Stone washing is a textile manufacturing process used to give a newly manufactured cloth garment a worn-out appearance. Stone-washing also helps to increase the softness and flexibility of otherwise stiff and rigid fabrics such as canvas and denim.
The process uses large stones to roughen up the fabric being processed. The garments are placed in a large horizontal industrial clothes washer that is also filled with large stones. As the wash cylinder rotates, the cloth fibers are repeatedly pounded and beaten as the tumbling stones ride up the paddles inside the drum and fall back down onto the fabric.
A number of people and organizations have claimed to have invented stone-washing. According to Levi Strauss & Co., Donald Freeland, an employee of the Great Western Garment Company (later acquired by Levi's), invented "stone-washing" denim in the 1950s. Inventor Claude Blankiet has also been credited with having invented the technique in the 1970's.[1] The jeans company Edwin claims to have invented the technique in the 1980's.[2]
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Stonewashed jeans are jeans that have been treated to produce a faded, worn appearance. This is usually accomplished either by washing the jeans with pumice in a rotating drum, or also by using chemicals to create the appearance without the use of a rotating drum. Stonewashed jeans were a popular fashion trend in the 1970s.[3] In the 2000s, stonewashed jeans were heavily distressed, with pre-made holes, frayed edges and extensive fading caused by sandblasting
The fungus Trichoderma is also commonly used in the process of "stone-washing" jean material. Since the fungus decomposes cellulose with the enzymes that it produces, this allows for the characteristic appearance that the jeans have been washed with a stone.
Acid-washed denim is washed with pumice stones and chlorine until it is bleached almost white. The process was invented in Italy by the Rifle jeans company. Acid wash jeans, worn with fringe jackets or the Perfecto motorcycle jacket were popularised by hard rock, outlaw country and heavy metal bands in the 1980s. Skinheads and punk rockers would spatter bleach on their jeans for a similar effect.[4] Acid washed jeans made a comeback in the late 2000s among teenage girls.[5]