Just about everywhere you go these days, you see people wearing jeans that look like they've been through the wringer and back again. Retailing under the names of Destroyed & Damaged, places like Abercrombie & Fitch are making a fortune selling items that your Grandmother would have ready for the rag bag or in the sewing basket to repair.
Fortunately, there are ways to "Destroy" jeans from home that are very cost effective. And contrary to most people's beliefs, bleach is not the only way to go.
Although bleaching seems like the most obvious way to "Damage" a pair of jeans, it has a lot of downfalls.
Bleach is very messy and leaves very little control. Do you want them bleached in only a certain area? How bout on one side only? What if you want to lose some color but don't want big white splotches? If that is the case, then forget the bleach and opt for the Cascade...
Yep, you heard me right, the dishwashing detergent. No, not the powdered kind but the liquid.
Advantages of using liquid dishwashing detergent:
1.) You have control over where it goes.
2.) You have control over the intensity of the bleaching.
3.) You can make designs with the color - or should I say lack of color.
4.) It doesn't eat away the fabric as bad as bleach will.
Say you have a pair of jeans that you want the butt to be more worn looking than the rest. Pour some bleach on there and see how many washes it takes to have no butt at all. You wanted a whiter butt but not no butt right???
BLEACH EATS FABRICS!!!!
How to destroy your own jeans using liquid dishwashing detergent?
1.) Lay jeans flat on a nonporous surface with a plastic garbage bag underneath.
2.) Squirt the dishwashing detergent on the fabric in the desired areas.
3.) Want a design? Leave it as you squirt it and let it work on it's own!
4.) Don't want a design?? Rub it with your hands but DO NOT rub it in so much that it absorbs into the fabric.
5.) Let it sit for 1-2 hours then turn the jeans over and repeat the process.
6.) Launder in HOT WATER, with double the liquid fabric softener on your washer's "STAIN" or "HEAVY" cycle.
7.) Tumble dry.
8.) Take the dry jeans and use a seam ripper to stab holes into the desired areas. If you're having problems piercing the fabric, then use a pair of manicure scissors to make tiny insertions then use the seam ripper to pull at the fabric to make the destroyed look.
Now you can go one step further, if you want your jeans to have that brownish weathered tinge to them, you may opt to do the following.
1.) Brew two pots of EXTREMELY STRONG coffee.
2.) Put your jeans in a bucket and then pour the coffee on top of them. Make sure the fabric is completely soaked.
3.) Let them sit ONE-TWO days.
4.) Launder in COLD WATER and tumble dry.
Easier than you thought right?
But there are some words to the wise....
1.) DO NOT use any dishwashing detergent that has a yellow tint to it. You will have YELLOW bleach spots. It's not that attractive...:) My cheap sister bought the bargain brand and I ruined 2 pairs...I could have strangled her!
2.) Try to make as little mess as possible while bleaching. Liquid dishwashing detergent turns hard as it dries and does not like to come off of ANYTHING.
3.) Don't get any on the clothes that you are wearing. It will bleach them too.
4.) DO NOT wash the jeans with anything else besides white items such as socks. I like to throw my socks and T-Shirts into the load after I am done bleaching. It gets the stains out of my white clothing plus adds more texture to the load as it washes to help damage the items further.
No comments:
Post a Comment