What is denim? The difference between Denim and Jeans

Currently, there are countless types of materials selected to make clothes, accessories such as cotton, felt, wool, … And denim is one of the most popular materials for consumers. Denim is a fashionable, modern and youthful fabric that is especially trusted by young people. But do you know anything about Denim? What is denim? Are denim and jeans the same? If you do not have the answer, please take a look with ONOFF in the article below!

What is denim?

Denim is a rough, durable fabric that is woven in a tight knit with 100% cotton fabric. To create denim fabric, people use woven form combining many white fibers and indigo fibers in which indigo fibers run along and white fibers run horizontally. In quality denim fabric, it is also mixed with polyester or lycra yarn to resist shrinkage and wrinkle extremely effectively. Traditional denim will be blue thanks to the use of indigo to create beautiful fashion clothing. The density of Denim fabric on this material is very high, so the general feeling that it brings will be hard. Currently, its material is the most produced all over the world.

A special feature of denim fabric is that there are diagonal lines visible on the fabric surface that distinguish it from other cotton fabrics. It is a special made by weaving rhombus, in a cross-pattern.

What is denim?

Denim surface

You may have wondered why denim is white on the inside and blue on the outside. That is because when weaving denim, the warp is dyed and the rest is not. Dyed yarn will be woven on the outside and white yarn will be woven inwards.

Distinguish between Jeans and Denim

Jeans and denim are two phrases that are often confused in most parts of the world. People accidentally use these words when their meanings are unknown, causing them to be accidentally interchangeable and misused. All jeans are denim pants but not all denim pants are jeans. Easier to understand, jeans are made of denim. While denim is a raw fabric made from 100% cotton woven and can be used to produce jeans and accessories including bags, skirts and jackets.

Let’s find out more details about the difference between jeans and denim!

What are jeans?

Jeans are made from 100% cotton (denim) so it is flexible and comfortable. Therefore, it is used by many young students. Especially with jeans you will not need to wash them often because they are durable and have good insulation to wear comfortably in cold weather.

Jeans are considered to be casual, sophisticated style for men and women to wear in daily life. There are many different designs of jeans, but basically all made from denim.

What are jeans?

Denim fabric

What is denim?

As mentioned, denim is the fabric that makes jeans. Besides jeans, there are also many other accessories such as pockets, skirts and coats, but that does not mean they will carry the name “jeans”. That said, the concepts of jeans and denim are completely different but often get confused.

The development history of denim fabric

The word “denim” comes from the “serge de Nimes” fabric that originated in the French city of Nimes where it was first produced. It has been used in the United States since the late 18th century, in blue with indigo to create a blue jeans, a type of cotton pants.

The use of denim fabric dates back to the 17th century. In the 1800s, the need for a sustainable fabric for mining workers led to its origin (Strauss, 2018). Levi Strauss (entrepreneur) and Jacob Davis (a tailor) work together to create denim pants, made from a very strong cross-stitched cotton fabric and reinforced with rivets at key points to extend its service life.

The development history of denim fabric

The father of denim

In the ’30s, Hollywood made it onto the screen, giving cowboy movies dusty and stylish denim outfits.

Denim pants in the 50s

Denim pants in the 50s

In the 50s, denim became a fashion icon, a symbol of the popularity and rebellion of the younger generation. Nowadays, denim is no longer just a symbol, it becomes a necessary part of everyone’s wardrobe.

Denim Production process 

The process begins with cotton harvesting, ginning, and baling. The bales are then divided into small bags, which then go into production. Carded cotton is then converted into small pieces, which are woven in the spinning machine to make yarn from these pieces (Jeans, 2018).

The yarn is then dyed, traditionally an indigo dye to give it a glossy blue denim.

The dyed yarn and white yarn are then woven into denim fabric, where the blue strands form the warp and is woven closer than the weft of the white yarn to make the fabric greener.

After weaving, this fabric is ready to complete processes such as removal of loose fibers, removal of lint and rolls. The final denim is then rolled into fabric ready for shipment.

