Looking for a better fit

March 30, 2006 7:19 PM

I heard today that if you sit in a bathtub wearing your new jeans, and let them dry on you, that theyll fit better. Has anyone ever tried/heard this?
posted by Rlocurto to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (25 answers total)

My mother used to tell me stories of the 70s, where all the high school girls would buy new jeans, put them on, and soak in hot baths to make them dry tight enough that they'd sometimes need to be cut off.

So, yes, I expect it'd work.
posted by Jairus at 7:21 PM on March 30, 2006

The real question must then be: does this work because the fabric shrinks or because your legs swell?
posted by Maxwell_Smart at 7:25 PM on March 30, 2006

I'm old enough to have tried this back in the 70s and no, it didn't work.
posted by tellurian at 7:26 PM on March 30, 2006

It works on raw jeans.
posted by Airhen at 7:28 PM on March 30, 2006

At the Levi's store here in San Francisco (this is the home of Levi's):

"Customers can take a dip in a hot tub for true shrink-to-fit jeans, then stand in a human-size blow dryer while watching experimental films."
posted by vacapinta at 7:33 PM on March 30, 2006

The Levi's store in San Francisco has a shrink-to-fit tub in the store.

from here:
"But maybe you like your jeans to be a bit more snug. The “shrink-to-fit” attraction — one of the store’s odder features — will dip you and your new Levi’s jeans into a special bath, then blow dry you and your pants in a human dryer until they hug every curve just right. "
posted by clarahamster at 7:35 PM on March 30, 2006

argh! vacapinta beat me to it! :)
posted by clarahamster at 7:36 PM on March 30, 2006

My stepfather said for the old-school shrink-to-fit versions, you would wet them and then walk around in them for a few hours. The jeans would then truly shrink to fit you.
posted by frogan at 8:11 PM on March 30, 2006

I'd imagine this would only work with jeans that aren't pre-shrunk, and I've never seen such a thing.
posted by ChasFile at 9:36 PM on March 30, 2006

I'm sure they'd shrink to fit you, and then the first time you wash them they'd shrink the rest of the way. So unless you plan never to wash them, I'd bet it'd be a waste of time.
posted by kindall at 9:57 PM on March 30, 2006

there is little in this world more uncomfortable than walking around in a cold, wet pair of jeans.
posted by Jonasio at 10:07 PM on March 30, 2006

I've done it; hard to say what the point is with pre-shrunk cotton, if they'd be any different. But wasn't it recomended, required in the old days? I recall in a museum somewhere a fully-clothed cowpoke sitting in a bathub but maybe that was something about the dye? I recall no details except Levi's called their original version "Waist-Highs" because unlike their usual denim overalls, these new trousers stopped at the waist.
posted by Rash at 10:15 PM on March 30, 2006

I'd imagine this would only work with jeans that aren't pre-shrunk, and I've never seen such a thing.

It's been a while since I've looked for them, but for many years most department stores that carried Levi's 501s offered them in both pre-shrunk and shrink-to-fit varieties.

I'm sure they'd shrink to fit you, and then the first time you wash them they'd shrink the rest of the way.

I don't think that's how it works. Most cotton clothes don't shrink much more after the first time you expose them to hot water.
posted by jjg at 10:43 PM on March 30, 2006

I suppose if you go out in the Las Vegas sun in the summer they could dry in 20 minutes and shrink pretty good on you..

I gotta try that. (for my Robert Plant on stage look)
posted by SwingingJohnson1968 at 11:33 PM on March 30, 2006

There's a scene in Quadrophenia where Jimmy does just this, and he's a bloke who cares about how his clothes fit. I mean, he really, really cares.
I've done it years ago and it worked, though I'm not sure whether the jeans I bought were specifcally labelled as "non pre-shrunk"
posted by bunglin jones at 2:25 AM on March 31, 2006

It works.

Buy what what one friend refers to as cardboard pants: un-pre-shrunk, blue as can be, 501 or 505 straight leg jeans. I always bought mine a little long, but I also pegged them.

On a warm day, fill the tub with water that's not hot enough to scald you and get in. Take a book. Once the water is no longer hot, get out and wear them till they dry.

Put on your low-slung guitar, your black CBGB's (RIP) t-shirt and your motorcycle jacket and head on down to the gig.

