I bought a few pair of (used/ like new) Levi's off eBay and they all came today..... all same label size but one is visibly narrower in the waist-- assume they were washed/dried in super-high heat.
Anyone know of a trick for stretching them (besides wearing them) and whether shrunken denim even really can be stretched out again?
Thx...

yeah, wash them, and put on damp from the washer. Should stretch back out, then hang to dry.

If you have a clean largish round garbage can or big empty planter, maybe invert it and fit the pants over the top to stretch the opening?

[www.denimblog.com]





Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/13/2013 05:45PM by Racer X.

Kramer jeans

Thanks folks.
Turns out they're actually not that hard to get into and fasten-- will try just wearing them first.

Lend them to your chubby neighbor.

will try just wearing them first.

That will loosen them up. If you keep them clean, and change out of them instead of wearing them all day, you can probably get a few days wear out of one washing. If these are work jeans, wear 'em as long as you like. Fabreeze can be your friend.

They will shrink with the next wash cycle. You could try a gentle, cold water wash, and hang dry if that's an option. Hot water, heavy agitation, and drying in the dryer tends to shrink non-preshrunk cotton.

Or you could should do what all the girls did way back when-- wash the jeans by wearing them in the shower or bath, and not take them of until dry.

Truly shrink to fit.

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And hope is a lousy defense.

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I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

Let me wear them for an hour... But invest in a belt...

I hate to ask......but how much extra room do you need upfront anywayz.........???

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_____________________________________

I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Losing a few pounds may help you fight into those jeans.

Also, didn't you hear that skinny jeans are in style these days? You'll look so hip and Brooklyn in them!

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RAMd®d
you can probably get a few days wear out of one washing.

Should have a poll. Wear once, wear a few days, wear a week, wear a month, wear a season.

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Speedy

Quote
RAMd®d
you can probably get a few days wear out of one washing.

Should have a poll. Wear once, wear a few days, wear a week, wear a month, wear a season.

I have 3 pairs of jeans that I wear to work. I wash them about every month or so. Sometimes sooner if I spill something on them.

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Black,

No amount of stretching will help if the jeans were actually taken in by a tailor. You may be able to loosen them a little but that's about it. FWIW, for normal day to day work and "bump around" wear, you can find jeans for $20.00 or less at places like Target. Same goes if you catch a jeans sale at Macys and similar stores. At that price, it doesn't pay to buy used jeans unless you're looking for a specific "look" that can only be found via used jeans.

Robert

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Black
Can shrunken jeans be stretched?
Thx...

Absolutely.

Don't those look fabulous ?

If they're not the right size, they're not the right size.

There was a time one could know one's size ( at least within a brand) and buy without trying on, but those days of relatively accurate labelling and sizing appear to be an attention to detail that costs too much.

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billb
There was a time one could know one's size ( at least within a brand) and buy without trying on, but those days of relatively accurate labelling and sizing appear to be an attention to detail that costs too much.

This is probably a lack of quality control issue.

I could be wrong of course, but I always figure that size differences within a brand are due to differences in the country of origin. In other words, the patterns might be different in Bangladesh than in Cambodia or in Vietnam, and so on.

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billb
There was a time one could know one's size ( at least within a brand) and buy without trying on, but those days of relatively accurate labelling and sizing appear to be an attention to detail that costs too much.

Not really true of women's clothes because our clothes aren't sized by dimensions (waist, length, etc.) Sizing always varied greatly by brand and now we face "vanity sizing." What is actually a 12 or 14 is marked as an 8 or a 10 or whatever. 0 and 00 are actual sizes. Ugh.

Hit a nerve here, sorry.

DM

That has always seemed goofy and downright wrong to me dmann. It was, and is a PITA to buy women's clothes as a gift when even when you know the size, 'cause its still a crapshoot.

Quote
$tevie
I could be wrong of course, but I always figure that size differences within a brand are due to differences in the country of origin. In other words, the patterns might be different in Bangladesh than in Cambodia or in Vietnam, and so on.

No, I have seen differences within clothing items all from the same source and brand. As for the patterns, they should be the same wherever the manufacturing is done. It is a matter of relaxed quality control and pushing for the lowest manufacturing expense.

Years ago a waist measurement for example in finished goods had a normal tolerance of plus/minus 0.5". Now from what I am seeing it is more like an inch over or under the nominal size.

Part of it comes from cost cutting in one of the more expensive parts of clothes manufacturing, the cutting out of pieces from bolts of cloth. The process starts with the layout person stacking up layer after layer of the cloth on the cutting table, then the whole stack is cut to the pattern at once. This naturally results in variance in the pieces depending on where they came from in the stack. To keep the variance low, the layout persons knew how thick the stack could be with different fabrics, and would stack accordingly. This layout process is time consuming, and takes more skilled workers to get it right. So now many manufacturers are stacking the cloth thicker and using less skilled workers, the end result is greater variance in the size of the individual pieces that get assembled into an item of clothing.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2013 11:36AM by JoeH.

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bazookaman
I have 3 pairs of jeans that I wear to work.

Don't your legs get kind of hot?

