What happens if you don't wash your jeans? Well, not much to be honest… You must know this argument:washing your jeans will damage the denim and reduce its lifespan, hot water and detergent being the cause of rapid deterioration. In 2014, Levi's CEO Chip Bergh himself encouraged people to stop washing their denim pants in order to save water and energy. Better still, he had attended an ecological conference with a pair of jeans from the brand that he had not washed for… a year! We see you grimacing behind your screen. But rest assured, science says it:you risk NOTHING by not washing your jeans.
Bernhard Redl, an Austrian molecular biology expert, showed that unwashed jeans worn under normal conditions, i.e. every day on the street, had no impact on health. Rachel McQueen, a Canadian professor of human ecology, came to support this thesis, stating that the sweat, skin cells and bacteria transferred were completely harmless to our skin. As part of an experiment, one of his students wore his pair of jeans for 15 months, without ever washing them. Result:the “dirty” pair carried the same number of bacteria as another pair that had been washed and worn for… 13 days!
Well, we are well aware that the sanitary aspect is not the only one to take into account when it comes to washing or not washing your jeans. And the smell, you say? Again, it is possible to avoid the washing machine. While some recommend putting your jeans in the refrigerator so that the cold kills bacteria, Bernhard Redl insists:this method does not kill the majority of bacteria, but puts them “dormant”. What to do then against odors? Simply put your pants in the open air on a sunny day. So, are you convinced?
