Real indigo is a very different sort of "dye" than other dyes. It doesnt acturally penetrate the fiber nor does it permanently attach. It is attracted to the fiber. Most dyes make chemical bonds. The hallmark of real indigo is that it rubs off leaving light areas on the clothes. Dye continues to wear leaving old jeans their classic muted color. The process of dying with indigo involves removing oxygen from the molecule which makes it attach better and then exposing it to air. Sorry but nothing makes the now blue molecule attach to the fabric better.

I have bought deep dyed jeans recently that did not rub off/bleed like that. I think you might consider just returning them.

Wash and wash and wash. I had that problem with some new jeans, too. I honestly think the manufacturer skipped wash & rinsing them after dying in order to save the water and energy. Thus, we customers are left to finish the manufacturing at home. I hope this does not foretell the future of all denim. Geeze, think of the skin of those poor folks who sew that dye-soaked fabric.

I was going to say to add a cup of salt to your wash water, but patriciae's answer might make that moot.

Not a fashion statement, but DH used to have a style work jean he insisted on, purchased at the saw shop. Hardly Nordstrom ;0) They would release dye like yours. I'd wash and dry them two or three times before giving them to him to wear and the rinse water would be blue. As would the white enamel tub in my washer that I had at that time. The dye didn't come off on furniture, in the truck, but definitely had to release some before they could be worn.

I'm finding that 'wash first' tag on more and more things these days, including some of the Eileen Fisher pants in black...my everyday 'go to'. I've never found it coming off on me, other clothing, anything else.

Where I did run into a dye transfer issue was an impulse buy at a Saks Off Fifth. A moto style vegan leather vest that I wore over a beige knit shirt. It stained the shirt at shoulders top and collarbone area and I never did get the color out. Ruined. It cured me of buying anything at all in vegan leather again including handbags.

I haven't worn jeans in the past 25 years, but for the brief time that I did, I would buy prewashed jeans. I think in my lifetime I only bought one pair of new 501 Levi's, and I had a similar problem with getting rid of excess dye. When you buy (or bought) 501s, you would have to buy with the understanding that they would shrink about 10%, especially in length, and change color. I always liked faded jeans better.

When I first starting wearing jeans, I would buy them at thrift stores, but eventually they became expensive, and I was tired of them anyway. I did not wear jeans at all as a child - I wanted to avoid "The Clampett Look." I didn't buy any until hippies popularized them in the late 60s and early 70s. The first ones I bought were bell bottom.

One friend of mine in San Francisco who was fanatic about 501 Levi's told me that one should soak new jeans in the bathtub several times before wearing them. I think he also suggested wearing them in the shower or bathtub first, to make sure that they would shrink to the body properly, as skin tight jeans were very popular then.

Ha - back in the 70s, we used to tie our new Levis to a rope and hang 'em off the dock in our saltwater bay...

I always used Retayne when I used to sew. It is a cationic agent which helps seal the color by physical rather than chemical means. You can buy it online or at some fabric stores/quilting supply shops.

I haven't had that issue with jeans but do tend to wash them first. It seems like a lot of work to resolve the problem. I would return them...should be easy with Nordstrom.

I remember someone here posting a similar problem. In that case, the dye rubbed off onto a new white sofa.

That explains why I break out when any of that stuff touches my skin. Still I would think a few good washings should knock it down to the point it isn't rubbing off when you touch it.

I had a blue shirt once that continued to bleed dye after repeated washings. I'm pretty sure it was indigo. I finally gave up on it and threw it away.

I dont have any other suggestions for you, just would add a ditto to returning if you cant solve the issue.

I purchased a really cute bright blue suede crossbody bag quite a number of years ago. It was not cheap. The first time I used it I unfortunately wore a light colored pair of pants and discovered too late the bag rubbed off onto the pants. Both the pants and the bag were goners.

InagreeI agree. Return them. I dry clean some of my jeans. I wonder if that could help?

I do have to say that it has happened to me several times that a new pair of jeans, even after the first wash, have dyed my legs blue. The first time it happened I thought there was something medically wrong with me until I realized it was dye from the jeans. I would think after 2 or 3 washes it should stop. If not, maybe it would be best to return them.

Bummer! i agree with returning them. 😕

I've used Chlorox bleach to get color out of denim, but you have to make sure that you do not use too much - you only want to remove some of the color, I think. Anyway, I think it is worth a try.

