Like water for denim

Well, yesterday was a total bust. I was supposed to open for MC Lars in Monterey and was looking forward to it, despite being pretty damn sick. Instead of renting a car, I was offered a ride by some friends who were also going to the show, but I didn’t know when exactly they’d pick me up. So I waited from 11 am till 6 pm waiting for them to show up. Keep in mind that it’s a 2 1/2 hour ride according to google, and I have to get there early for sound checks.

The guys giving me a ride got a flat coming over the bridge, and since we were already cutting it really close, I just had to say fuck it. So I missed my first show ever, which makes me feel terrible, but at least I finally got to eat bacon wrapped in a pancake at Bender’s Bar and Grill.

Speaking of bacon, I totally want to serve chocolate chip and bacon cookies at our party on Saturday, but Shan won’t let me do it. At least we’ll still have absinthe (I told her the green coloring was seasonal).

So yesterday was a waste of a day, but I’m feeling less sick today. Shan and I just arrived at Golden Haven Spa in Calistoga. Calistoga is known for it’s hot springs mineral water, and GHS has a spa in our room so we can soak in mineral water the whole time we are here.

The trip was originally planned so we could chill in the spa and watch The Office’s christmas episode but that’s not going to happen with the Office on haitus atm.

I truly believe that I am the first casualty of the writers strike.

So I wasn’t all that stoked about coming until I decided to try an experiment out while I’m here. The Levi’s store in downtown SF used to have a hot tub for customers to use. The idea was that you buy a pair of raw denim 501’s in the store, then soak for an hour as the jeans shrank to fit y’r hot bod. They even had a special room that was basically a drying room. You stood in the room for 15 minutes as hot air was blasted at you. Pretty nifty right? Levi’s policy was that if you were unhappy with your fit, they would return the jeans, no problem.

Shan went with a few of her friends when she was sixteen, and of the 6 pairs soaked, only 2 people kept their jeans. With numbers like that, you can see why Levi’s stopped doing it, but you have to imagine how much those two people must have loved their jeans. Levi’s didn’t just sell them some denim, they sold them an experience, and they left with custom fitting jeans.

So I have decided to soak for an hour and dry off in my black Imperial Kings. I’ve had my Imperials for 3-4 months and have probably worn them for 40-50 days. The denim is still raw, so the hot tub should shrink it a bit, but it will restretch out. The end result should be pretty fitted.

The added element of mineral water is what I’m curious about. Mineral water stinks. It’s very sulfury smelling, or “ass” smelling according to Kiya. He says they should end up like any soaked pair of jeans, but they’ll stink. I actually think the smell won’t stick with the jeans after they have dried, but if it does I’ll just have to wash ’em when we get home. Mineral water is filled with minerals (obviously) that you don’t find in water anywhere else. These minerals have characteristics that many believe to be healing, but will they effect denim any differently?

I can’t wait to find out. Might even video blog it, oh joy!


Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

10 responses to “Like water for denim

  1. Cheryl Avatar

    Oh yes. Please videoblog soaking and drying your jeans to a custom fit. Hurray!

  2. Drew Avatar
    Drew

    i hate how you guys can make pants so exciting. it makes me want to jump on a plane and get off right at selfedge.

    of course, i want to do that already. just, things like these make me actually want to buy something instead of just hanging out.

    i finally got to have some chocolate-covered bacon. it was even better than i expected, and i had high expectations. beautiful.

  3. Joey Avatar
    Joey

    Hey Drew what’s your waist size?

    The Levi/501 experience sounds really cool. My brother did that at home with his 501’s and he said it made a huge difference with his jeans.

  4. mgodinez Avatar
    mgodinez

    hope you’re feelin’ better, doc pop…colds and flus are no fun.

    shrink to fit…they should bring that campaign back.

  5. drew Avatar
    drew

    I usually go from 30, Joey… I wouldn’t take over your comments, doc, but I’m doing it from my mom’s iPhone. crazy days!

    Hope I can make it out to see you this break, Joey. 🙂

  6. doc Avatar

    I survived my vacation.

    The pants are great, actually a little loser than before. Weird.

    Videotaped it, may edit and put online, may not.

  7. Matt Avatar
    Matt

    Hello!

    I am contacting you because I am working with the authors of a book about blogs, and I’d like to request permission to use the photograph you have posted in this book. Please contact me at matt@wefeelfine.org, and I’d be happy to give you more information about the project. Please paste a link to your blog in the subject field. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

    Sincerely,

    Matt

  8. GarrettC Avatar
    GarrettC

    What a factual article. Thanks for the nice update. Keep it up! But aside from that breaking and sizzling report let me impart something new concern to you. Grilling and barbecuing is an institution of American cuisine, and a particular model of charcoal grill is starting to cause quite a stir, called the Big Green Egg. The Big Green Egg is a large shell with vertically stacked grill grates and plenty of internal space, and it doubles as a smoker, in case standard steak or burger fare is just no good and you want slow cooked brisket or ribs. A person can grill ten steaks at once, or bake bread – it might be worth some fast cash to get one. Users swear by the Big Green Egg grill, and it might be worth a payday loan to add it to your grilling arsenal.

  9. wheelie Avatar
    wheelie

    Pretty cool idea it is.. isn't it? how you got it.. so i have to buy a pair of raw denim 501’s in the store, then soak for an hour as the jeans shrank to fit y’r hot bod… thanks for sharing your views with us..
    hot tub for sale

  10. wheelie Avatar
    wheelie

    Pretty cool idea it is.. isn't it? how you got it.. so i have to buy a pair of raw denim 501’s in the store, then soak for an hour as the jeans shrank to fit y’r hot bod… thanks for sharing your views with us..
    hot tub for sale

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *