We’ve all been there before: you accidentally wash your favorite pair of pants on the hottest setting possible, causing them to shrink down a size. Instead of having the “perfect” fit, they are now tight, constricting and downright uncomfortable to wear.
The good news is that denim is naturally resistant to shrinking. Denim is incredibly strong and resilient to shape changes, which is one of the reasons why jeans have become the world’s most popular style of pants among both men and women. The bad news, however, is that certain types of denim, such as those made with a combination of denim and other fabrics, may still shrink to some degree when exposed to excessively hot temperatures. In the event that you accidentally shrink your jeans, you can usually unshrink them by following a few basic steps.
First and foremost, fill your bathtub with lukewarm (not hot) water and place a small amount of baby shampoo inside. Next, press your jeans down into the soapy water, keeping them submerged for at least 20-25 minutes. After this time has passed, remove the jeans and squeeze the excess water out.
Take your damp jeans and place them flat on a clean, dry towel. Now roll up the towel (and the jeans) into a cylinder shape. The purpose of this is to remove additional moisture without drying them completely. Go ahead and unroll the towel/jeans and re-roll. Do this three or four times and the majority of the moisture should be eliminated. After unrolling the towel and jeans for the last time, keep the jeans laid out flat on the towel and gently pull them in opposite directions in an attempt to stretch them out. Once you’ve stretched them back out, either hang them on a line or place them in front of a fan to dry.
Even if you follow the aforementioned instructions step by step, however, there’s no guarantee that it will unshrink your jeans. Garments shrink as a result of the fabric constricting due to heat. In some cases you can pull the constricted fabric back out, but in other cases this isn’t an option.
If you’re struggling to unshrink your jeans, consider investing in a new pair, such as those sold here at MakeYourOwnJeans. All of our jeans are made with the highest quality fabric and craftsmanship, making them resistant to shrinking.