When I began my clothing design business in San Francisco in the early 1970s, I bought old blue jeans at thrift stores, removed all of the stitching (except for the pockets back pockets and watch pockets, which I left on), washed the disassembled pieces, and then cut them into somewhat random shapes. I then sewed the random shapes together as overlapping appliques, and I did triple stitching close to where I wanted the fabric fray. This gave a sort of fringe effect, and I then made "new" clothes from the new fabric that I had created. Since I never paid more than 65¢ for a pair of jeans, this was cheaper (if more labor intensive) than buying new denim.

I also sometimes spotted the denim with splashes of diluted bleach, which I did in the bathtub. It's pretty easy to bleach denim, and so you have to make sure that you do not overdo it, or else the fabric will disintegrate, but that only happens when you have gone beyond white.

Lars, your comment reminded me of a craft technique I learned awhile back: use liquid dishwasher detergent to paint or stamp designs on denim, since it contains bleach, but won't run the way liquid bleach does, because it's thicker and more viscous.

I think you could probably mix bleach with a gel, such as glycerin to paint designs on denim. Kevin has mixed glycerin with some of his watercolors to make them easier to control.

I used to use silk dyes on silk, but I also used resists to keep the dyes where I wanted them. It was a little bit like batik.

I think Ill leave them next to the washer and throw them in every time i do a load of dark clothing . What a nuisance. Glad I didnt throw them on and then sit on my white sofa, although i have been looking for an excuse to replace it.

Most indigo is not the real thing. It is chemical dye of the same color. So you can have permanently dyed fabric that doesn't fade. I actually have plant indigo in my freezer at the moment. You can do fun things with it. To get the indigotin out of the plant it was traditionally fermented in big vats-smells horrible. The indigo sinks to the bottom as it oxygenates. It makes you think of blue chalk. But to get it to stick to anything you have to get the oxygen back out of it again. Back in the day they used bran and urine. the urine of young boys was preferred for some reason. It turns lite green and the fabric is dipped in. Air it and it turns blue. Like magic really. A very ancient color up there with red ocher which was also a stain instead of a dye.

Ded, are your jeans by chance a brand with the initials EF?

I received my order today from the Nordy sale and it included a pair of EF ankle jeans that happened to have a similar warning tag about not wearing with white clothes or sitting on white furniture! Before washing of course but still. Besides the fact they had a weird hem I didnt like, they are going back.

Return them and buy some colorfast jeans. That indigo dye can rub off on sofas and chairs. I have seen comments about ruined sofas due to indigo dyed jeans❣️I stay clear of the indigo dyed clothing.

I ruined my new Subaru car seats several years ago. I was wearing newish, but washed many times AT Loft jeans. I noticed the light beige seats looked dingy. Took it to my brother who ran a detail shop and he just laughed. They never came clean. My new Honda has black seats for that reason. I am forever grateful I never sat in my Volvo with those pants on. I now never trust denim unless the pants are very old.

Outside, they are Wit and Wisdom brand, i think. ill never buy indigo dyed jeans again.

I've had the same experience as hcbm with staining a car's seats and sadly very expensive handbags from jeans. :(

I remember a lot of clothes in the 70s and 80s that were not colorfast - especially the ones with saturated colors like magenta. I used to sort my clothes in the color families: red (which included magenta), turquoise, and purple, in addition to random dark or black colors and white. I did not wear anything brown at that time, and still do not. I'm not sure what I did with yellows, although I may have had a small collection of pastels. Even though turquoise and purple were in the blue family, I had to wash them separately. The main colors I wore in the early 80s were magenta, turquoise, purple, and white. The black clothes that I wore (such as silk pants) I had to dry clean.

I don't sort clothes as fastidiously as I used to, partly because I do not wear as many solid color clothes as I did in the 80s. I did wear a lot of black and white, but not as much as other colors. I also wore a lot of pink, and I washed that with magenta.

Lars, That must be why I sort my laundry the way I do. Started doing my laundry in the late 70’s. Have always been super cautious, just cringe when I see what some people wash together but it seems to work out for them.

Be happy you noticed before permanently staining the seats in your brand new car. This stain is five years old. We never determined the culprit but it must have been a pair of jeans.

