Day 91 Wear In

Been finding quite a few of these on the jeans lately. Means they're finally getting some wear and tear. Had a chat with Alexander from Dr.Denim and he has a wear on his jeans, that are probably on Day 100 at the moment, in the same place as mine. Impossible that it is a defect in the material, but the wear looks similar. Will take a photo when I see him again.

This tear in the photo is from folding up the hem. I start with one fold, and currently I am on three folds, as these jeans stretch.

Day 90 Roadtripping

Spent nearly the whole day in the car today with two colleagues, travelling something like 320km for a 3 hour meeting and then 320km back. I have a client up north in Sweden, where I usually travel to, but this was a sort of compromise meeting halfway between Gothenburg and Funäsdalen (Foon-ass-da-len) in a town called Örebro (Uh-ruh-broo). Sweaty car seats are not ideal for a denim test I can tell you that.

Day 89 Long days

Took it easy today. A walk in town with a friend.

Even during the week this is possible, as the sun sets so late during summers. Even if you finnish work at 17h00 you still have 5 1/2 hours left, as the sun only sets at 22h30 at the moment. Love summers.

Day 88 Moving day

I helped a friend move today, and I don't think these jeans would see a more challenging day. Well at least I hope not.

First the move, up the stairs, down the stairs, through the window, over the table and into the cellar, up to the attic, down to the cellar, out the window, in the window and then some. Luckily it didn't rain. Or at least not then. It did rain though on my 5 kilometre uphill cycle home and these jeans weren't soaked, but very wet, I did have to hang them up and see if I could get them dry with a hair dryer. But then i didn't know if that would make them shrink, so in the end i just left them hung up.

Don't think they'll be the same again.

Day 87 What rain in Spain?

Welcome to Gothenburg. Here's your umbrella. That's what it's all about. Hope this isn't the whole summer.

Day 86 The dog hair effect

You might have read about the Cat effect I posted not so long ago. Well here we have the Dog hair effect, courtesy of Tess. Didn't think of it at all until it was too late. But nothing a brush and one of those sticky rollers can't fix.

Day 85 More rain

Our lives in Gothenburg are dominated by the weather. Every second day seems to be rainy. Luckily not stormy and rainy, just rain. So maybe we shouldn't complain. Makes this denim test just a little more interesting though, whilst trying to wear them and not get them wet. Like I said before though, they've gotten wet so much lately with all the rain I wonder if they're shrinking already?

Day 84 Wear and tear

There's this area on my upper thigh, that seems to be wearing a lot more and faster than all the other places. The fibres are already torn, so I'm going to be keeping an eye on it to see if it's getting worse. If it's going to tear, then I'll wash the jeans and fix them I think. Will have to see. I've thought of all possibilities, and the only one I can think of is my mobile phone, which is in my left hand front pocket all the time.

Anyone else with the same problem?

Day 83 Clearer skies

Finally some clearer skies and a beautiful day.

Day 82 IKEA on a rainy day

Went to IKEA yesterday, which is the best thing to do on a rainy cold day. It did however start pouring down on the way to the car. Not so easy to run when you're carrying bags and skipping and hopping over puddles of water. Looks like a lot of rain this week. These jeans are shrinking already I fear.

Day 81 21 kilometres

This weekend was the 21km Gothenburg Marathon. And no, I didn't run. Figured the jeans won't make the distance ;)

I did however go look and scream my support whilst eating an ice cream in the sun.

Day 80 Back Pockets

So here I am, on day 80, nearly half way, and so far looking good. I did mention this before, that it's going to be tougher to not just keep them clean during summer, but dry. Once a smell starts you need to take extra care. I try and hang them inside out and open every night. Not easy to do or remember for that matter. But so far the back side pockets show some good wear, but not yet tear.

Day 79 What's in a name?

For those that don't know, most Denim Companies give their jeans names. Even Dr.Denim. Their style names are based on film characters. Not the main characters, but mostly the side characters. Below are just a few examples:

Donk: Crocodile Dundee
Jones: Police Academy
Ormond: I'm for the Hippo (yes, the one with Terence Hill and Bud Spencer)
Kissy: James Bond, You only Live Twice
Plenty: James Bond, Goldfinger
And so on...

Day 78 Comparing the front

And today you can see the front comparisons of these three pairs of jeans. Washing this pair of Ormonds I have on will be great, to see how the Salvage Denim has handled the 6 month test.

Day 77 Comparing the back

In this photo I compare the three pairs of jeans that have gone through tests. First on the left is Harris, which is over two years old, has had two washes and is in need of fixing before I wear them again. The second pair is a pair of Ormonds, that I've worn for 18 months before I washed them. Then the last pair is the pair of Ormonds I'm testing now, which will be washed on the 1st of September this year.

Day 76 Amateur night

Ok, officially it is amateur night here at the denim testing competition. Let me tell you why. When I started speaking of aquiring my latest pair of Red Salvage denims, Alexander from Dr.Denim said I should get a pair of Raymonds Red Salvage Raw jeans. I did however try them on, but now that I remember, they didn't fit me so well. I did like the Raw Salvage denim, but in the Ormond model. It just fits my body type better, tall and skinny.

But I have been writing since the start of March that they were Raymonds, when in fact they are Ormonds. Silly me.

Day 75 My favourite shoes

Don't know why, but I can be in these shoes all the time if I could. But unfortunately we have winter here which is not so accomodating for these shoes, and then it also rains often during summer, so I need to swap them for gum boots a few times. Generally though, if I could choose, it'll be either these or my Havaianas.

