Jeans are popular and versatile clothing. With constant wear, tight-fitting pants can stretch around the waist or hips. Depending on how often you wash and how you dry them, their size may change.

The shrinking of jeans is achieved by using hot water. The heat compresses the fabric fibers, causing the jeans themselves to shrink. There are several ways to achieve shrinkage.

Method one: wash and dry

  • Throw your jeans into the washing machine on high heat and high cycle speed.
  • Use detergent and fabric softener as usual.
  • After washing, leave the jeans in the dryer on the highest setting.
  • Repeat the process until the jeans reach your desired size.
  • You can iron the fabric after washing - this will also compress the threads.

Second method: boiling

This option is not suitable for dark-colored trousers and fabrics with the addition of synthetic fibers.

  • Fill a large container with water and bring it to a boil.
  • Turn your jeans inside out and completely submerge them in hot water.
  • Leave to simmer for 30 minutes.
  • Throw your hot jeans into the dryer on the highest setting and leave until they are dry.

Method Three: Hot Bath

The method is a little unusual, but effective.

  • Fill the bathtub with hot water that you can stand in while sitting in it.
  • Put on your jeans and button them up.
  • Sit in the bath and stay in it until the water cools completely.
  • Stand up and let the water drain.
  • Keep your jeans on until they are dry. It is advisable to choose a sunny day for this.


Method four: contrast shower

You can reduce jeans by one size by hand washing. When rinsing, transfer the trousers from hot water to cold water several times. However, it is more effective to soak them for a couple of hours in cold and then in hot water. Be sure to dry your jeans in a dryer and not in the sun.


Method five: proper drying

You can shrink your jeans by drying them. After washing, they are not hung on a line, but laid out on natural fabric until completely dry. You can use an automatic dryer or set the “hot drying” function on the machine.


How to seat a certain place?

Before you start the process itself, decide on the place you will sit - it can only be your knees or your waist.

  • Fill a spray bottle with warm water and conditioner (1:3).
  • Spray the liquid onto the selected area. It is advisable to wet the fabric completely.
  • Place your pants in the dryer on high.
  • Repeat the process if necessary.


When preparing to adjust your trousers to fit your figure, stock up on some knowledge. Only trousers made from 70% cotton can be washed in hot water. If synthetic fibers are added to the material, boiling will completely ruin such models.

  • To avoid shrinkage, wear jeans intermittently.
  • The inscription on the tag “shrink to fit” prohibits you from performing the above procedures; it is better to take the jeans to a specialist in the studio for alteration.
  • Before shrinking, carefully read the label of your pants.
  • Typically, fashion designers advise taking jeans in a smaller size. After a couple of wears the item will fit perfectly.


Don't be upset if our methods didn't help you shrink your jeans to the desired size. You can sew them in yourself or take them to a specialist, but it’s better to buy a new thing and enjoy wearing it.

Denim is stretchy in most cases. Over time, it stretches several sizes. This is possible due to improper washing or due to poor quality of the material.

If your jeans have stretched and remain stretched even after washing, don’t be upset. There are several ways to reduce trousers.

Hot bath

In order not to agonize over the question of how to wash jeans so that they shrink, experienced fashionistas advise buying jeans a size smaller. Over time, the fabric will stretch and the item will fit according to your figure and will not hang like a bag.

The most common method to shrink jeans is to use hot water.

Thanks to this method, the fabric shrinks several sizes.

How to wash jeans to make them smaller:

  1. Pour hot water into the basin. Temperature 90 degrees.
  2. First, wash your pants and remove any detergent.
  3. Then pour the hot liquid again and leave the pants in it for several hours.

Hot water promotes shrinkage. The pants will become small in a very short time.

However, this method is not very effective. The results obtained do not last long.

After one day, maybe two days later, stretch jeans again stretch in the most inappropriate places and become unattractive.

This method is only good for those who often wash their pants, which is also not very good for the fabric.

Boiling

You can reduce the size of jeans by boiling. This method is guaranteed to make the item a size smaller.