Look at the last paragraphs of this article.

https://www.dharmatrading.com/information/how-to-dye.html

Me thinks that the fixing process was omitted on those "bargain" jeans. The dye does rub off for the old historic process using organic materials. Note that the color is affected by how much oxygen the dye attains. One key item to removing excess dye is HOT water. This may fade the jeans.

This article recommends washing for 1/2 hour in hot water with Dharma Dye Fixative or Ratayne, followed by Synthrapal. I suppose after fixing the dye, the cost per article will no longer be a bargain.

The problem with this type of dye is that the freshly applied dye is not absorbed into the fiber; It lays on the surface.

Nordstrom! I'm surprised. They will definitely take it back. If they can do more they will. This will embarrass them.

Soft Surroundings' clothes are poor quality overall--cheap materials, sloppy sewing, etc.

Retayne is available in many quilt stores.

Patriciae has given a good explanation of indigo properties. When I dye with indigo, I dissolve my powdered natural indigo in washing soda then reduce it with Thiorea Dioxide, a synthetic version of urine. Cotton fibers need high alkaline for the indigo to adhere properly. Try washing your jeans with washing soda or borax to increase the alkalinity and reduce crocking.

https://www.georgeweil.com/blog/dyeing-with-indigo/

@foodonastump Spray the leather with some Woolite and rub with a soft cloth - that usually makes quick work of those denim dye stains

So now i know a new term, crocking. I‘ll try the borax tip since i already have some but I’m not investing in products I wont use again. Guess I‘ll just chalk this up to lessons learned. I suppose i could return them although all the tags are gone. I still have the receipt.

I agree that Soft Surroundings clothes are very cheaply made. The other line that surprises me with their poor quality is J Jill. Their clothes are not inexpensive so ’d expect better quality.

OMG, Foas, that car seat!

sounds as tho 'leaving it next to the washer' has allowed an inanimate object to grab control of a part of your life. Take it back. Get rid of the headache ... as if there aren't enough of those already ...

Im doing a load of wash anyway, so it’s not a problem to throw them in. Washer and dryer are in the basement so no one sees it but me. Good point, though.

Oh @Caroline Hamilton you reminded me that I had a gray suede purse turn blue from new jeans dye too. I was so disappointed. Thankfully it wasn't a particularly expensive purse, but I was still quite upset.

I washed a new pair of jeans from Talbots with other dark clothes. One of the items was a plum colored cotton jersey men's shirt. I'd treated the shirt with OXI stain release to remove two grease spots. Only that shirt was ruined by the jeans...and only in those spots. I bought a bottle of Carbona "Color Run Remover" but haven't tried it yet. It looks like the active ingredient is 15%-30% sodium dipthionite. The instructions are to use the hottest water the garment can tolerate.

I haven't worn the jeans yet. Should I treat them with something first? Should I treat *them* with this Carbona product?

chisue, doesn't salt set the color?

Adding: I used the Carbona on DH's shirt, and it did remove almost all of the dye -- also faded the shirt a little! DH says he'll wear the shirt as it is, but next wash I think I'll give it another 'bath' in the Carbona, hoping to remove last faint trace of dye. It's interesting to me that the dye only 'took' on the spots I'd pre-treated with the OXI stain remover. ("Removes old stains. Gives you new ones!")

Is a salt bath useful for my culprit jeans? I just received a second pair I'd ordered and am sending them back to Talbots with a note: "Why do you sell clothing with indigo dye that stains other fabrics?"

Again, Indigo is not a dye. It is essentially a stain so it cant chemically bond to the fabric like a dye does. that connection is molecular. The Carbona product, the Sodium dipthionite aka Sodium hydrosulfite and a few other names is a 'reducer' It takes oxygen molecules off of chemicals. When it does that to Indigo the indigo will mix with water and will change from blue to a yellow green at the proper PH(basic) I expect the Carbona has soda ash in it as well. It would make it easier to remove excess indigo. It will also change dyes. It is often called color remover depending on the company. That is what Rit calls it. Nothing you add to indigo other than reducing it will cause it to stick any better to the fabric and that is still not a permanent thing. When you use a color remover on a dyed shirt it can have a major effect on the dye as well as helping with the stain. Something to consider. Indigo sticks to wool a whole lot better than it does cotton by the way.

I just bought a couple pair of jeans this weekend and first thing tossed them in the washer. SO much blue water. I wash them by themselves then did another load adding other blue jeans we already had. Then washed a load of dark towels in case any of the blue left in the washer was going to come off on the next load.