Basic Washes in

Denim Fabric

HISTORY
Denim
Serge de nimes
Serge-a kind of material
Nimes-a town in France
Jeans
Genoa
Worn by Genovese sailors in Italy in
1500.
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DENIM WASHING
Aesthetic finish
Dry denim-Not washed after dyeing
Washed denim-Natural distressing of dry
denim is attempted to replicate

WHEN IT STARTED?
The concept of washing the Denim
jeans was started by Jack Spencer for
the brand Lee.
Stone-wash was first started by
Francois Girbaud.
The concept of sandblasting was
started in 1988 by a number of branded
companies in Italy.
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TYPES OF DENIM
WASHES
1. Chemical washes
-Denim bleaching
- Enzyme wash
- Acid wash
2. Mechanical washes
- Stone wash
-Microsanding
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CHEMICAL WASHES
DENIM BLEACH
Strong oxidative bleaching agent such as
sodium hypochlorite or potassium
permanganate.
Bleaching methods
Bleaching effect

Process cycle:

Limitations:

Process is difficult to control

Problem of yellowing
Required antichlor treatment
Causes corrosion
Harmful to human health
Source of environmental pollution

ENZYME WASH
Application of organic enzymes
Easy to stop the action of enzymes
Environment friendly wash

Limitations:
Garment load size of the machine is limited.
Post treatment required.
More advantages than disadvantages:
Soft handle
More reproducible results
Increased luster
Less corrosive
Less damage to seams
Less wear & tear of machinery
Applicable to cotton and its blends
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ACID WASH
Pumice stones presoaked
in a solution of sodium
hypochlorite or potassium
permanganate.
Non-uniform contrast.

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Process cycle

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Limitations
Yellowing; residual manganese
Remedy:
Using ethelene-diamine-tetra-acetic
acid as chelating agent.

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MECHANICAL WASHES
STONE WASH
Tumbled with pumice stones
Variations in composition, hardness, size, shape
and porosity make these stones multifunctional.

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Selection of stone
According to the end product & effect required.
Large, hard stones last longer and may be
suited for heavy weight fabrics only.
Smaller, softer stones would be used for light
weight fabrics and more delicate items.
Stone wt. /fabric wt. = 0.5 to 3 /1

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Limitations
Outcome of a load of jeans is never uniform.
Damage to wash machineries and garment
due to stone to machine abrasion.
Increase in labor to remove stone particles
from finished garments.
Water pollution during disposal of used liquor.

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MICROSANDING
There are 3 ways for this technique:
Sandblasting
Machine sanding
Hand sanding or hand brushing

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Used in various ways:

-Flat surfaces(tables,ironingboards)
-On the dummy(inflatabledummies,
sometimesstanding,sometimesflat,
sometimes'seated')
-Varioustemplatescanbeusedtocreate
a3Deffect

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SAND BLASTING
This technique is based
on blasting an abrasive
material (mostly sand)
in granular, powdered
or other form through a
nozzle.
It is purely mechanical
process.
It is a water free
process.
Variety of distressed or
abraded looks possible.

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MACHINE SANDING
In this fabric treatment process, a
series of cylindrical rolls in a
horizontal arrangement, either
wrapped with an abrasive paper or
chemically coated with an abrasive.

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HAND SANDING OR HAND

BRUSHING
Use of sandpaper
to abrade surface.
Variety of looks
and designs can be
created.

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WHISKERING
Also known as Cat's
Whiskers.
Crease lines around
the crotch.
Knee whiskers.
Honeycombs.
Industrially done using
different techniques.

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LASER ENGRAVING
Uses a beam of light
that burns away the
indigo dye to produce
a worn look.
Design can be placed
anywhere on the jean
Different degrees of
degradation
Less air contamination
Less wear & tear
Much faster
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Thank You!!