What you need to do to fit your pants:

  1. Turn the product inside out. This will help maintain the color of the pants and also make them shrink a little.
  2. Bring water in a saucepan to a boil.
  3. Take a pair of tongs to avoid getting burned and place the large jeans that need to be tapered into the liquid.
  4. Boil the clothes for half an hour.
  5. Then take tongs and remove the jeans from the pan into the basin. Bring the bowl to the washing machine and place it in the tumble dryer.
  6. Turn on the highest drying temperature and spin speed. Dry your pants until the fabric is completely dry.

The jeans will shrink immediately. They become narrow at the waist, hips and bottom.

This method can lead to length shrinkage. Be prepared for this result if you use boiling.

Will the pants stretch after boiling?

They will. After 2-3 days, the material will stretch again and the procedure will have to be repeated.

To make the trousers shrink and become fashionable, you can add white while boiling and get dumplings.

Jeans are boiled white at home. For a bucket of water (7 liters) you will need 250 ml (1 glass) of product.

To obtain vertical stripes, you need to twist them, as if squeezing, and secure them at the bottom and in the middle with rubber bands. To obtain stars, you need to take the desired area (for example, the knee area), twist it and secure it with an elastic band.

Machine washable

You can narrow your jeans quickly and without problems, and at the same time wash them, in an automatic washing machine.


If you don’t know what to do with stretched out pants and other methods have proven useless, use this method.

The following actions will help to significantly reduce the volume:

  1. Place the item in the drum. Pour liquid detergent into the powder compartment. If your pants are shedding, you cannot add powder during this procedure. The pants will lose color.
  2. Turn on the device, setting the temperature to 90 degrees, washing to intensive, spin to maximum speed.
  3. The effect is secured with a contrast rinse.

This method of making jeans narrower is suitable for trousers made from natural denim or high-density cotton fabric.

After such a procedure, the material should shrink to the desired size, perfectly fitting the figure and emphasizing its advantages.

Specific zone

Initially, jeans stretch well, but we stretch them every time we wear them. Over time, the material becomes less elastic and begins to sag in some places, and the pants begin to fall off the waist.


Washed jeans are much more pleasant to wear. After all, after this they shrink a little, but stretching still occurs over time.

Since not everyone has the opportunity to wash every day, experienced housewives have come up with another option on how to make jeans shrink.

This method is suitable if you need to reduce a certain area. For example, the area of ​​the buttocks, knees, bottom or waist.

What to do if your jeans are stretched:

  1. Take an empty spray bottle. Pour warm water into it.
  2. Lay the pants out on a flat surface and treat those areas that have become stretched during the day.
  3. Wet the cloth well so that the water begins to drain from this area. Otherwise, the desired result will not be achieved.
  4. Place the item in the dryer and turn on the most powerful drying and spin setting.

This method is suitable for daily use. You can repeat the procedure several times to reduce your jeans size.

Misconception

Some housewives advise moistening the desired area and putting the item on yourself. Try this method and sit on a chair, what will happen?

What will happen is that the material will stretch even worse. This method is not suitable if you are looking for a way to reduce jeans size.

Iron

To avoid frequently having to wash at high temperatures or boiling, you can use an iron.The technique allows you to make jeans narrower at the waist or other place, but there is a high probability that they will quickly stretch.


If the pants have been washed, this method can be used. When using an iron on dirty jeans, a shine will appear, “screaming” that the owner of the item is a slob.

Reduce using an iron as follows:

  1. First, carefully study the label of your pants. It indicates the maximum temperature at which it is allowed.
  2. Moisten the area requiring shrinkage well with hot water.
  3. Then squeeze out excess moisture. Do this carefully. Try not to twist your pants to avoid stretching them further.
  4. Set the temperature 10 degrees higher than what is indicated on the label.
  5. Cover the pants with gauze and quickly dry the wet area. To prevent jeans from stretching, do not move the iron in different directions. Perform movements from the seam inward.

In this case, heat treatment of the fabric is carried out. This is practically the same thing that happens to the material when boiling, but this method is more gentle and you do not need to process the pants completely.

It is enough to treat only those places on the jeans that require reduction.

Having altered

What to do to?A good way is to stitch it in. To do this you will need chalk or soap, scissors, a blade, thread of a suitable color and a needle, or you can use a sewing machine.


How to fit jeans into a waistband?The procedure is simple, but it will require a little personal time.

