The last couple of weeks I’ve been chatting about some of my all time favorite denim brands to wear and how to find your perfect fit. It’s been fun sharing some of the knowledge I learned over the many years working at Nordstrom. I used to slang 7 For All Mankind jeans along with Matty M tops to every college girl in town. But today is all about how to keep those jeans looking their best!
Taking care of my denim is an important aspect of denim. I believe in spending some money on finding great jeans for a few reasons. They make you look good, feel good and they last longer. But extending their life is just as important as finding the right fit. Here’s my go to tips for how to care for your jeans.
HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR JEANS
Wash In Cold Water
Hot water will wear down the cotton fibers and any spandex your jeans have. Cold water will help to preserve the fibers allowing your jeans to last longer. Plus it helps preserve the dye that’s used to make them the color you love.
Wash Inside Out
For a few reasons washing your stuff inside out is important. First, it helps to preserve the color of the wash of your jeans. Second, it protects the jeans from rubbing against other things in the wash which could make them wear down faster. It’s best that if anything is going to rub against your jeans, it might as well be on the inside than the outside, right?
Use The Proper Detergent
I’m guilty of skipping this step but I blame the fact that I don’t have a washer and dryer in my unit. Which means, I do laundry when I’ve got 5 loads to do and not just a handful of items. In a perfect world, I’d be using Woolite for dark colors. It’s important to use a special detergent on your jeans to help preserve the fabric, fibers and the wash of them. It’s a much more gentler detergent and helps to preserve the dye in your jeans.
Hang To Dry
Drying your jeans in the dryer will over time destroy the spandex and wear down the fibers more quickly. Plus, if you bought the right size jeans (as in they should be a little snug at first) drying them will mess up the fit. If you have to dry them in a dryer, use the lowest heat setting and tumble dry low. But it’s ideal to hang them to dry. They may feel stiff the first time you put them on, but I promise, after 5 minutes, they’ll feel like your good ol jeans again.
Don’t Wash After Every Wear
Some people refuse to adopt this habit and find it gross, but honestly, it’s the best thing to extend their life. The less you wash your jeans the better, period. So if you can get a few wears out of them, do it! I usually wear mine anywhere from 3-5 times. Just depends on how long I wear them each time, what I did in them (ummm like spill food because I’m messy like that) before I wash them. If you’re worried about your jeans being too stretched out after a few wears, that probably is a good indication that you bought the wrong size jeans, or poor quality ones. Head to this post to learn more about getting the right fit.
Photo by Vivi Carrasco
