Bleach, enzymes, and flourescent brightening agents are the three enemies when it comes to washing your jeans. Your individual fades are a record of your life in your precious pair of jeans, so we want to be as careful as possible when washing them. Your fades will give your jeans their own unique character, with honeycombs, whiskers, and ‘atari’ fades combining to make your jeans a work of art. Chemical substances can damage the fabric so we want to keep things natural, protect your fades, while also prolonging the life of the jeans themselves.

Common denim wisdom tells us that killer fades can only be achieved by not washing your jeans, though this isn’t exactly the case. There is some truth in it however, as frequent washing doesn’t let the creases fix themselves into the fabric very well, and you’ll end up with a much more uniformly-faded pair of jeans, with very few whiskers or honeycombs. This is the main reason why some wearers swear by never washing their jeans at all. 

Along with this, we often hear that if you are going to wash your jeans, at least don’t use any kind of soap or detergent. If you do this though, sweat and oils build up in the fabric, weakening the threads themselves and possibly causing tears and blowouts. The bacteria that builds up can also start to smell pretty bad, something nobody wants. So it’s a balance between wearing them for long periods to get the fades you want, while also prolonging their life by washing them naturally and giving the fabric a chance to ‘regenerate’ itself and give you years of use. We think this is where our Kaminari laundry powder comes in and saves the day. 

Kaminari laundry powder is made from bean oil and could be called the ‘virgin oil’ of the soy bean. It’s actually a by-product of soy sauce production, being what’s left over after the pressing of the beans to make the sauce. As we can only get the materials for this soap from soy sauce manufacturers that are doing things the old, traditional way, production of Kaminari laundry soap is quite limited. Motomiya Soap Factory began to produce Kaminari laundry soap in 1922 using only three components: water, bean oil, and caustic soda. And they have been producing this good and simple product ever since. Samurai Jeans was particularly impressed with their stubbornness in protecting their traditional manufacturing process and by their faith in their products. Aside from the way it’s made, it’s also awesome that it’s 99% pure and additive-free, good for the body and the environment, and is also very effective at removing dirt from clothes. So if you want to keep your jeans in tip-top condition while keeping the fade potential sky high, the answer from us at Samurai is Kaminari laundry powder. 

*This product is limited to 2 cases per order per person.

*This product cannot be delivered to Spain due to the country's custom restriction.