What to do:

  1. Take a blade and open the seams on both sides of the pockets.
  2. Use scissors to remove any loose threads out of the way.
  3. Take the iron and iron all the parts, do not forget to set the correct temperature, it is indicated on the label.
  4. Take a centimeter and measure the circumference of the belt, transfer the resulting measurements to the fabric using soap.
  5. Using a brightly colored thread, baste the fabric to the new measurements. Then try on your pants. If the trousers fit well and the measurements are taken correctly, you can start sewing.
  6. Using a needle and thread or a sewing machine, sew the parts.

This method can be used if the jeans are very stretched at the waist, hips, bottom or knees.

Don't forget to take your measurements and place them correctly so that your pants don't end up too small.

You can’t do that “I’ll reduce it by eye, there’s only a couple of centimeters that need to be removed.” If you are an experienced seamstress and have picked up a sewing machine more than once, perhaps everything will work out. However, this method is not suitable for a beginner.

It is necessary to measure everything correctly and even double-check it more than once, try it on and walk around in your pants to make sure that the alteration of the clothes is done correctly.

Dry cleaning and atelier

If you are afraid to alter your pants yourself, and the risk of ruining the item is high, it is better not to try to alter them.

Contact a good studio. Experienced craftswomen will measure your volume and sew your pants to the required size.

The second option is to take them to the dry cleaner, indicating that they need to be made smaller in size. Perhaps such a service will cost a little more, but it is better if you doubt your abilities.

Proper drying

In order to avoid the problem of how to wash jeans in the future so that they shrink, you must initially dry them correctly. If you do this in accordance with all the rules, such a problem will not arise.

There are three drying methods, by resorting to which the jeans will not stretch, but on the contrary, they will perfectly fit the buttocks, hips and waist.

The first method is not to turn it inside out. When drying vertically or horizontally, never turn denim clothing inside out. This will prevent shrinkage.

But there is also a minus here. If you hang things outside in the sun, be prepared for the fact that over time. Therefore, when using this drying method, hang your laundry in the shade.

Method two - use an extra towel. Do not twist the jeans with your hands, lightly squeeze out excess moisture and lay them on a dry towel. Give them the desired shape; they should not lie in a stretched state.

Method three - use hot drying in a washing machine. This method will dry clothes without damage, but it is not recommended to use it often.

There are many ways you can reduce your jeans by one size. Try to use them, and thus you will choose the most suitable one.

Jeans have become a part of our lives. They are appropriate in almost any situation, they are pleasant to wear, they create ideal outfits with other clothes, and perfectly emphasize the figure. However, we will have to stop at the last point, because it often causes confusion and irritation. When jeans are of high quality and cut correctly, they fit perfectly, outlining the bulges and curves of the figure. But the trousers do not retain this property for long, and then they stretch and sag. The paradox is that you want to wear good and well-fitting pants often, but this is impossible, because after a certain time they no longer fit well on the hips. Stretching of denim and other cotton fabrics is a natural phenomenon; their fibers are elastic and elongate with constant tension. There is a solution - manufacturers strongly recommend purchasing jeans one size smaller. If you still didn’t know about this nuance, there are probably a couple of jeans in your wardrobe that you will have to adjust to the required size yourself. We know exactly how to make jeans fit true to size and will certainly tell you about it.

Reducing jeans size

Despite the advice of manufacturers who claim that you should buy tight jeans, you need to use this recommendation wisely. Firstly, the smaller size has a smaller size, so look closely at your reflection in the fitting room mirror. Jeans of the wrong length can make the most ideal figure look ridiculous. Secondly, by purchasing jeans one size smaller, you risk never wearing them out - not all modern jeans stretch well, and wearing pants that are too tight is not at all comfortable. The tight fit of the product to the skin does not allow it to breathe, which slows down blood circulation and compresses blood vessels. Some women (and men) cannot tolerate prolonged compression of the body at all in the waist area. So, before you buy tight jeans, think very carefully, maybe this is not your option at all.

If you still haven’t learned how to choose the right jeans, or in your fight against excess weight you’ve finally lost a few kilograms, don’t rush to give your favorite pants to your friend. You can easily adjust the size of your jeans to suit your figure.