Quote
$tevie
I could be wrong of course, but I always figure that size differences within a brand are due to differences in the country of origin. In other words, the patterns might be different in Bangladesh than in Cambodia or in Vietnam, and so on.

I believe all three of the jeans I bought, all same size and series (Levi 505) are manufactured in different parts of the world. But my gut is that washing/drying is the main factor here.

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billb


If they're not the right size, they're not the right size.

No problem-- just add Guayabera:

I could be wrong of course, but I always figure that size differences within a brand are due to differences in the country of origin.

I've found that to be the case with shoes and gloves made in other countries, and some shirts, in that they tend to run a little smaller than some made in USA brands.

---

I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

when I wore 501s, I always got 1 waist size up, and 2" longer. They shrank that much. But that was back when they made star washed jeans.

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dmann

Quote
billb
There was a time one could know one's size ( at least within a brand) and buy without trying on, but those days of relatively accurate labelling and sizing appear to be an attention to detail that costs too much.

Not really true of women's clothes because our clothes aren't sized by dimensions (waist, length, etc.) Sizing always varied greatly by brand and now we face "vanity sizing." What is actually a 12 or 14 is marked as an 8 or a 10 or whatever. 0 and 00 are actual sizes. Ugh.

Hit a nerve here, sorry.

DM

A long time ago I found the best size ( except for my first g/f who was 4'11" tall ) to "guess someone 's size was was 2
I learned a long time ago not to go there
A lot easier to just not "get it".
It either looks nice or it doesn't
adjectives like "slimming" can get ya couch duty

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Black

Quote
bazookaman
I have 3 pairs of jeans that I wear to work.

Don't your legs get kind of hot?

Loved that! thanx Black

here's how he wears shirts

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JoeH

Quote
$tevie
I could be wrong of course, but I always figure that size differences within a brand are due to differences in the country of origin. In other words, the patterns might be different in Bangladesh than in Cambodia or in Vietnam, and so on.

No, I have seen differences within clothing items all from the same source and brand. As for the patterns, they should be the same wherever the manufacturing is done. It is a matter of relaxed quality control and pushing for the lowest manufacturing expense.

Years ago a waist measurement for example in finished goods had a normal tolerance of plus/minus 0.5". Now from what I am seeing it is more like an inch over or under the nominal size.

Part of it comes from cost cutting in one of the more expensive parts of clothes manufacturing, the cutting out of pieces from bolts of cloth. The process starts with the layout person stacking up layer after layer of the cloth on the cutting table, then the whole stack is cut to the pattern at once. This naturally results in variance in the pieces depending on where they came from in the stack. To keep the variance low, the layout persons knew how thick the stack could be with different fabrics, and would stack accordingly. This layout process is time consuming, and takes more skilled workers to get it right. So now many manufacturers are stacking the cloth thicker and using less skilled workers, the end result is greater variance in the size of the individual pieces that get assembled into an item of clothing.

Thank you, that was a truly interesting explanation.

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Racer X
when I wore 501s, I always got 1 waist size up, and 2" longer. They shrank that much. But that was back when they made star washed jeans.

Sorry, see dmann's post about "vanity sizing." No way am I going to accept a larger waist size on my label than necessary....

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$tevie

Quote
JoeH

Quote
$tevie
I could be wrong of course, but I always figure that size differences within a brand are due to differences in the country of origin. In other words, the patterns might be different in Bangladesh than in Cambodia or in Vietnam, and so on.

No, I have seen differences within clothing items all from the same source and brand. As for the patterns, they should be the same wherever the manufacturing is done. It is a matter of relaxed quality control and pushing for the lowest manufacturing expense.

Years ago a waist measurement for example in finished goods had a normal tolerance of plus/minus 0.5". Now from what I am seeing it is more like an inch over or under the nominal size.

Part of it comes from cost cutting in one of the more expensive parts of clothes manufacturing, the cutting out of pieces from bolts of cloth. The process starts with the layout person stacking up layer after layer of the cloth on the cutting table, then the whole stack is cut to the pattern at once. This naturally results in variance in the pieces depending on where they came from in the stack. To keep the variance low, the layout persons knew how thick the stack could be with different fabrics, and would stack accordingly. This layout process is time consuming, and takes more skilled workers to get it right. So now many manufacturers are stacking the cloth thicker and using less skilled workers, the end result is greater variance in the size of the individual pieces that get assembled into an item of clothing.

Thank you, that was a truly interesting explanation.

Kinda missed this first time around. Interesting. So a giant cookie-cutter-like thingy in the shape of pants gets pressed down from above?
I imagine it comes down about every ten seconds and the workers are expected to swap out the stacks and get their limbs free in between....

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Black

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Racer X
when I wore 501s, I always got 1 waist size up, and 2" longer. They shrank that much. But that was back when they made star washed jeans.

Sorry, see dmann's post about "vanity sizing." No way am I going to accept a larger waist size on my label than necessary....

when they left the factory, the waist was 34. When you washed and dried them, they were 32. The label was accurate. If it bugs you, cut out/off the label. Heck, its covered by your belt anyway.

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