Sustainable Denim Jeans Worth Investing For A Better World

When you look at a pair of nice jeans, you’re probably not thinking about its environmental impact. However, like other articles of clothing jeans not only require a massive amount of water to produce, they also create a lot of air and water pollution.

The most obvious environmental impact of sustainable jeans comes down to the raw material it uses - cotton. Unless you know your jeans are made from organic cotton (and they’ll have a label) you probably have zero idea of the actual growing conditions. In general, cotton grown for fast fashion companies tend to negatively impact the environment. Cotton itself is a very thirsty crop. To create one pair of jeans, it takes around 1,8000 gallons of water. Worldwide, around 4.5 billion jeans were sold. You don’t have to do any complicated math to see that the creation of jeans requires a lot of water.

It’s not just water use that’s the issue. The Organic Trade Association considers cotton the world’s dirtiest crop due to its heavy use of insecticides. In fact, cotton only uses 2.5 percent of the world’s cultivated land but uses 16 percent of the world’s insecticides. There are around 10 common insecticides used during the production of cotton with 3 of them being acutely hazardous. Yet they are still used around the world. In the US, there have been 16 states that have reported these highly toxic insecticides in their groundwater.

If that’s not bad enough, cotton requires nitrogen-based synthetic fertilizer in order to grow. These fertilizers often run off into groundwater, which leads to dead zones in major bodies of water. However, if some type of fertilizer isn’t used, the cotton will pull all of the nutrients from the soil, leaving useless topsoil.

Unfortunately, denim’s negative environmental impact continues throughout its production cycle especially for companies that produce jeans for fast fashion companies and the process of how to shrink jeans. Luckily, many more garment companies are looking at ways to improve the sustainability of jeans through various washing techniques.

Different Denim Wash Styles

As consumers become more aware of their environmental impact, they are demanding more sustainable practices from the fashion industry. Fortunately, denim companies such as Wrangler, Gap, and Madewell have answered the call and are striving to embrace greener methods while also developing new techniques to produce jeans that offer the same look while reducing pollution and increase cost savings. Newer denim companies have jumped into the scene with a top-to-bottom sustainability model including the process of how to shrink jeans.

One of the processes many companies are taking a hard look at is their washing techniques. Traditional methods tend to use a lot of water and dyes. The dye-filled water would end up getting thrown out and would, more often than not, find its way into the water supply. Dozens of small towns around the area don’t have access to clean drinking water as the dyes and chemicals used in the washing process are incredibly toxic. As well, the workers who handle the dye consistently suffer from work-related diseases or illnesses such as skin and respiratory conditions.

Stone Washing

There’s a reason people hold on to a pair of jeans. It’s a lot more comfortable and it gets a lot more character as the dye starts to fade in certain areas. Luckily, you don’t have to break in a pair of jeans anymore. The stone washing method essentially helps increase the softness and flexibility of the denim while also giving it that ‘worn’ faded look.

As the name suggests, this method adds in stones such as volcanic rock or pumice to during the washing to get the material nice and soft. The stone size and weight all will change the color fading effect. Interestingly, smaller stones actually provide a better color fading effect it leads to a more even and uniform abrasion, though the color contrast is not as good as when compared to larger stones.

Traditional Method vs New Technology

As noted above, the traditional method for stone washing is to use pumice or lava stones during the washing methods. The process generally follows the below flow chart:

Garments loading with stone
Rinse twice
Stone wash
Rinse twice (remove stones)
Soften
Unload
Extract
Dry

As you would expect, throwing a large, heavy object in a washer can lead to serious damage to washing machines to the point where it will need to be maintained and/or replaced fairly often. Since these rocks are also tumbling around in the machine, they rocks themselves are prone to breaking and leaving behind grit and waste, which the second rinse is needed. Even then, not all of the residue will be removed.

A more sustainable option does not use any stones. The NoStone technology uses abrasive steel drums that attach directly onto any panel. There are a variety of panels that provide different levels of abrasion based on the fineness of the panel texture as well as how long the garments spend in the machine.

Savings

Traditional stone washing requires a lot of water as you have to rinse the jeans out at least twice after the initial stone washing process. As well, it requires more labor as the stones need to be physically removed from the washers and from the pockets of the garment. The more sustainable method reduces overall cost, water consumption, and manual labor. Plus, since the washing machines will last longer (since there are no rocks rattling around inside) that’s also less cost and time needed for repairs and replacements.

Washdowns

What’s the difference between the light blue jeans and those dark blue jeans? The amount of bleach used during the washdown step. When jeans are produced, they all tend to have the same amount of indigo after the initial dye. In order to get to that nice light color, you have to add usually have to use some pretty harsh chemicals. As you’d imagine, these chemicals can cause serious damage to workers and have been found in the groundwater around the factories and often leach into the drinking water of neighboring villages.

Traditional Method vs New Technology

Traditionally, companies would use chemicals such as sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, or potassium permanganate. Although these all will bleach the fibers, the effects aren’t always consistent, which can lead to multiple rounds of dying and, in more extreme cases, discarding of the entire lot. In addition to these chemicals being pretty harmful to the workers, they’re also quite damaging to the fabrics as well, weakening them to the point where they only last a few washes.