There are many ways to reduce your jeans size:


We reduce the size of jeans using unusual drying methods

After regular washing, jeans can be dried in different ways:

  1. To make the jeans fit, the trousers are vigorously wrung out. You should not shake or smooth them with your hands; in the same form in which you took them out of the drum of the automatic machine, place them on a line to dry near a source of hot air - a radiator, a heater. In this case, the water from the fabric will quickly evaporate, and the trousers themselves will become smaller.
  2. Well-wrung jeans are laid out on a cotton towel or other natural fabric that quickly absorbs moisture.
  3. It's great if you can use an automatic dryer. Such devices are available in laundries and can be purchased at hardware stores. Under the influence of an automatic dryer, the fabric quickly returns to its original appearance, and stretching disappears.

How to make jeans fit

Sometimes expensive jeans made from lightweight denim cannot be made smaller by washing or special drying. And I really want to wear them. In this case, you need to take drastic measures - take them to the workshop and reshape them according to your figure. You should not rely on your cutting and sewing skills, if you do not have sufficient experience, you should not take on this work so as not to completely ruin a good thing. If the jeans are very large, you will have to rip out not only the side seams, but also the crotch seam. In addition, you will not be able to make a special “denim” seam on a regular household machine. And in the workshop you can not only reduce the size of your pants, but also immediately adjust their cut - for example, make them more tapered, or vice versa, flared.

We are working on reducing the size of jeans carefully

If jeans are your favorite item in your wardrobe, you will always be interested in the question of how to make jeans fit. While still in the store, carefully examine the material from which the trousers are made. Modern lightweight fabrics for summer jeans are almost impossible to reduce using the usual methods that we wrote about above. They cannot be exposed to high temperatures; a special drying method will not work here either. The only way to make these trousers smaller is with the help of an experienced cutter and seamstress.

When attempting to fit jeans to your figure, you need to have a certain amount of theoretical knowledge. This will help you choose the right option for working with your jeans and will prevent you from ruining an expensive item. You should know that jeans shrink after washing, during boiling, during spinning, drying, decreasing in volume and length. That is, the listed methods of shrinking trousers are suitable specifically for those of them, the length of which falls significantly below the ankle bones of the owner (hostess). If you do not comply with this condition, you can shrink the trousers in such a way that they become narrow (which is good) and short (which cannot be corrected). Having ruined your favorite pants in this way, all you have to do is give them to a friend or child.

Always pay attention to matter from which your trousers are made. If it is all cotton, or at least 70% cotton, then it is shrunk using a hot water wash.

When the fabric contains synthetic fibers, such as lycra, these jeans can be irreparably damaged by boiling water. Thus, jeans with lycra can lose their shape, become deformed, and stretch greatly.

You need to get used to the idea that any jeans will have to be washed often, and not at all because they are dirty, but only to shrink the fabric. Therefore, wearing jeans every day is not recommended, unless, of course, you are the proud owner of several of them. If you think that jeans should fit tight, you should give preference to dense and at the same time elastic fabrics. Comparing such fabric with loose denim with fashionable holes or a worn effect, it is easy to notice that the latter stretches very quickly.

What can you do to make your jeans shrink after washing? This problem interests many women who, after much effort, have finally lost weight. To their deep chagrin, it turns out that their favorite jeans now do not want to stay in their usual place, but always tend to slide down somewhere. Use the simple methods given above. If you are not pleased with the result, or the fabric contains too much synthetics and is not subject to such shrinkage, you are left with one option - going to a workshop, where the skillful hands of a cutter and seamstress will adjust the shape of your trousers. If you don’t want to do this, then give your trousers to a friend and go to the store for new jeans. New clothes always put a woman in a good mood, don’t miss your chance. It will be great if you buy several pants, this will give you the opportunity to always look great in your favorite jeans.

Jeans should fit perfectly on your figure - this is an immutable law. However, cotton fabric stretches after short wear and the jeans lose their shape. It is impossible to avoid stretching; cotton has inelastic fibers. After prolonged tension, they lengthen, but they cannot restore their original shape on their own. Even stretch jeans made from a blend of fabric with the addition of elastic elastane or polyester threads can stretch. There is no need to be upset if your favorite pants sag at the knees and no longer fit your hips. There are ways to return a product to its original size.

