How Do You Make Jeans Look Distressed?
In order to get distressed looking jeans you need to do a few things that will all together make the jeans look awesome. First for the dirty look i get about 5 squirt bottles and fill a few with different colors of paint but save two bottles, one for oil and another for bleach. While the paints will add a creative twist, the oils make a natural darker color on the jeans and the bleach makes a naturally light color. Then you can use a nail file or sand paper to go around the edges of the pockets and zipper to create a worn look. To create holes use a a steak knife and go up and down or diagonally to create frailed looking holes. Dont use scissors, they make the hole look unnatural and boring. Feel free to experiment.
Obviously, there are ways to do this quickly, because a big business has developed among fashion jeans makers offering so-called \\\”distressed\\\” finishes. Some of these are pretty good, some are awful, but none look as good as the old fashioned method of wearing jeans yourself so that they reflect your own distressing. Purists insist on buying the real stiff unwashed denim, such as the Levi’s 501 shrink to fit, and wearing them for as long as possible before washing them. Because the fabric is stiff, it will start to \\\”whisker\\\” (the horizontal lines across the waist in front) and abrade faster. But we’re still talking weeks or months. Another problem is if you sit on your white sofa and your unwashed jeans happen to be wet, you will soon have an indigo colored sofa. What you should do, is give the jeans a quick run through the hot water cycle followed by a cold rinse to remove excess dye. Don’t use soap or bleach, because you want the jeans dark to improve the contrast of the e
The washing machine is the best way. Depending on how new they look will determine how many times you will have to “put them through the ringer” to look the way you like. It may take quite a few washes but it works. You could also beat them against something hard for a bit of extra help and relief some stress at the same time too :). There are fabric softeners and stain additives that can help the process along. Not that you should do this as results are risky, but I have always used a small amount of plain old bleach to get them the way I like them and to keep them stain free after they are the color I want. If you try that always add the bleach as you start the water then after it’s half full or more add the jeans. The bleach has to be mixed with the water first.
