This year, jeans are expected to reach $56.2 billion in global sales. These finishes are achieved by manufacturers using water, chemicals, enzymes, and pumice stones. Levi Strauss & Co. estimates that finishing jeans consumes 42 liters of water on average. However, some factories use 20-60 liters of water to finish each pair. At the same time, 900 million people do not have access to clean water. For achieving the faded look consumers crave, companies are increasingly turning to alternatives to chemicals, water and stones. Consumers are being advertised low-water, low-chemical and no-chemical finishes directly by brands. If you are also considering how ozone generator for denim fading works, keep reading to learn more.

Utilizing the natural bleaching capabilities of ozone gas, the technology provides a range of overall and specialized bleaching effects while greatly reducing environmental impact.
When the garment is bleached using this technique, it gains strength. Bleaching denim garments is performed with ozone dissolved inwards water in the washing machine.
The use of ozone in jeans finishing does not completely eliminate the use of water. However, it consumes less water and energy, it also reduces the use of chemicals, enzymes, and stones. Wet finishes prepared with ozone have many advantages.
Jeans are cleaned by converting oxygen (O2) into ozone gas (O3), exposing them to the ozone and then rinsing them; the ozone is converted back to oxygen before it is released back into the environment. Ozone finishing uses two to three washes and rinses compared to chemical bleaching or stonewashing that uses six to seven. When using ozone finishing in conjunction with reduced traditional wet finishing methods, it is possible to reduce water, chemicals and pumice stone consumption by more than 50 percent.
How Ozone Generator works in Denim Processing Machines?

The industrial ozone generators can help denim processing in various ways.
Ozone Generators have varying capacities according to suitable applications and customer’s requirements, resulting in reliable performance for work in the commercial textile industry. Rather than using bleach, hot water, and water in general, we can use ‘earth-friendly’ ozone. With this method, we can help you make denim that is unique, sustainable, and affordable. The sustainable qualities of denim that ozone denim processing offers are effective. Denim processing systems based on ozone are built to match specifications that are unique to each facility.
The ozone delivers its action directly into the washer cylinder, which is the essential part of the denim processing system. For maximum quality control, it needs to be uniformly concentrated. Each denim processing system using ozone must therefore be constructed and sized to accommodate the volume requirements of each washer.
We have found through the years of working with denim companies that these factors are the real keys to achieving high quality in high volumes. Unlike any other manufacturer in the world today, we can safely and effectively obtain a higher ozone ppm ratio with our unique designed ozone generators.
Advantages of ozone generator for denim
- A minimum loss of strength
- Low energy costs for processing
- Energy consumption and water consumption are reduced when ozone finishing is used. Also, replacing some traditional finishing methods with ozone results in less effluent, including the sludge that pumice stones produce.
- In comparison to chemicals and stonewashing, ozone works more quickly. Few seconds is all it takes for ozone to remove back stains. At the recommended concentrations, it can bleach denim in 15 minutes to the level desired by modern fashion, compared with traditional methods that typically take 30 to 45 minutes.
- Ozone increases production per shift.
- With Ozone technology, you can reduce environmental impacts, processing costs, and processing times while obtaining desired fashion looks.
Safety and Quality of denim

Safety, quality, and performance are three factors to consider when investing in ozone technology. Ozone bleaching systems are made up of filtered or refrigerated air compressors, oxygen concentrators, ozone generators, exposure chambers, and ozone destruction devices. Several equipment features affect ozone denim equipment’s safety and reliability.
Safety
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards set a maximum exposure value of 0.1 ppm per 8 hours, and 0.3 ppm per 15 minutes for workers operating ozone technology in the U.S.
In order to reduce the possibility of accidental exposure to ozone bleaching equipment, seals and gaskets should be designed and constructed with durable materials.
Whenever ozone finishing equipment is selected, installed, operated, and maintained in any facility, safety features and safety practices must be paramount in order to prevent workers from being accidentally exposed to harmful or deadly ozone gas.
The importance of monitoring and alarms for safety cannot be overstated. Monitors that are linked to both environmental and localized ozone monitors alert workers and security personnel in the event of ozone leaks, allowing personnel to evacuate until ozone levels fall. Monitor sensitivity should be 0.3ppm for worker protection.
Quality
As with safety, the finish quality of ozone machines varies. There are various main factors that contribute to ozone bleaching quality:
- A specialized oxygen concentrator that produces concentrated ozone without contaminating it with oil or moisture;
- Real-time monitoring and control systems that ensure consistent ozone levels in the chamber regardless of batch size;
- To allow creativity and repeatability, manual and automated control capabilities are required.
- The exposure chamber should be equipped with a closed-loop recirculation mechanism to circulate ozone during finishing.
Due to ozone’s weight, it sinks in the absence of continuous circulation, which results in uneven bleaching. These features must be incorporated into ozone technology in order for it to produce uniform finishes.
Bottom line
Using ozone can reduce environmental impact, operating costs, and processing times for denim processing, but it doesn’t entirely replace chemical bleaching, stone washing, and enzymes. Hence, ozone technology can be used safely and with repeatable, consistent finishing results if best-in-class equipment is used. You can go through our collection of industrial ozone generators if you are also looking to buy ozone generator for denim.