Stone, enzyme or laser: three ways to fade a jean
Fading a jean means removing indigo from the surface of the yarn. There are three common ways to do it, and they don't give the same result.
Stone
Pumice in the drum with the garments. The stone hits the high points of the weave, which is exactly where a body would wear a jean, so the result reads as real. It is also the hardest on the garment, the machine and the water bill, and every stone has to be picked back out of the pockets afterwards.
Enzyme
Cellulase enzymes do the same job biologically, eating the surface fibres. The hand comes out softer and the contrast is gentler. Less damage, less water, less mess — but it will not give you a hard, high-contrast vintage fade on its own.
Laser
A laser reads an image as a map and lifts the indigo where it fires. No water, no stone, no chemistry, and the same file gives the same result on the thousandth garment as it did on the first. It is the only one of the three that can put a photograph on a leg.
Which one
Most looks are a combination: laser for the pattern, enzyme for the hand, a short stone cycle for the honesty. Choosing the order is the craft, and it is what a wash developer actually does for a living.
Our ozone machine adds a fourth: fading with ozone gas and no water at all. That one has its own post.