits and then you clean it in a way that maintains the size and color. Unless you want to look like an unmade bed or a bratwurst.

To people who embrace this “logic,” I have news for you: your jeans stink and so do you.

You might have a terrible sense of smell, but I have a phenomenal one.  You’re used to it, but it’s still foul.

So I’m begging you: WASH YOUR CLOTHES AND BODY SOMETIMES.  WITH SOAP.

That is all.
 

So actually freezing your jeans might save you energy, full stop.

and if you know the next lyric then you no doubt went to summer camp.  wisdom of the campfire.  :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpWOvK-mz7U

Of course, if you have stonewashed or otherwise not raw denim, the no washing is pointless as the denim has already been softened during manufacturing.

And in reply to Daniel Ewing: I think Levi’s seems to be marketing at people who don’t wanna get clean again.  

http://www.boingboing.net/2011/01/05/18-months-without-so.html

To conserve the pigments in raw denim all I do is light agitation in a bucket with warm water and weak detergent. Otherwise, if it’s summer or sunny I just use natural UV. I do this once a month or two.