Knowing when is the right time to wash your jeans isn’t dependent on how many months old your jeans are, but rather on the frequency of wear, and on how dirty they have become from your personal lifestyle. Some people prefer to wait as long as they can before the first wash because this allows the denim to crease and fold to the contours of your body. Then, after the first wash, you will be rewarded with higher-contrast fades at those points of strain. Washing your jeans after a shorter period of time will produce a fade with a more uniform color.
The easiest way to wash your jeans is in cold water, inside-out and hung to dry.
Some more finicky fans prefer the soak method:
1. Turn the jeans inside out, fasten the front buttons or zipper (this is to avoid abrasion to the denim while washing).
2. Soak the jeans in a tub using cold water to minimize indigo loss (if the jeans are very dirty, you can use a small amount of detergent).
3. Gently scrub the jeans and let them soak for about an hour.
4. Remove the jeans from the tub and rinse with water to remove any leftover dirt, dye or detergent. Ring out any excess water, and finally hang to dry.
The jeans may feel a bit tight after washing; they will soon stretch back out to normal with wear.