When you get home, don't panic about the blue tint on your legs. It'll fade.
posted by donpardo at 3:32 AM on March 31, 2006

what happens when you wash them a second time, after wearing them, without a body inside? does the material somehow "know" that it should only shrink the first time it is wet?

i could see that if the shrinking were done by magic fairies that drowned you'd keep the same fit (since the fairies would die during the first shrinking), but if material shrinks until the fibres are packed closely together, for example, then wouldn't it continue to shrink on subsequent washes, until it reached the shape it would have been if you had never messed round with the bathtub at all?

maybe something more believable than fairies is that you can trade shrinkage in different directions? perhaps you can achieve a "no more room to shrink" state around those chubby thighs by shrinking along the length of the jeans, for example?
posted by andrew cooke at 5:01 AM on March 31, 2006

I never had a problem with secondary shrinking. When my jeans got too tight, it wasn't the jean's fault. It was because I no longer had a 32 inch waist.

Be aware: if you're a guy, you need to be a little careful when putting them on. Nothing worse than a male camel toe. It's embarrassing and, sooner or later, it hurts.
posted by donpardo at 5:32 AM on March 31, 2006

I've heard of it, if you substitute "horse trough" for "bathtub".
posted by 445supermag at 6:56 AM on March 31, 2006

what happens when you wash them a second time, after wearing them, without a body inside?

There are a lot of denim fanatics who would advise you to never wash them a second time, or wash as little as possible. I have never jumped into the world of fanatacism but have read a few accounts of people who have. Here's what they tend to look for and do:
- Unwashed jeans, usually the darkest blue
- Do the shrink-to-fit soaking, and at most, one more cold water wash.
- Wear the jeans nearly continuously without washing for months, creating the wear patterns that they find to be cool.

The superfuture denim forum has a lot of people who are way, way into the idea.
posted by mikeh at 6:57 AM on March 31, 2006

what happens when you wash them a second time, after wearing them, without a body inside? does the material somehow "know" that it should only shrink the first time it is wet?

Yes.
posted by malp at 7:13 AM on March 31, 2006

This kind of, sort of, works, but it's very impractical. You don't so much get a skintight fit (the 70s pornstar look) as you get a sort of sculptured-to-your-form look. That sculptural effect only works (IMO) on the very young or the freakishly skinny (e.g., Iggy Pop). On anyone in the other 95% of the bell curve, it looks like you got caught out in the rain while wearing a brand new pair of jeans, and you haven't had a chance to change into anything dry.

The 1970s/bathtub method mentioned by Jairus is a different angle. You would buy jeans several sizes too small, cram yourself into them the best way you could, then sort of flop into the tub. As the hot water allowed the demin to stretch slightly, you'd continue to wiggle until you could finally get the crotch of the jeans up to your own corresponding area, then, if you were lucky, you'd manage to get the zipper all the way up and the button buttoned. And then you'd let the jeans air-dry, though once I remember helping out a friend with a blowdrier on high heat. (Not recommended.) The result would be jeans that were like a second skin, following every cranny and crevice and bulge. Unfortunately, if you had even an ounce of waistline fat, it bulged dramatically over the tight waistline, ruining the line of your X-small ribknit tee shirt. And, of course, if you got lucky that night, you faced the impossible task of actually getting back into the jeans the next morning in front of a stranger you'd just had sex with. Much hilarity there.
posted by La Cieca at 7:15 AM on March 31, 2006

I remember my Dad doing this in the 70s and my little brother and I standing in the bathroom doorway laughing hysterically. 'Pop's wearing jeans in the bathtub! AH HA HA HA HA!'
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 7:47 AM on March 31, 2006

When you get home, don't panic about the blue tint on your legs. It'll fade.
Also, be prepared to scrub the blue dye from your tub.
posted by sixpack at 7:56 AM on March 31, 2006

I never bother with the wear in bath thing and don't you unless the denim is raw. Basically the old cowboys and railroad workers bought their pants raw and unwashed, sat in a tub of warm water / horse trough for a while then mosied around outside till they dried. The denim shrinks around their bodies to fit and they were never washed after that. I only ever buy/wear raw selvedged denim jeans. I tend to buy 2-3" up in waist size and 2" in leg size to allow for shrinkage. I usually fill the bath with a foot of luke warm water and lay the jeans in it, submerging them every few minutes. After 15 minutes I take em out and hang them outside (watch the drips of indigo dye on your floor!) I then wear them as long as possible. When they need a wash I run them through a 30 degree machine wash (without soap powder) inside out. Then wear them as long as possible. The result is a great fitting jean, that breaks in beautifully with a nice fade and softeness over time (wallet pockets, keys, knee and thigh marks depending on what you do in them.
posted by brautigan at 8:03 AM on March 31, 2006