When should you shrink your jeans?

Not all jeans break in. Products made from quality denim - cotton grown in Mexico, Barbados or Zimbabwe - always fit well. They are unlikely to have to be washed to reduce them. These jeans only need to be washed if they get dirty.

Jeans made from Indian or Asian cotton are another matter. They are cheap, but their density is much lower. Asian jeans shrink very little after washing and very soon stretch again. The finest denim is produced from Indian cotton. It shrinks easily and stretches very quickly. Jeans made from Indian cotton decrease not only in width, but also in length - this must be taken into account when purchasing. Stretch jeans are the hardest to shrink. If they stretch, the artificial shrinkage will only take effect for two to three days, and then the pants will gain excess volume again.

Sometimes jeans need to be adjusted at the waist because their owner has lost a lot of weight. It should be taken into account that at home it is not difficult to make denim items one size smaller, but it is unlikely to be possible to reduce pants by two sizes without a sewing machine.

Machine wash in hot water

Even an inexperienced housewife can return worn-out jeans to their original shape by washing. Anyone who has washed jeans at home at least once has noticed that after washing the item shrinks noticeably. Sometimes you have to pull it on yourself almost by force.

Any clothing made from cotton fabric will shrink after washing.

Only natural products made from denim can be reduced in a machine. The fabric must contain at least 80% cotton. Durable and thick pants made from 100% denim look like new after washing in the washing machine.

Synthetic fabrics cannot be washed at high temperatures - they will completely lose their shape. Washing pants that contain synthetics is carried out at a temperature of 60 degrees, and then put on an intensive spin cycle. Or you can wash your jeans several times in express mode (30 minutes each).

Washing in hot water will help restore the shape of your jeans, but will cause the fabric to fade, so it is not recommended to use this method often. Regular denim washing is carried out at low temperatures - in this case, the item will last longer and retain its natural colors.

Hand wash

A more gentle, but also more labor-intensive method. Jeans are soaked in very hot water for half an hour. And then rinse in very cold water. After such a “contrast shower”, the pants are reduced by one size.

You can simply transfer the item from hot water to cold water several times. Another way to hand wash your jeans to make them shrink is to soak them overnight in cold water, then wash them in hot water in the morning and squeeze them well. To ensure that the pants fit properly, they are dried on a horizontal plane.

Digestion

In Soviet times, fashionistas independently boiled their denim to narrow it and make it spotty. After boiling, the fabric becomes covered with gray stains. Anyone who is comfortable with this can use boiling to reduce the size of denim items.

Digestion algorithm:

  • fill a large saucepan with water;
  • add any detergent (powder or soap) to the water;
  • The clothes are placed in a saucepan, brought to a boil and simmered over low heat for about half an hour.

If you need to get strong stains, boil things by placing them face down in water. If weak stains are needed, the item is turned inside out and only then lowered into water. When boiled, you can not only reduce the size, but also get rid of old stains.

Thin summer jeans are made not from denim, but from cotton - cotton dyed in a special way. This fabric has a different weave, so it cannot be “set” with hot water, as is done with natural denim. Cotton pants cannot be boiled - they will shrink and will not stretch anymore.

Reducing size by drying

The main rule of shrink drying is speed. If the fabric dries for a long time, the fibers will have time to straighten out and the item will not shrink. If you need to quickly “shrink” jeans, they are washed and dried on a radiator, near a stove or in the sun. You can use a dryer in an automatic machine. If jeans are dried in the sun, they are turned inside out to prevent the fabric from fading. When drying on a central heating radiator, place unnecessary fabric under the product, otherwise dirty yellow stains may remain on the pants. If you only need to reduce the width of the trousers, hang the product on a rope, hanging it from your belt with clothespins. Having sagged under their own weight, the pants will not be able to become shorter, but they will become noticeably narrower.

Jeans purchased in size, which fit perfectly on the figure, became baggy during wear - almost everyone faces this problem. To deal with it, you don’t have to rush to the studio and have an expensive item stitched. First you need to figure out how to wash jeans so that they shrink, choose the best method and test it in practice.

