Stone washing

Stone washing is a textile manufacturing process used to give a newly manufactured cloth garment a worn appearance. The process became popular in the 1980s, as acid jeans gained popularity; however, stone washing has roots going back to 1960s surfer apparel. Stone washing also helps to increase the softness and flexibility of otherwise stiff and rigid fabrics such as canvas and denim. Although stone washing increases a fabric's flexibility, it shortens the life-span of the jeans. The process of stone washing can be costly, as freshly stone washed jeans must be washed many times in order to remove the grit from the process.^[1] Along with high production costs, stone washing can be detrimental to the environment, due to the excess grit that is removed as fabric is being stone washed. This leads many manufacturers to pursue other methods to achieve a distressed appearance.^[2]

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. The frequency of tumble washes impacts the fabrics strength and rubbing fastness. As the fabric is washed in a washer repeatedly, the rubbing speed increases, and the strength of the fabric decreases.^[3] Longer wash times, coupled with frequent wash cycles, heightens the distressed look that stone washing aims to provide.

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 1970s.^[4] The jeans company Edwin claims to have invented the technique in the 1980s.^[5] It is commonly accepted that French stylists Marithé + François Girbaud are inventors of industrialization of stone washing ("Stonewash" technique).^[6][7] However, the process of stone washing was patented by jean company Rifle Jeans Company in 1986. ^[8]