Luckily, there are several different options that have replaced these chemicals. One of the more popular replacements is ozone. Not to be confused with the ozone layer, ozone is a bleaching agent that is derived from oxygen. It works quickly and requires fewer rinses to remove than traditional bleaches. As well, anything that remains gets converted back to oxygen and water. Another popular replacement is the enzyme know as laccases. This alters the indigo dye through oxidation and does not affect the fabric at all.

Savings

Switching to the newer methods reduce water consumption and saves time (since you don’t have to wash the fabric as much) and money. Of course, it also keeps workers healthy and also provides a higher quality finished product for consumers.

Whisker Effect

The longer you wear a pair of jeans, the more faded certain areas get. While stone washing tends to focus more on the knee areas, the whisker effect focuses on the hip and front thigh area. While not as obvious, if you look at a pair of well-worn jeans, you’ll notice light ‘whiskering’ where the jean naturally gathers when you sit down. The absence of these lines is a tell-tale sign a pair of jeans are new.

To give the jeans that ‘aged’ look, jean companies have been able to artificially replicate the effect, but it requires quite a lot of time, machinery, and harsh chemicals.

Traditional Method vs New Technology

There are two types of whiskers - two dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D).

2D Whiskers - there are a variety of methods to create a 2D impression on jeans. Most companies use rubber balloons with different design patterns. Garments are then mounted on the balloons where workers then scrub over the patter with sandpaper. Other companies might use engraved patterns on thick boards and do something similar. For less labor-intensive whiskers, some companies opt to use potassium permanganate to bleach specific areas on the jean to create the intended effect.
3D Whiskers - These provide a more ‘natural’ look than the 2D whiskers and requires the use of resin. The garments are sprayed or dipped in resin where workers will then add the whisker designs on the thigh, hip, and behind the knee. It is then dried with a hot press and cured in an oven.

Although the more manual methods aren’t as bad for the environment, they are incredibly labor-intensive and can end up damaging the garments severely, especially if done by an unskilled worker. Newer methods use a laser machine to create vintage effects, whiskers, patterns, and holes and tears.

Savings

As you might expect, using a laser takes much less time, labor, and energy. Yes, the lasers do require some power, but due to its high efficiency, it actually ends up using less electricity than either the dying process and the manual sanding process. As an added benefit, the lasers are also more beneficial to worker’s health as it does not require the use of harsh chemicals and reduces the amount of fiber particles workers will inhale.

Sanding

Distressed Jeans Sustainable Denim Processing

Do you ever wonder how some new jeans feel so soft while others are super rigid? It’s due to a difference in their finishing process. The softer ones most likely went through a sanding process while the other did not. Sanding can be done either by hand or with a commercial sanding tool such as a sandblaster. The effects can be subtle or extreme depending on the style, but sanding tends to make the clothes softer and give it a distressed look.

Traditional Method vs New Technology

Traditionally, sanding is done with a commercial sandblaster in order to save time and increase overall output. Sanding jeans requires a hose, an air compressor, and sand. It might sound benign, but the process of manual sandblasting has led to silicosis - an incurable lung disease - among its workers. Because of this, many companies have banned sandblasting on denim, but it is still a work in progress. Unfortunately, since many of these jean companies don’t actually own the factories, they cannot control what goes on in these factories.

Newer methods utilize lasers, which can mimic hand sanding and sandblasting. The best part is that these lasers can be pre-programmed with specific patterns and replicate it perfectly 99% of the time.

Savings

Using lasers cuts down on energy and labor costs and also improves the quality of life for factory workers. Since lasers are computer-programmed, they can also replicate the exact pattern without any errors, leading to higher overall efficiency.

Sustainable Denim Jeans Is The Future Of The Fashion Industry

There’s this idea that sustainable fashion or sustainable jeans is inherently expensive because it requires more time and labor. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Recent technological innovations have led to efficient denim jeans production while reducing the need for water, harsh chemicals, and manual labor. Many companies have looked into ways to recycle the water they use during the production process of distressed jeans to reduce their water waste while others are looking into less harmful dyes that are based on plants. There are even clothing companies who are looking to recycle old clothes and even plastic bottles to create new clothing.

More people are demanding some accountability in the fashion industry, and luckily switching over to a more sustainable model not only reduces these company’s environmental footprint, but it also helps them save money. Sure, it would be nice to think that these companies are switching over to more environmentally-friendly denim production out of the goodness of their hearts, but showing them that sustainable practices actually affect their bottom line positively will make them switch over that much faster.

Shana Thompson is a full time professional writer and editor. Shana has worked extensively in the fields of content marketing, on-page and off-page SEO (guest posts, backlink acquisition), and creative writing. As an experienced pro content writer, Shana has worked on several magazines, publishing companies and marketing agencies. Many recent projects have included everything from nutrition and health services, where a lot of research and citations were needed, to writing about health, sustainable, eco-friendly products.

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