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Experiment Shows Not Washing Jeans for 15 Months is Disgusting But Safe

dbune writes "Young people who argue with their parents over wearing the same pair of smelly jeans can now cite the work of a 20-year old University of Alberta student who wore the same jeans for 15 months straight. From the article: 'Josh Le wore the same pair of jeans to break in the raw denim, so it would wrap the contours of his body, leaving distinct wear lines. He had his textile professor test the jeans for bacteria before washing them for the first time. The results showed high counts of five different kinds of bacteria, but nothing in the range of being considered a health hazard."

22 of 258 comments (clear)

  1. Reason by kimvette · · Score: 3, Funny

    Here's the reason:

    He moved out of his mom's basement and didn't visit home for 15 months. He explained away his stinky jeans as a science experiment. ;)

    --
    The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
    1. Re:Reason by sangreal66 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't think the group that buys $300 raw denim jeans really intersects with the "mom's basement" group

    2. Re:Reason by maxume · · Score: 3, Funny

      Are you sure you aren't misusing a wall?

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    3. Re:Reason by repapetilto · · Score: 3, Informative

      urine is sterile when it leaves your body but it also contains bacteria food so whatever urine gets on grows bacteria.

    4. Re:Reason by TheCRAIGGERS · · Score: 5, Insightful

      At first I figured you were obviously trolling ... but now I gotta ask: why, exactly, would you classify "these people" as "idiots"?

      Because they are not like him.

    5. Re:Reason by CatsupBoy · · Score: 3, Funny
      Reminds me of a Churchill quote....

      Young man (seeing Churchill leaving the bathroom without washing his hands): At Eton they taught us to wash our hands after using the toilet.
      Churchill: At Harrow they taught us not to piss on our hands.

    6. Re:Reason by X0563511 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If you've got something growing on your penis that you wouldn't want anywhere else, it's time to see the doctor...

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
  2. Washing by RazzleFrog · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I was my clothes because I want to smell nice. Not because I am afraid of getting sick from them.

    1. Re:Washing by sharkey · · Score: 5, Funny

      I was my clothes...

      You were?

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    2. Re:Washing by Xphile101361 · · Score: 3, Informative

      He said he wanted to smell nice. Since when does febreze smell nice?

    3. Re:Washing by Mitchell314 · · Score: 3, Funny

      It isn't?

      --
      I read TFA and all I got was this lousy cookie
    4. Re:Washing by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 3, Funny

      I was my clothes

      And so can you!

  3. It is bad for your health in a different way by phantomfive · · Score: 3, Informative

    The salt from your sweat (over time) will build up on the fabric of the pants, and then when you walk it will start to chafe your skin. It can be quite painful.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  4. Altered results? by chemicaldave · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Did he botch the results when he repeatedly threw his jeans in a freezer?

    When his jeans got a bit funky smelling, Le's solution was to put them in the freezer. "There were times when it had a bad odour, like in the seventh month," he said. "That's when I threw it in the freezer and magically when it came out it was odourless."

    I know very little about microbiology, but could that have significantly affected growth rates of all/certain types of bateria or killed them altogether?

  5. Questionable testing method by confused+one · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Article indicated he put the jeans into the freezer when they would start to stink. This would kill some of the bacteria and partially invalidates his test.

    1. Re:Questionable testing method by sangreal66 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Doesn't really invalidate his test, since this is a standard technique for people breaking in unwashed raw denim jeans. Presumably he was testing the safety of that practice and not the safety of simply being grimy and never washing your clothes

    2. Re:Questionable testing method by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What the hell? The test had a sample size of one, just one. Obviously it had no control group to compare it with. It is just an anecdote. Not an experiment, it can not be used to advance any hypothesis. And you find fault with some itsy bitsy thing like throwing it in the freezer? This stupid thing does not deserve a posting in slashdot. May be in some mid-morning talk shows where bored housewives gasp at the idea of not washing jeans for 15 months. It definitely does not deserve your response. And stupidest thing in all this is me taking time to write a reply in the middle of my work day.

      --
      sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  6. Yay! by supersloshy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now I never have to leave my parents' basement^W^W girlfriend's house due to health concerns! Take that, mom! Err, hot girlfriend that I definitely have! :D

    --
    "Our country is not nearly so overrun with the bigoted as it is overrun with the broadminded." -Archbishop Fulton Sheen
  7. Re:Only one pair? by kyrio · · Score: 3, Informative

    I have three pairs of jeans (I had four, but that's a long story). I bought them at the same time, 5-6 years ago. Only one of them ripped wide open at the crotch last year, so now I have only two. I wash(ed) them all regularly.

    Obviously, you're buying shit tier quality jeans.

  8. Re:Wow by inerlogic · · Score: 3, Funny

    EWWWWW.... who let these canadians on our interwebs?

  9. Re:Only one pair? by reeno49 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I absolutely LOVE that going from 4 pairs of jeans to only 3 pairs of jeans is a long story for you. Honestly... you, sir, just made my cube-dewlling day more tolerable.

    Thank you.

    --
    I should have been a girl, with the way I can dance... my moves are amazing!
  10. It's a long story by Cajun+Hell · · Score: 5, Funny

    It was a dark and stormy night. I had just finished washing jeans #2 which I had bought 4-5 years earlier, and inspected them. Being better than shit tier quality, they were, as expected, still in good condition. Even the crotch was in good condition and showed no signs that it might dramatically fail at some inconvenient time. As is typical for dark and story nights, there was a conspicous lack of sunlight and very high humidity, so I knew the jeans would not dry on the line outside. I put them into the dryer, along with some other clothes, and I was careful to add a fabric softener sheet as well. Just as the dryer started rumbling, I heard the phone ring.

    "Hello?"

    "Hi, Kyrio, this is Reeno."

    I was ecstatic. "Hey Reeno!! Good to hear from you finally! What have you been up to?" I had not heard from Reeno in a very long time. We had a falling out many years ago, over some dumb topic like jean quality tiers or something, but that was all water under the bridge, now.

    "Well, I have been writing a novel."

    "No shit, really?! What's it about?" I was intrigued.

    "Oh, I don't think I can sum it up very briefly. Here, let me read it to you."

    #include "war and peace.txt"

    As Reeno's scratchy voice managed to croak out the final words, I noticed the sunlight shining through the window next to my phone charger (the batteries had long ago failed) and the eery silence that had so long dominated the house after the dryer had finished. What was there to say? I didn't have the heart to tell Reeno that his novel sounded an awful lot like another one written by Tolstoy. It was a very awkward situation -- awkward like realizing that you're not wearing any pants. I went to the dryer and took out good ol' reliable jeans #2.

    "Well, Reeno, that's quite a story. I'm glad you called. But I need to go now. Later, dude!"

    "Good bye, Kyrio," he said, and I pressed the "END" button on the phone.

    Exhausted, I walked out my door into the bright and calm day. A pity; the line would certainly be able to dry my jeans now, but there was no need. That's when I noticed that the storm had blown down the drying line. I bent down to pick up the end so that I could re-tie it, when to my annoyance, there was a terrible ripping sound and the brisk air blew into my crotch.

    "Oh no! Jeans #2! Noooo!!" I wailed. I know that some people buy shit tier quality jeans, so they never grow attached to their garments during their ephemeral lifetimes, but it's different for me. I had these jeans for half a decade! Crying and heartbroken, I ran back into the house and picked up the phone.

    "Reeno! My jeans! I'm down from four pairs to only three," I brokenly told him through sobs.

    "Oh my god! What happened?!"

    "It's a long story," I began, and that's when I heard it. The bastard was laughing at me. Laughing!

    --
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