Day 74 Gothenburg Science Festival

Today I did a presentation on Web strategy and Social Media to a group of scientists at the Gothenburg Science Festival. It's weird being in a room with so many scientists, who do things that I won't ever understand, as much as they might not understand why someone would wear a pair of jeans every day for 6 months, even though the whole process is very scientific ;)

Above is me taking a break before my presentation, which went well, and now hopefully the world of the web will be a better place.

Day 73 So far

And so far I'm 73 days in. Looking OK I think.

Day 72 Knees

Can't stop writing about the knees on these jeans. They're very discoloured already, and that's only after 72 days. I do rub my hands on my knees when I sit, and since a child the knees were the first part of my jeans that always showed wear and stretch first. Seems nothing has changed.

Day 71 Inside out

Here's what I do when I've worn the jeans through a sweaty day. Fold them inside out and hang them up. It does dry faster and is ready to wear the next day.

I do however want to discuss a comment made by a reader. Dangwei Zhao said: Raw denim is not for people that wear the same pair of jeans everyday. Raw denim is not for people that shower once a week and If you are clean and wear different pants throughout the week, then washing your denim once every few months is not bad at all. If you disagree, then consider how often you wash your jackets? Get the point?

My answer is yes, Raw denim is not supposed to be worn every day, but as I answered in the comments, that I am trying to test these jeans by wearing them for as many days as possible in as short a time period as possible. In 6 months I will wear them about 180 times. If I want to achieve the same amount of wear by wearing them along with my other jeans, say once a week, then this test will take three and a half years.

I do appreciate the passion in protecting Raw denim from the uninitiated or uneducated, but I'm trying to show people why Raw denim is so special, because when I started two and a half years ago, I knew nothing. Now I love Raw denim.

Day 70 Jack Jones

Don't ask me why, but I have a few stuffed animals at home. Must be something to do with my softer side. Most are dogs of all breeds, and all materials. Here's my latest addition from Jack Jones, and in denim.

Day 69 Wallet

I always have a front pocket wallet, small and neat. Carry 6 cards and cash. I dislike coins, and often cash, as most cards work very well for where I live and work. My wallet is always the marked clearly on my jeans's front right pocket. This is so far after 69 days.

Here's a link to my previous test and the marks my wallet made in other pairs of my denim.

Day 68 Brännö

The word for island in Swedish is ö, pronounced uhh. So Brännö (Brenn-uhh) would be Bränn island. I have a friend who has a family home out on the island, which is in the Gothenburg archipelago.

It's a fantastic place to visit in summer. Winter however is terrible, as all the water between Gothenburg and the island, freezes over. The island is a car-free island, so you are only allowed to walk, cycle or ride you mo-ped (Scooter). We've already been out there for a weekend in the sun, but I feel it's a place these jeans are going to get some proper wear in. There's a lot of gardening to do, working on the house, fixing things, then also walking and of course lying on the grass. So a lot of stain cleaning it seems. Hope for the best.

Day 67 Soil

As time goes on with tests like these, you get used to expecting the unexpected. A wine stain has come and gone, dust have been cleaned a few times, but the most is always dirt marks like those you see above. Most are easy to get clean with a brush once they dry. Grass stains will be addressed later on, as the summer comes along, as it's bound to happen.

This particular stain is pure soil. Wait for it to dry, then use a strong bristled brush and give the area a few brushes. I usually have my hand on the inside, so that the denim isn't flat. This helps the brush to get into the fibres a little better, as the denim hangs over my hand. I also brush the inside of the denim, just to make sure. Easy with brushing too hard and make marks, however it's all up to you. Sometimes I do not mind the marks, as it's those marks that makes me remember the events in the life of my jeans.

Day 66 Some more wear

These two folds are in the crotch area of the jeans. They're not just folds but the actual denim is tearing or wearing, depends on how you look at it. I'm definitely going to have to fix this spot in the future. I just hope it's after the wash and not before, cause it'll cause chaos in the wash when the denim shrinks. But isn't this part of the whole thing though? Wear and tear. Wearing in. Wearing out, and all that.

Day 65 Travelling back home

It's been a long week. Working. A lot of coffees. One festival. Two helicopter trips. A road trip to Trondheim. And now tree trains laterI'm back at home. The jeans are really taking a beating at the moment. It's looking good so far.

Day 64 Dr.Denim keeping me warm

Two years ago during Dr.Denim's winter fashion show I got a beanie in my Dr.Denim goodie bag. It's been keeping my head warm ever since. One of my favourite items of Dr.Denim clothing.

Day 63 Back in the snow

A whole bunch of my previous posts in the last month have been about sun, summer and warmer weather, especially now that every trace of snow has melted in Gothenburg and surroundings. However, this weekend I find myself standing on snow once more. Looks like these jeans are thoroughly getting tested in all weather conditions too.

Day 62 Motocross jumping in the snow

Spent yesterday at an After Ski Festival in Ramundberget. Besides a fantastic helicopter ride to and from the festival, we watched some Motocross jumping in the snow. Now these guys are crazy, but very impressive.

There was one incident with my jeans and the snow though. As I got out and stepped from the ground onto the first patch of snow, my leg went into the snow up to my knee. I thought "Oh, crap", but was pleasantly surprised that the snow was dry. Not a single wet patch on my leg at all. It could have been worse.