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Subscribe to RSSWearing the same pair of jeans day after day without ever bothering to wash them isn't as gross as it sounds.
University of Alberta student Josh Le wore a pair of skin-tight, "raw" jeans almost every day for 15 months, the Toronto Star reports. For Le, this started as a fashion experiment, but ended up a science experiment when he and his professor, Rachel McQueen, tested the dingy denim and found that germs levels weren't a worry.
The bacteria were the normal skin kind, nothing terribly icky or dangerous like E. coli. The highest counts of bacteria -- about 10,000 units per square centimeter -- were found in the crotch area.
“I was blown away. I thought there would be a lot more bacteria than was present,” Le told the Toronto Star. “It sort of shows that it is OK to not wash jeans.”
About halfway through the experiment, the jeans got too stinky to stomach, so Le threw them in the freezer and that seemed to help.
But why would a college kid wear dirty jeans over and over? (Also, where is his mother?) Apparently, it's a thing. "Raw" jeans are made of stiff, dark denim meant to be worn in until they are plastered to your figure. Le's jeans, by the way, wouldn't be confused with Lee jeans. They are $150 Nudie brand hipster jeans.
Do you live in your favorite jeans? How long do you go without washing them? Do tell.
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I used the same condom for 150 days. It stinks like hell, I am told, but that doesn't bother me.
thanks for making me laugh out loud during work!! Actually had to hang up on someone cause I couldnt control my laughter!
On a side note, after 15 years Le was asked by Rachel to please stop borrowing her clothes! That moocher!
just turn it inside out and shake the f---- out of it lol
My bad, I meant 15 months, plus without washing either
Ewwwwwww.
I love to wear my favorite jeans day in and day out - but they have to roll around in some nice warm water, sweet smelling detergent and scented fabric softener before I would ever think of pulling them back on the next day. Don't most people want to FEEL fresh and SMELL nice every single day?!!!
I guess 15 months is a bit long. If your a couch potato no problem. Hope he changed his under pants..
I wonder if he tried disguising the smell by calling it "musky, earthy and masculine?" It seems to work for the perfume industry.
I bet his Fumunda Cheese was aged to perfection!
Dude probably ain't a big hit with the ladies.
Actually on the news this morning one of the reports was covering a story about NOT washing jeans for about 6 months. She went on to explain the jeans would last longer.
My comment about that is I wouldn't last long if my date went that long without washing LOL.
What a novel idea! Masquerade my hatred for doing laundry as an experiment. I'm going to do the same "experiment" with all my clothes! CDC, here I come! But please don't tell my mother.
What's hip about buying expensive jeans? Maybe in the 2000s dude. Now its all about thrift store jeans. And sun hats. And cheap imitation Ray-Bans. Nothing says "I'm cooler than you are and listen to music you'll hear of in five years if you're lucky" than tight jeans and imitation Ray-Bans.
maybe he couldn't afford laundry detergent after he spent so much on the jeans????
raw denim is hip... try new york
I think I'd rather be clean and smell nice than "hip" and smelly......gross....!!
It was an experiment...but ewwwwww..pretty gross!
I love the idea of living in denim. They eventually become a part of you, a second skin, a living fabric. It's common in the dry/selvedge/raw denim community to not wash for the first couple months so you set the creases while the denim is still stiff. Washing & drying breaks down the fibers and causes natural indigo to bleed from the denim. It's a process, I document it at www.ItsWorn.com
I rarely wash my denim. I have a pair of $140 jeans that I've had for about 2 months now that haven't seen the washer yet. Nor have the less expensive $100 jeans I bought at the same time. It actually keeps them nicer longer. The only downside is that they start getting loose and sag on my butt until I wash them. I prefer to wait for a while before washing my jeans! 15 months seems a little too long though...haha!
Smarter - This 'dude' is from Canada, the cutting edge of World fashion and hipness, don't ya know!
Yuck!!!
Denim as second skin ? Yeah right , and steel toed boots are good for your feet .
aren't they? They sure protect your feet from getting crushed.......
Actually steel toe boots do not protect your toes from getting crushed. More than once a forklift or piece of machinery has come across the top of peoples feet. And the toes get sheered off. CUT off bye bye I would rather have broken toes than no toes.
And yes I once worked around forklifts where this has happened the forks dropped on a guys foot and his toes got cut off.
Oh and about the jeans I thought not washing them was a biker thing lol
yea steel toed boots' sole purpose is to ensure a clean cut across the feet, that way the toes can be re-attached, versus having a mangled foot for the rest of your life..gotta love Industrial America haha, always looking out for the little man
You should let mythbusters know about that. They tested the theory about steel toe boots cutting off your toes, and I think they called it busted.
Mythbusters' have already done the Steel Toed Boot thing and proven that they do protect. It's when the object bounces/falls behind the steel protection that theproblems start.
Yeah ok I'll try and get a hold of them not. I know what happened and saw the guy go to the hospital in an Ambulance. Yet in episode 42 the one you are talking about they are now saying it is somewhat true. And are even saying it is possible with very heavy objects. A forklift typically weighs 3,000lbs over a ton.
I would say a forklift is a very heavy object. Now if you drop a hammer on your foot steel toes may help. But anything 1,500lbs and over would cut em off. So I guess many folks let mythbusters know about it. Maybe you should watch less TV
here is a link to the forum http://community.discovery.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9401967776/m/6271970498
Steel toe boots have load limits. Generally, if you are going past those limits, you are in trouble whether you wear them or not.
But I wouldn't be doing construction without them. It's like a hard hat. That plastic hat can't stop everything, but 9 times out of 10, they can save you.
Phew , The comment was more refering to the COMFORT of steel toe boots . Not the practicality .
EastRowan---I find my steel toed boots comfortable. I've worn a pair as hunting boots.
Joeyfromcali
Mythbusters proved getting something heavy dropped on a pair of steel toe boots will not cut your toes off, they actually protect your toes.
"The highest counts of bacteria were found in the crotch area."
I pity the chick that gives him a hummer!! nassy~!
look at him, i dont think he is in any immediate danger of getting a hummer!
I think that I just threw up in my mouth a little bit!
He was a cro- o -otch sniffer
A one-way ticket yeah,
It took him so-o-o long
To find out (15 months)
and he found out....
Crotch sniffer
Crotch sniffer, yeah
My apologizes to John, Paul, George, and Ringo!
ha! you just ruined my 3 year olds favorite song. He calls it "doo doo dooo dooooo tripper"'
This song will never be the same. In a funny way.
Take them off using a potato(e) peeler. Was this guy able to get a date? Sorry, stupid question.
His next fashion experiment should be not brushing his teeth for 15 months.
I met a guy online who told me he hadn't brushed his teeth in years. He said he figured that when his teeth got bad enough, he'd get dentures.
Gotta admit, I just don't feel quite the same about him after hearing that.
Question- Doesn't freezing also kill germs? How many times did he throw his jeans in the freezer? How long were they in the freezer? And did he throw the jeans in the freezer the day before the testing for germs?
And didn't the nasty jeans make the ice cubes taste funny?
Gotta ask his teacher about the cubes tasting funny
freezing doesn't kill germs, it puts them into like a hibernation. Once something is thawed, the germs come right back to life. Heat does kill germs, though. I wonder... does throwing his jeans in the dryer with a dryer sheet count as washing? I would think not, and that's what I do with my jeans since I don't wash them once a week with my other stuff. Especially since it's so damn cold, I wear really tight thermals under my jeans.
Levi's--when they stand up on their own, it's time to wash them.
I agree Teresa! This is certainly an issue, since freezing is a preservative method designed to prevent the growth of contaminants.
I think the study is flawed, at best.
well. this puts it all into perspective for me. I wear one pair of jeans for barn work (yep, shoveling poop and urine soaked shavings, grooming horses covered with the same stuff, fun) for about four days straight for about an hour to two hours a day, don't put them on til I get ready to go to the barn, and I seriously peel them off and hop in my car to go home in my underwear (or thermals at this time of year). They go in the garage at night til neither of us can take it anymore and they go in the wash. Twice. Hopefully I don't ever get stopped on the way home!! anyway my point is, if they are work jeans, I can see wearing them so you don't get everything you own filthy, but beyond that, I don't care what they're made of, please dude....change your pants. Often.
daily!