At sewing, this fabric is stacked in layers and cut into desired patterns, then sewed according to design requirements. Afterwards, the tailor-made garments are sent to wash or wash the stones as required.

Prewashing is done to make denim softer, using industrial cleaners.

Characteristics of denim

Advantages of Denim

Denim fabric is mainly used for its toughness and durability. Traditionally, denim is woven with cotton, however, when blended with polyester, shrinkage and wrinkles in the denim are reduced. Denim is now also added lycra which increases the elasticity of the fabric. This fabric has low color fastness and its thickness often makes movement and operation relatively difficult.

Advantages of Denim

Dusty denim shirt and pants

Disadvantages of Denim

Besides the great advantages, Denim fabric still has some disadvantages such as:

Limited stretchability makes it unsuitable for apparel such as sportswear or physical activity.

In addition, denim fabric also takes a long time to dry, so it often takes a long time for washing and cleaning.

Denim Application

Currently Denim fabric is applied a lot, especially in the field of fashion. Besides, this fabric is also used in many other areas such as accessories, automobile manufacturing.

In the field of apparel

Denim fabric is used to make jeans, jackets, shirts, shorts, set clothes, sports shoes, overalls, skirts, ….

In the production of accessories, Denim fabric is used to create belts, bags or bags, …

Or in the field of furniture

In the manufacture of furniture, Denim fabric is used to produce items such as lampshades, upholstery or bean bags, etc., making the choice of home decoration more diverse.

Other application

Denim fabric is now also used in bedding.

Besides this material is also used in the field of art.

Denim Classification

Dry denim

The fabric is dyed dark blue, not get washed with colors and therefore, it often fades when washing. Therefore, many people do not like to wash the pants made of this material for fear of discoloration and loss of clothes.

Raw denim

This is a fabric that cannot be washed after dyeing. The washing process is usually done so the fabric becomes softer and also eliminates shrinkage.

Raw denim

Raw denim

Selvedge denim

The other way is to sew denim. Usually, the edges of the denim have a white stripe that is not dyed, and the fabric is placed along the seam of the body / shirt. This fabric is said to be the most durable and the best among denim.

Selvedge denim

Selvedge denim

How to preserve denim in a durable and beautiful way?

Do not wash many times after buying

The first rule of storage for denim is that you should never wash denim clothes too many times after buying. Why? Because if you wash too many times, denim will quickly fade and lose its inherent beauty.

So how to properly wash?

Use washing liquid

Why use washing liquid and not regular detergent? Denim fabric has a quite sticky surface, so when washing, washing powder is not necessarily completely dissolved and will most likely stick to the washing surface, which may cause color fading or affecting part of the fabric. So, it is best to use washing liquid to avoid the above case.

Wash separately

Not only Denim, but most of the newly bought clothes you need to wash separately because most of the current colored clothes are easy to fade in the first wash. To avoid “dyeing” blue shirts, skirts or light-colored pants, you need to wash them separately.

How to choose Denim?

The first thing you need to keep in mind when choosing denim is the fit. They need to fit you well and make you most comfortable to wear. Denim clothes are not highly elastic, so if you choose denim clothes smaller than your body, you will feel uncomfortable and inconvenient to operate. In contrast, too wide denim will make you feel boxy, heavy and entangled. So, the most important thing when choosing denim is the fit.

Secondly, how do you want to choose denim that is suitable for your budget? There are high-quality denim clothes that are available for very high prices, such as Levis’. There are also more affordable denim items, with average prices and quite a variety of choices for you. But there are also cheap denim clothes but the quality is also poor, using only a few times as fading or feathering. So, when you buy, you need to note that the price is equivalent to the quality of the item you have chosen or not? ONOFF recommends that you choose a reputable denim store to trust, choose the best denim item.

Above, ONOFF has collected the necessary knowledge about Denim fabric, as well as how to properly preserve Denim fabric. Hopefully after this article you will have an interesting experience when choosing denim!

 

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