When purchasing pants made from all types of denim fabrics (except stretch), sellers advise choosing models with a tight fit. This is due to the natural properties of the cotton threads from which the material is made. Despite the tightness of their weave, after some time the fabric stretches. Of course, you should not buy pants that are too tight: before they increase in volume, they can cause considerable harm to your health.

Cheaper fabrics with synthetic additives have less stretch, but in terms of hygienic qualities and durability they are far from natural denim materials - denim, eikru and cheaper gin. For sewing women's trousers, another version of jeans is used - stretch, made from a mixture of cotton and elastane. Such a product is “stretched” over the figure and completely repeats its reliefs. Stretch pants lose their shape when the elastane fibers no longer perform their function.

If jeans made from natural material become spacious, restoring their original appearance with your own hands is not difficult at all. Cotton fabric not only stretches, but also shrinks after washing. The only problem is how to wash jeans so that they become smaller without losing their presentable appearance.

Ways to wash jeans for shrinkage

Hot water helps to significantly reduce the volume of stretched out pants. There are three main ways to wash jeans in it.

1. . The product is placed in a drum, the temperature is set to no lower than 90 o C, intensive mode (for cotton fabrics), maximum spin speed. Thick denim or eikru can withstand such a powerful impact without compromising quality, although it is not advisable to regularly repeat such procedures. From time to time, jeans should be given a “rest” by washing them as usual.

Important: To prevent pants from fading, experts do not recommend using the powder during intensive washing in hot water. If necessary, the product must first be cleaned of dirt in warm water with a gentle detergent.

2. Wash by hand. To achieve shrinkage, jeans are washed at the highest possible temperature. The effect is secured with the help of a contrast rinse: the product is transferred from hot water to cold water several times.

3. . The first option is similar to machine washing. Pour water into a large enamel pan or basin and place the container on the fire. Place clean jeans in warm water, bring it to a boil and boil for about half an hour. Periodically turn the item over using clothes tongs.

The second boiling option not only answers the question of how to wash stretched jeans so that they shrink, but also allows you to turn them into “dumplings.” Light-wash jeans were at the peak of popularity in the 80s - then they cost much more than classic blue models, and resourceful Soviet fashionistas welded the jeans themselves. Nowadays, varenki are becoming popular again, so the recipe for shrinking jeans while simultaneously lightening them may come in handy.

  • Pour 7 liters of water into a saucepan and heat until hot. Pour 250 ml of white and bring to a boil. Instead of whitening, you can use a large amount of powder with a whitening effect, but the result of lightening will not be so impressive.
  • While the water is heating up, take clean, dry jeans (only real denim is suitable for boiling!). The pants are twisted and secured with elastic bands, clips, and clothespins.
  • Jeans are carefully placed in a boiling solution so as not to disturb the fastening. The duration of “cooking” is from 15 to 30 minutes (depending on the desired degree of lightening). During boiling, the jeans should be completely immersed in the liquid.
  • Remove the product, allow it to cool slightly, and thoroughly rinse the bleach alternately in warm and cold water.

Note: The patterns on the dumplings depend on how the jeans are folded before boiling. Vertical stripes are formed when the legs are tightened using elastic bands; stains are obtained by loose twisting and fixing with a clamp. Thin stripes are the result of particularly tight twisting. And if you pinch clothespins on your trouser legs, you will get beautiful “stars”.

How to dry jeans without stretching them

What can I do to make my jeans fit correctly? It turns out that the final result depends not only on washing, but also on the method: it should be carried out in such a way that the pants do not stretch under the weight of moisture. This requirement can be met in different ways.

1. Line drying. Before hanging the product, it must first be thoroughly wrung out, but not straightened or pulled out. It is best to perform a machine spin at high speed.

2. Drying on a horizontal surface. The wrung out jeans are placed on a terry towel that absorbs moisture well. You may need several towels, which will have to be changed as they get wet.

3. Hot drying. An automatic machine will do an excellent job of this mission if it has a hot drying function. If this is not possible, a hot heating radiator on which the jeans are placed will help.

To prevent jeans from fading during the drying process, they are turned inside out. If you decide to dry your pants on a radiator, place a clean rag under them - this will help avoid the possible appearance of yellow stains on the denim.