Levi's CEO: Never put your jeans in the washer

According to the CEO of Levi's Denim, Chip Bergh, we've been washing our denim wrong our whole lives. Oops.

61-year-old Bergh made the reveal last week when celebrating Levi's IPO celebration at Wall Street, where he recounted a statement he made back in 2014. The leader of one of the most iconic denim brands in American history explained how he hadn't washed his jeans in more than 10 years.

As Bergh later clarified in a 2014 article titled "The Dirty Jeans Manifesto," that meant his denim "hadn’t seen the inside of a washing machine." Not only does washing your jeans in a washing machine contribute to its fading, but it also contributes to a huge waste of water.

"We learned that an average pair of jeans consumes roughly 3,500 liters of water – and that is after only two years of use, washing the jeans once a week," explained Bergh regarding an assessment of the company's products. "Nearly half of the total water consumption, or 1,600 liters, is the consumer throwing the jeans in the washing machine. That’s equivalent to 6,700 glasses of drinking water!" he continued in the manifesto.

“If you wait and wash only after every 10 wearings, you can save 50% of the water that you use as a consumer to wash your jeans," echoed Levi's Vice President of Sustainability Michael Kobori.

Instead, if Bergh's jeans "really need a wash," he will handwash them and hang them up to dry, or spot clean with a toothbrush.

"My point at the conference, which by the way was all about sustainability, was to challenge the mindset that we need to throw everything into the washing machine after one or two wearings," the CEO clarified in the letter.

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