Learn all about the ABC's of Denim, from wash techniques, to dyeing processes, to how

designers achieve your jeans' favorite worn-in feel.

Abrasion The process of making garments look worn and aged by scraping or
rubbing the surface of the fabric causing abrasion.

Acid Wash The finish that gives indigo jeans sharp contrasts by soaking
pumice stones in chlorine and letting the stones create the contrast.

Bartak Stitching that reinforces places on jeans such as flies and pocket
openings.

Bleach A chemical used to make denim fade.

Carding The process in which raw cotton is separated and cleaned to make a
sliver.

Cotton After blooming, this plant turns from white to purple, providing the well-
known textile that withstands high temperatures, accepts dyes well, and
increases in strength when wet. The quality of cotton is determined by the length
of fibres; the longer the fibres, the higher the quality.

Crocking A term used to describe how dye rubs off fabric on skin or other
fabric.

Crosshatch Mixing uneven yarns in both the weft and warped directions to
create a unique type of denim that shows a square grid-like pattern in the weave.

Defoliant A chemical that causes plants' leaves to drop off earlier, used to
speed up the harvesting process of cotton.

Denim The word denim is believed to be a derivative of the French term, serge
de Nîmes, a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or
more warp fibers, producing the familiar diagonal ribbing identifiable on the
reverse of the fabric distinguishing denim from cotton duck.

Dips What fabric or yarn are called when dipped in dye.

Double Needle A common seam on jeans where two stitchs run parallel to
each other for reinforcement.
Dual Ring Spun The process in which both the warp and weft threads are
made of ring-spun yarn. It creates a much softer and textured hand than regular
(single) ring-spun denim.

Enzymes Proteins that speed up chemical processes. They are used in textile
processing, mainly in the finishing of fabrics and garments.

Enzyme Wash A more environmentally sound way to create a stone wash,

organic proteins are used to eat away at the indigo.

Finishing The overall processes performed on a garment giving it its unique

look.

Five Pocket Jeans Most frequent design for denim: two back pockets, two
front pockets and a coin pocket inside the right front pocket.

Ginning The process in which seeds are removed from picked cotton.

Hand The term used to describe how denim feels.

Indigo A blue dye obtained from indigo plants. The chemical structure was
synthetically produced in 1987. Indigo's inherent features are good colorfastness
to water and light and a continual fading. This allows the blue color in jeans to
always look irregular and individual.

Jean Possibly derived from the French work "genes", it was first used to
describe the type of pant worn by Genoan sailors.

Laundry A facility that takes unwashed jeans and processes them; i.e. stone
wash, sandblasting, finishing, etc. It is essential in creating commercial denim
and has become as important as fabric development.

Left-Hand Twill A weave in which the grain lines run from the top left-hand
corner of the fabric towards the bottom right. Usually in piece-dyed fabrics, left-
hand twill fabrics are woven from single piled yarns in the warp. They often have
a softer hand feel to them after washing.

Loop Dyed One of three major industrial methods of dyeing indigo yarn.

Open-End Spinning A spinning process in which individual fibers are fed

into a high-speed rotor shaped like a cup where they begin to accumulate. The
yarns produced using this method are not as strong as the ring-spun yarns of the
same size.
Overdye A dying process in which additional color is applied to create a
different shade or cast on the garment.

Oxidation In denim manufacturing, when indigo yarn comes out of the dip and
joins oxygen, penetrating the fibre.

Padazoic A dye used in the late 1960's - early 1970's in place of indigo, which
was in short supply and high demand.

Pigment Dyes Dye that lack the ability to grab onto the fibers and must be
held to the fabric with resins.

Pima Cotton Originally grown in the 1900's in Peru, Pima Cotton is known for
its long fibres, making it a very high quality, luxurious cotton. Pima Cotton was
brought to America and got its name from the Pima Indians, who harvested this
particular type of cotton.

Polyurethane Provides a chemical resistance in the washing and dyeing

process in order to achieve the desired denim wash/ color. It is the basis of a
novel type of elastomeric fiber known generically as spandex. It is a man-made
fiber (segmented polyurethane) able to stretch at least 100% and snap back like
natural rubber.

Pumice Stone Lightweight and strong, this stone is used in the process of
stone-washing apparel.

Ring Dyeing Describes a quality unique to indigo dye in which only the outer
ring of the fibers in the yarn is dyed while the inner core remains white.

Ring Spinning The process that creates unique surface characteristics in a

garment by feeding individual fibers into the end of the yarn while in its twisting
zone producing an irregular authentic vintage look. Ring-spun yarns add
strength, softness and character to jeans.

River Washing The process that creates a naturally aged look by combining
pumice stones and cellulose enzymes. The washer is first loaded with stones
and fabric. The second stage introduces the enzymes and tumbled together to
give denim a vintage, worn hand.

Rivet A metal accessory that is used for reinforcement of stress points as well
as nonfunctional ornamentation.
Sanding Process that makes the surface of a garment soft by rubbing
aggressively with paper containing small loose grains of worn rock.

Sea Island Cotton Known for its silky feel and lustre, one of the best cotton
fibres.

Selvage The edge of a fabric that is woven so that it will not fray or ravel. Old
28 to 30 inch shuttle looms produce denim where selvages are closed, whereas
on the larger modern weaving machines the weft yarn is cut on every pick,
creating what is called a fringe selvage.

Skewing Refers to the occurrence of twisting that happens when the fabric
shrinks more perpendicular to the twill line. Denim needs to be redirected or
"skewed" to prevent the side seam from twisting to the front of the jean.

Slasher Dyeing One of the three main methods of dyeing indigo yarn.

Spinning A process used to create yarn or thread where short fibres are
twisted together. These yarns will be used to weave into cloth or used in sewing.
Longer fibres like silk are not spun.

Stone Washing Process that physically removes color and adds contrast
using pumice stones. The longer the denim and stones are rotated the lighter the
color becomes and more contrast occurs. The denim is then rinsed, softened,
and tumble-dried.

Supima American Pima Cotton

Weft The un-dyed crosswise filling yarns used in denim weave.

Whiskering Term used to describe a denim that has a fading of the ridges in
creases in the crotch area and back of the knees giving the appearance of aged
denim.

Yarn Dye Refers to fabric where the individual yarns are dyed prior to
weaving.