I'm with you on this....take them off and wash them. Personally, I take off everything and smell, so if it smells like anything but fresh, it goes in the wash. Did anybody take into account that if you perspire in dirty clothes, you stink....aaaagggghhhh, what the hell are these people thinking?
I'll tell you what they're thinking - "good hygiene is not a priority with me." Guess it won't be a consideration until they want to get around other people who aren't wearing a garland of garlic around their necks.
Get a life. This is pure stupid as experiments go, in my opinion. Maybe he should listen to Radio Head and just wear spandex for a week.
"Get a life" <-- Please stop using 25 year-old catch phrases. Think of something new.
Do you have any suggestions? Are you one of the "uber" hip folks who R 2 cool 4 words? Give us something new.
cool!! extraAndrew
also idea is to save water and less use of chemicals, i am developing a denim fabric with antimicrobial properties which be worn for extended periods before washing (home laundry), levi developed jeans using denim which is washed during manufacturing (industrial laundry) using less water.
Right. You wear antimicrobial jeans, (antimicrobial = chemicals), while you eat your organic tofu. Sure thing, Einstein.
Okay, doesn't anyone come in contact with that thing called "dirt" anymore? I know that's why I usually break down and wash my jeans, because they're DIRTY. They have dirt (or food or paint or God knows what else) on them, they look yucky and soap removes the dirt! To me, super-anti-microbial jeans would be the same as normal jeans, because they still don't repel dirt, so they still have to be washed. I guess no one goes outside anymore!
Give me a break! Do you really believe that you are saving a significant amount of water and chemicals by skimping on the number of times that you wash your clothes between wearings? Most washing machines are designed to minimize the amount of water required for each load, and detergents are manufactured to be safer for the environment than they were decades ago. Go ahead and admit the truth - you are just plain lazy! Give the rest of us a break so that we don't have to smell you.
Alaskan makes an excellent point. Most normal, sane people wash their clothes regularly because they become dirty with repeated wearing and because they just plain feel grungy when dirty.
That is just disgusting and nasty. Just thinking about it makes me want to take a shower! EWWWWW!
Nope, Alaskan, people don't come in contact with dirt anymore as far as I can tell. We're too busy using hand-sanitizers, anti-biotics, anti-microbial materials/chemicals, pesticides, etc...and then wonder why things smell odd and bugs and bacteria are becoming highly resistant to everything.
Sorry go-green, I'm an huge environmentalist and I think antimicrobial fabric sounds like a waste. I try to buy my basic clothes (tee's, tanks, and jeans) in organic cotton, I wash them regularly in a machine that uses minimal water and takes earth-friendly soap (that smells waaaay nicer than Tide!), and I dry them on a clothesline outside. They smell amazing and fresh, my clothes look new far longer compared to how I used to wash them (using a dryer), and my gas bill is consistently lower.
I keep trying to convince myself to find a washboard some old lye soap and a river. But the gas to drive there negates the cost savings of just running the washer. JOKE
I've worn the same 4 raw denim jeans (all diff colors of course) for the past two years, only one pair has been washed.. once. The idea more than forming to your shape is giving them a chance to fade naturally without the ugly affects of detergent... indigos get cool purples, ect... nice try msnbc, so not hip.
Has it never occurred to you that body oils and dirt that build up on the fabric will cause it to rot and deteriorate much sooner than if it were cleaned on a regular basis? All of your work (or lack thereof) put into allowing them to "fade naturally" will go to waste because the fabric will fall apart sooner. If you want them to "fade naturally", try hanging them out in the sun for a month and save the rest of us the agony of having to smell you.
Actaully having studied Fabric Science, yes a real course for those entering the textile industry, I know that what you are saying is in fact not true. Especially so when it comes to denim. When you wash fabric it actually weakens the fiber, which dirt doesn't do. Actually if you add natural oils, like lanolin, to fabric you make oilskin, which is an extremely durable fabric and was the earliest form of waterproofing.
