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Scholar
Original Poster
#1 Old 2nd Oct 2020 at 1:32 PM
Default Problem when washing jeans, does anyone know what's causing this please?
Hello everyone,
I just got back from holiday yesterday, as you can imagine I have lots of washing to do!

I did a couple of loads yesterday, but sadly this happened to my jeans (photo attached, they're upside down as they're on the drying rack).

The denim near the zip has become warped and misshapen, meaning I'll have to throw them away.

I'm a bit gutted as they're only a year old.

Does anyone know what's caused this please, and how to avoid it in future?

I washed them at 40% on a normal cycle, then tumble dried them for an hour and hung them on the washing rack. I always fasten zips, velcro, bra hooks etc, when washing clothes, and I can't see anything sharp in my washing machine.

This has happened before to another pair of jeans (a different brand), but only since I moved house (I moved in June this year). I'm not doing anything different, so I'm wondering if there's a problem with the washer, or if it's something else?

Any advice or insight you could offer would be appreciated, thanks
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 2nd Oct 2020 at 6:24 PM Last edited by simmer22 : 2nd Oct 2020 at 9:39 PM.
First off all, it doesn't look too bad to me. Probably doesn't look as bad on. Have you tried ironing? I'm guessing the pants are still usable, so why throw out the pants just because there's a little bit of "meh" on them? People these days are using distressed jeans with holes so big they're going right through the pants, so I wouldn't worry too much, it's barely even noticeable.

If the clothes are still usable and look decent, if not in absolutely peak condition, it's a really bad decision to just throw them in the trash and go get something new. The whole "use and throw away" mindset is a really bad thing for the environment. You can always give them away, give to charity, use when doing painting/hobby projects (or similar), make something fun out of them, or just use them for a while yet with some longer tees/tops that cover the "bad" area.

A few tips from here (I've seen several of these tips other places, too) are to not use fabric softener, because apparently it can ruin the denim over time. Wash them inside out, and avoid using the tumble dryer (no more than 5 minutes, because the high temperature can make the fabric shrink, and the tumbling can cause wear and tear, which could be what's happening to your pants). Drying on a rack or outside is better. Also don't wash denim too often. Except for tumbling, I've done it more or less this way, either from long before or after hearing about these tips, and most of it seems reasonable, and kinda seems to work.

I've never tumble-dried my jeans, and never seen shrinkage like that (back when I had access to a tumble-dryer, I didn't use it on clothes, just on towels, bedding, and other things that took up too much space on my singular clothing rack). I have however seen similar shrinkage when I've tumble-dried certain wash cloths. It's almost like one thread decides to shrink or gets pulled at, and the rest of the cloth gets pulled in. Instead of a flat cloth, what I got out of the machine was a warped thing that kind of never ever wanted to lie flat again. So tumbledrying... you may want to quit doing that, or do it less.
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retired moderator
#3 Old 2nd Oct 2020 at 10:18 PM
It looks like the elastane has degraded (assuming they are stretch fabric), that can happen in a localised area if you have the dryer too hot or if the dryer was overloaded (causing hot spots).
Scholar
Original Poster
#4 Old 7th Oct 2020 at 2:00 PM
simmer22 and simsample = Thanks both of you for the tips, and the article was interesting too.

I wore the jeans again on Monday and they didn't look too bad, so I'll probably just keep them for at home when I'm not doing much.

I have been tumble drying less and on low heat instead.

I think you're right and it's the tumble dryer - perhaps this one is just getting very hot, as I've never had problems before until I moved (I'm renting so it's not my tumble dryer, it came with the flat).

Thanks for the help, I appreciate it
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