your denim questions, answered

Can I Rescue a Torn Pair?

HOW OFTEN SHOULD I WASH MY FAVORITE JEANS?

When it comes to washing your jeans, maybe just don’t? Many fashion designers and fabric experts recommend laundering your denim only once for every 10 wears, because every time you do, the bers relax a little more, loosening the t and losing some color. If you’re worried about hygiene, science says you don’t have to be. When a student at the University of Alberta wore jeans for 15 months without washing them, then tested his pants, the bacteria count was unexpectedly tiny. (As was our level of surprise that a college student didn’t visit the laundromat for over a year.) Keeping your favorite lares out of the wash has an eco-friendly bene t too: Besides using less water, you’ll help prevent the microplastics found in some materials from leaking into reservoirs. You save your pants, money, water, and wildlife!

You spend good money on your jeans— and a good bit of your life in them. When they rip, it can feel like losing an old friend. But there are plenty of ways to mend them, and most take less than 15 minutes (or a $20 trip to the tailor).

Frayed Hems

If you’ve got a conident whipstitch—or 10 minutes to watch a YouTube tutorial—you can fold the bottoms up a few millimeters and simply rehem your pants. Not handy with a needle? A tailor can rehem jeans for a clean inish, and if they’re a little shorter, well, cropped is all the rage right now!

Belt Loops

A loose or broken belt loop is a quick ix. First tack it back in place with a safety pin, then ind some strong polyester thread in the same shade as the denim. Do a simple cross-stitch until it feels secure again, and double-knot your thread on the inside of the jean. You’ll feel like you could star in a Little House on the Prairie reboot.

Knees

If you want a shredded knee to look as close to new as possible, you’ll probably need a professional. But if you’re cool with a slightly more bohemian look, consider taking a few squares of your favorite fabric and patching the jeans with a needle and thread. The result doesn’t need to be perfect, just personal. And chances are you’ll love them even more when you’re done.

WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO STORE JEANS?

Fold? Hang? Roll? Crumple on the loor outside of your Zoom frame? Here’s the good news: It doesn’t really matter. Unlike heavy crochet knits (which can get long and stretched-out when hung) or silk and satin tops (which crease the second you put them in a drawer), denim is one of the most resilient fabrics on the planet, and you can stash it wherever best ts your storage space. Easy!