How to Soften New Jeans

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Mitra Chester, and I'm here at Deluxe Resale Shop in Eugene, Oregon, and I'm going to talk about methods of softening new jeans. If you already have purchased a new pair of jeans that are stiff, the best way to start softening them and breaking them in is to wash them with some fabric softener. If you haven't purchased them yet and you're concerned about softness or stiffness, you might think about some different fabric contents and weaves of jeans that will be more likely to soften more quickly. These four examples of jeans are all 100% cotton, but these two are examples of weaves that are not going to be as likely to soften as easily. They're thicker, they're kind of canvasy, they have this very dark look to them. This is a classic kind of denim wash. These are basic Levi's and most of your vintage jeans originally probably look like this. And they will soften, but you want to be careful with this type of wash because if you wash them with hot water and right side out you might achieve some of this marbling effect, which in certain people's opinion can ruin the look of your jeans. So if you want to avoid that, you want to wash them in cool water and turn them inside out. But these will soften over time with wear and washing. Again, try washing them with a fabric softener, that will soften them more quickly, and the more often you wash them, of course, the more quickly they'll soften. This is also 100% cotton, this already has some pre-factory kind of fading going on, and these are probably more likely to soften up and to fade a little more quickly. So when you're thinking about softening your jeans, that's usually accompanied with fading because it is achieved through the process of washing them. So if you don't want them to fade and they won't soften as easily, you want to buy a kind of this type of fabric. If you do, then you might want to buy one of these two but keep in mind some of the side effects that come along with the different washes. Now if you are concerned about softness and you haven't bought a pair of new jeans yet, you might try just buying a pair that are already pretty stretchy and soft, which means they're going to be a blend. So this one is ramie, cotton, polyester, and spandex, and you'll definitely know this type of fabric and the difference between. This has no give when you pull it, this obviously does. And these are going to be softer and more comfortable from the get go and will pretty much remain that way through your washings. But those are some techniques to soften your new jeans."