Washes & finishing
Two identical jeans, cut from the same cloth on the same day, become completely different products in the laundry. This is the part of denim that is genuinely craft.
What a wash actually does
Rinse
A single wash to remove loose dye and soften the hand, with almost no fading.
Stone
Pumice abrades the surface and lifts indigo unevenly, producing contrast at the seams.
Enzyme
Cellulase enzymes eat surface fibre instead of stones — gentler and far more controllable.
Bleach
Oxidising agents strip indigo for a lighter base shade.
Acid
Pumice soaked in an oxidiser, tumbled dry, for high-contrast marbling.
Over-dye and tint
A second colour laid over the base shade.
These are the standard processes, described generically. Which of them run in our own laundry is listed below.
What we run here
| Washes run in-house | All of them — rinse, stone, enzyme, bleach, acid, tint and over-dye |
|---|---|
| Hand finishing | All of it — whiskering, sanding, grinding and distressing |
| Embellishment | Pearls, beads and stones set by hand, one at a time |
| Laser or ozone | To be confirmed |
Dry finishing, and the handwork
Whiskering at the hip, sanding at the thigh, grinding at the hem. The wear patterns that make a new jean look lived-in are applied deliberately, by hand.
The pearls, beads and stones go on at this stage too — placed one at a time rather than printed or heat-pressed, which is why no two embellished pairs ever read exactly alike.
Every jean on this site came off that floor.
The quickest way to judge a mill is to hold what it makes.