Right, somewhere in my past I got the impression that the original reason (before it became fashionable) for why manufacturers started pre-washing jeans was to

Right, somewhere in my past I got the impression that the original reason (before it became fashionable) for why manufacturers started pre-washing jeans was to stop the problem of indigo rubbing off onto furniture, chair seats etc. I recall when I was a kid before the pre-washing era started that the labels on some jeans advised that (a) jeans are to be washed before wearing and (b) they could shrink up to 5% after washing (i.e. buy a sloppy fit). My mother insisted that jeans be washed first as she warned that I'd be in dead trouble if I got blue patches on her light beige lounge suite. This was a bit of a ritual, blue jeans first had to be washed and then only worn outside until the second wash, brown and black jeans only had to be washed once! Re indigo fading, even now jeans manufacturers advise not to wash denim until really necessary so as to develop one's own characteristic fade marks. My point about very black materials and pigments was broader than just the hakama, materials such as black felt hats, women's dead-black shawls, and men's monkey suits, black parchment paper, etc. These are as black as the current technology permits—whatever it is.