When someone enters the space of high quality denim, they quickly encounter a lot of terms they probably haven’t heard before.
Some of them, like slub and nep, have to do with the appearance of the denim, but you might argue that raw, sanforized, unsanforized, and one-wash are more important. Why? Because they affect what size you should buy.
In this new video, together with Nick from Stridewise, we go through some quick definitions to help prospective jeans shoppers understand what they’re buying.
VIDEO: RAW DENIM VS SANFORIZED VS ONE-WASH
RAW DENIM
Raw denim means it hasn’t been faded or distressed before you buy it: the fabric is a uniform colour and you, the customer, are the one who fades the jeans with wear. But raw doesn’t just mean ‘unfaded’, it also means ‘unwashed’. Even if you’re buying jeans from a mall brand and they haven’t been faded, they probably aren’t raw. This is because raw denim is very stiff and starchy and those jeans will usually get a wash or two before being sent to customers so that it feels softer and more worn in when you first wear them. So, raw denim is unfaded, but it’s also stiff and needs time to break in.
See our video on breaking in raw denim for some tips.
SANFORIZED DENIM
Jeans used to be associated with the words ‘shrink-to-fit’, because they’d reliably shrink up to ten percent the first time you wash them. In the 1930s, one Sanford Cluett invented a process that basically pre-shrinks the jeans. This can be done with any combination of heat, steam, chemicals, and water — but it doesn’t mean the denim has been washed. While it’s controversial to say so in some circles, experts, including us, generally agree that sanforized denim can be raw denim. Unsanforized denim may shrink up to ten percent when you wash it. Raw denim that’s sanforized might shrink up to three percent when washed. The shrinkage for both fabrics increases as the water temperature increases: if you want to limit shrinkage, wash on cold.
Not many brands sell sanforized denim because most customers don’t want to roll the dice on shrinkage and most brands don’t want to deal with the inevitable requests to return their washed and un-re-sell-able jeans. If you don’t see the word ‘unsanforized’ on a product page, you can safely assume it’s sanforized.
ONE-WASH DENIM
This is the loophole: the one way you can buy unsanforized denim that won’t shrink.
Sometimes a brand will forego the elaborate process of sanforization and instead wash the jeans before selling them. This eliminates the risk of dramatic shrinkage without making the jeans sanforized — but since it’s being washed, it does mean the denim is no longer raw. Yet some folks prefer unsanforized, one-wash denim over raw denim for a few reasons: for example, jeans existed for decades before sanforization was invented, so one might consider them more ‘authentic’ or ‘vintage’.
SELVEDGE DENIM
This one doesn’t have anything to do with washing or shrinking: it means the denim is woven on a shuttle loom instead of a projectile loom. Projectile looms make denim ten times faster and became widespread in second half of the 20th century; before that, denim was made on shuttle looms. If you have two otherwise identical pieces of denim and one is selvedge, it’s technically stronger, because the weft is a continuous yarn running back and forth. But a fabric’s strength has a lot to do with other factors that don’t include the kind of loom: yarn thickness, weave density, cotton quality, and more.
So, it’s probably simplistic to say ‘selvedge denim is stronger’, but it certainly tends to be stronger because shuttle looms are more often used by artisans who are really passionate about denim and the importance of their craft, resulting in a higher quality product.
For a more in-depth breakdown, read the full article on Stridewise
