How To Shrink Jeans Using 5 Effective Ways!

How To Shrink Jeans- Just a few steps to go!

It is honestly a painful experience to throw a pair of jeans but what if you knew how to shrink jeans back to their original shape? A pair of ill-fitting jeans can be bothersome when kept in your closet for no reason.

There are many ways which you can use to fix your pair of jeans.

Leaving your jeans to a professional tailor for altering them into a perfect fit is undoubtedly the best chance to deal with misfitting jeans. It is a flattering way of getting it done but if you learn how to shrink jeans at home, you are going to get a great pair of jeans that is fast, easy, and extremely affordable. Using these methods you will easily be able to wear your favorite pair of jeans again.

It’s time to rock your jeans confidently again woot hat perfect fit. Depending on the type and quality of denim, shrinking the jeans works very well. Here are few ways on how to shrink jeans that you can follow for the perfect pair of jeans again.

How to shrink jeans and wear them again

1. Using washer and dryer

This is the first method using which you can easily learn how to shrink jeans. Here are the steps to follow.

1. First, you must wash your jeans in hot water. Just put the jeans in the washing machine and run the washing cycle. Set your machine to the hottest possible water temperature. Make sure you do not use hand-wash settings or delicate settings, instead you have to use heavy-duty settings or permanent press settings on the machine. The combination of heavy churning and got water settings will make the fibers of jeans contract slightly. As usual, you have to use a liquid softener or detergents like other clothes and washes. Using detergent is completely fine as it would not have any impact on the effectiveness of this method. Fabric softener is used to prevent the jeans from being too stiff after they shrink. Use any softener available in your house.
2. Use a drying machine to dry the jeans. If your washing machine is completely automatic, you can totally skip this method. As soon as you remove the pair of jeans from your washing machine, you must trader them to the dryer for drying. Use the hottest possible setting in the dryer to dry your jeans. This is important because the heat from the dryer helps the fibers to contract even more than they contracted inside the machine. Let the pair of jeans dry completely. You can leave it inside the dryer for nearly 5 to 10 minutes longer after they have finished drying to obtain much better results. Make sure not to air dry because it will reverse the process and cause the shrinkage to stretch out again.
3. Repeat the same steps if needed. One cycle is normally enough for tightening the jeans again if it has stretched out but if the pair of jeans is still loose, you can instead try them running through another cycle or two for better results. Try to use a professional dry cleaner if the jeans have not come out the way you wanted them to be. They help shrink the jeans appropriately using a dryer and washer together. Machines usually have a high heat setting at the dry cleaner.

2. Shrinking jeans at a specific area

If you wish to learn how to shrink jeans at a specific area where it’s loose like thighs or waist, you can simply follow this method instead of shrinking it completely.

3. You will need a spray bottle for this procedure. Fill the bottle with hot water and a fabric softener. Mix one part fabric softener in liquid form with three parts water inside a standard spray bottle. Cover the bottle with its cap and shake it vigorously to mix all the ingredients consistently. You must use a combination of fabric softener and water as it falls to work with just plains after. Make sure not to use detergent because you will need to rinse it out.
4. Spray the detergent on the areas you wish to shrink. Using the diluted fabric softener, spray on the area you want to shrink and make sure the entire region is soaked well with the mixture you have created. The dry portions let out will have no effect so do not worry about them. This method is applied greatly to a loose waistband if it has stretched out a lot. Spray the solution directly on the waistband so that it saturates the fabric completely around the waistband only.
5. Once you are done, throw your jeans inside the dryer. Put the jeans through a normal drying cycle using hot temperature settings. The high heat in the fibers will cause the wet fabric of the jeans to constrict making them shrink. Know that air-drying your jeans will not have a similar sort of effect.
6. Repeat the same procedure if needed again. If the results are still not as expected or slightly less or the area did not shrink as much as you wanted it to, apply more spray of water and fabric softener and put it out again for hot drying. This may help turn out the jeans as you wish them to be.

3. How to shrink jeans Using a hot bath

This is another method using which you will know how to shrink jeans instantly at home. Follow the steps and know how to shrink jeans using a hot bath.