I think your comment is based on assumption, not fact.
Sorry, Lily, but my comment is based on fact. I worked for years as a chemist with a company that produced dyes for the fabric industry. No, dirt sitting on top of fabric doesn't weaken the fabric. Yes, washing fabric can weaken the fibers. However, you are referring to clean fabric that has not been exposed to oil from human skin, sweat, and other biological products. Bacteria and other microorganisms that feed on natural oils from skin produce metabolic byproducts that can weaken fibers. Sweat contributes to natural deterioration as a result of chemicals in the sweat and more bacteria that come to feed off the sweat. (It’s the breakdown of sweat and oil by bacteria that cause humans to emit unpleasant odors.) Have you ever seen a wedding dress 20 years after the wedding that was not cleaned before sotrage? The armpit area has usually disintegrated due to the action of sweat on the fabric. That doesn't include the other natural fluids (crotch area) to which clothes are exposed when worn ("The highest counts of bacteria -- about 10,000 units per square centimeter -- were found in the crotch area.") or non-human dirt/trash with which fabric comes into contact, such as food stains. For example, tomatoes (tomato paste, sauce) are acidic. Acid destroys fabric. Ever hear of acid washed jeans? Carbonated beverages (soda, beer) contain carbonic acid. The list goes on, but all of this adversely affects fabric fibers.
As for using lanolin to produce waterproof fabric...oil from human skin and lanolin, though from the same chemical family, do not have the same chemical structure. Sebum, oil from sebaceous glands, is basically free fatty acid. Lanolin is an ester of fatty acids.
As an old-school biker, I had a pair of jeans that were never washed, just patched when they failed. After many years, I set them on fire and they burned for 20 minutes from all the motor oil, grease, and body slime. They looked very much like leather and no, I didn't get a disease from them. Heck, I got layed more with those than any other pants. Go figure.
Actually I believe that at a certain point your jeans would have been almost waterproof, like oilskin, which for a biker is a good benefit.
When denim pants were first made during the California gold rush do you think that people washed thier cloths alot, especially miners? The whole point of denim is it actually can get stronger and more weather resistant with constant wear and no washing. That's why it was such a hit with the miners and farmers.
We Americans are a little too hung up on cleanliness, forgetting that there are a lot of very beneficial microbes out there.
See I knew it that is where not washing your clothes came from Bikers. See post above thanks Randy ride on. Downwind please. LMAO
The very idea of someone wearing something that is never washed is not very attractive, I don't care if your jeans are "raw" or not. The whole thing is pretty disgusting. Think of all the dust mite feces ( yes, if you aren't washing them they have to be infested with dust mites) and shed skin cells, body oil build up and just plain everyday dirt and bacteria you expose them too. One waltz across a public restroom exposes the hems to whatever is on the floor.
I can see wearing a favorite pair of jeans for 2 MAYBE 3 days in a row but this is just plain nasty. I don't care if they are doing this in NY it is still nasty....
Was this story really necessary? Is MSNBC that desperate for items to write about? Beam me up Scott!
I would rather see the news filled with fluff like this than bad news of some natural disaster causing 1,000's of people to suffer or some leader assasinated.
Disturbing and disgusting. I believe were I his mother I would beat him. Were I his girlfriend I would throw him in a tub of soap with his pants on and scrub him with a wire brush. Maybe I would do the same if I was his mother.
Either way, he and his nasty filthy pants would be clean.
I have a feeling the girlfriend option is not a posiblity for him. After wearing the same pants for 15 months I'm sure he smells so bad that he can't get a girl to even look at him!
The fact 'they' do it in N.Y. is a VERY good reason for me to not do it.
I wonder if anyone wanted to be near him. I imagine you could smell him a mile away.
If I wear my jeans for a week, I would be considered mentally ill. If a "dude" wears them for 15 months, it's considered a lab project. I'm glad I didn't have to sit near this guy or be anywhere near him. I've sat next to people in theaters, church, etc. who stink. Their clothes need to be washed. Not a pleasant experience at all.