1. Put the loose pair of jeans on by buttoning and zippering them as usual. This is the only method in which one requires to put on the jeans when you are planning to shrink them. Since you are going to shrink the jeans by wearing them first, the jeans will shrink where it is loose around the legs or anywhere creating a perfect fit. You must start this process on the same day you want to wear a pair of jeans. If it’s not possible at least perform the steps 1 or 2 days before the day you want to wear it. Do not wash after you have to share them. Dong this will cause the fibers inside the jeans to relax and ease it to the original relaxed fit.
2. Fill your bathtub with hot water. The water should be enough to cover the legs and waist completely. Make sure the water is as hot or warm as you can handle it, do not burn it yourself. But the water should not be just lukewarm as it will not cause the fibers to contract and the results will not be effective. Test the water temp with your hand before entering into the bathtub to make sure you can handle it completely.
3. Get inside the bathtub. Slowly ease into the hot water inside the tub wearing your jeans and remain inside it until the water has completely cooled down. If you wish the water to be hot sufficiently, it should just take nearly 20 to 25 minutes for the water to cool down. Make sure the pair of jeans you wear is submerged in the water completely. If your waist remains above or out of the water level, add some more water to the tub to make sure it fits completely by shrinking. Until your jeans are exposed completely to the water, keep adding water.
4. Sit outside under the sun to dry yourself. Air drying the jeans outside is a great way to confirm the jeans to your leg’s shape. If possible sit outside on the roof or balcony. Make sure the day is hot before entering inside the tub and prevent yourself from getting sick. Sit on a metal chair or a plastic chair and avoid sitting on surfaces that may absorb the water making your jeans loosen up again. It may take several hours for the jeans to try but if you are up for this method, just give it a try.

4. How to shrink jeans using boiling water

Hot water or boiling water is the key ingredient in getting a perfect pair of jeans and knowing how to shrink jeans because all the procedures involve using hot water. Let’s see the procedures involved:

1. The first step involves turning your jeans inside out. Make sure they completely turn inside out and fold them loosely. Turning them inside out helps lessen the fading that may occur. Your jeans will shrink inside the water even if is turned making it an effective way.
2. This step is especially useful for shrinking jeans having slightly dark colors. When working with old jeans or light-colored jeans, you do not have to take precautions as their color is already light and faded causing less change in colors.
3. Boil a stockpot of water. Filling a large stockpot halfway to 75% full using tap water will be enough t submerge the jeans. Set the water on the stove and let it boil on high flame. Let the water boil until you see bubbles violently break on the water resurface. You must make sure that the water you use is enough for the jeans to submerge and get completely wet inside of them.
4. Dunk the pair of jeans inside the boiling water. Avoid using your hands to put it and instead use a tong in the boiling water. Let the jeans soak inside it for 20 to 30 minutes at least as the water keeps boiling. Do not cover the water or stockpot with anything as your jeans are placed inside. Check it in between to make sure all the fibers are completely submerged. If necessary, using a long push the jeans inside the water again.
5. Dry the jeans using a dryer as you would normally do in all the procedures are given above except one. Remove the jeans from boiling water and immediately transfer them to the dryer. Again, the hottest dryer setting should be kept when drying. The intense heat of the dryer will help tighten the fibers further. Do not use air dry means to dry the jeans and when the jeans have dried completely, remove them in front of the machine.

5. How to shrink jeans using Ironing Technique

Again, a heating method to shrink your ill-fitted pair of jeans. Just follow the procedure and know-how to shrink jeans using an iron.

1. Wash the jeans using hot water. Just use the standard hot water cycle in the machine and let it wash. This will allow the pair of jeans to shrink slightly. The boiling method is more flexible compared to this. Make sure the water is hot as possible inside the machine. This is the same as what you did on the first procedure.
2. Dry your jeans. Throw the jeans inside a dryer and dry them until the jeans are damp but not completely soaked. Set the dryer on high heat settings for this. This shud be done if the washing machine was not put on a spin cycle. The pair of jeans you have should be slightly wet but not dripping wet.
3. Iron the pair of jeans until they are dried completely. Place the damp pair of jeans on the ironing board to iron them until the fabric is dried completely. You can use moderate heat settings for this process. Also, this method is not as useful as the other methods were but for slight adjustments, you can use this.

Aftercare tips on how to shrink jeans

Now you know how to shrink jeans, right? So you are done with shrinking the jeans and wondering now what to do? Unlike other clothes, denim is not needed to be frequently washed out. You should wash them less to keep them going for long. As a rule, you can wash them after every 5 times of wearing them.

Make sure you spot clean the jeans instead of washing them completely now and then. Add the detergent on the spot that needs cleaning and rubs the stain using a small brush to wash it. Till the stain is completely transferred, keep rubbing. Let the jeans dry and you are good to go.

These were certain ways using which you can easily shrink a pair of ill-fitted jeans at home without wasting money and going to get them altered by the tailors.