How to lighten jeans or restore their whiteness

Although denim is a wardrobe essential, it can lose its color and vibrancy with time. There are methods to lighten or restore the whiteness of your favorite pair, whether they have become dull or you just want to give them back that bright, new look.

We’ll look at several techniques in this post that you can do at home to give your jeans a new look. You’ll find useful advice to fit your needs, ranging from basic washing methods to more complex do-it-yourself treatments.

You can easily give your old jeans a new lease of life instead of spending a fortune on new ones. Let’s get started on how to make your jeans appear brand new!

It’s surprising how simple it is to lighten or restore the original whiteness of jeans, and it can revitalize your favorite pair. If you want to get that ideal faded look or your jeans have yellowed over time, there are a few easy tricks you can do with everyday objects that won’t ruin the material.

A guide for fashionistas, or how to lighten jeans

It’s easy to experiment with denim. This fabric is robust and dense, resistant to dyeing, and only softens when bleached. You can lighten the color of jeans in a good dozen different ways.

Significant Pants made entirely of natural cotton are worth trying. It is simpler to replace jeans with elastane.

Specifics of the process

Discarding the dye is necessary to make the fabric lighter. The pigment lasts the longest on classic jeans. Etching is fairly simple on less expensive ones, though not always evenly. In any event, the procedure needs to be run with the tightest supervision possible:

• protect your clothes with a cape, and your hands with gloves;
• Spread paper on the floor to prevent any accidentally dripped product from damaging the carpet or flooring;
• the room should be ventilated so that you do not have to inhale chemical vapors;
• The floor near the washing machine should also be covered with newspapers, since the final stage will be washing the product.

Original color of the product

You can alter the appearance of any jeans that are currently in stock. However, the modifications will take a different form:

1. Black and brown colors cannot be completely lightened. Even after repeating the procedure many times, their color will not turn white. There is a danger that the result will not be very pleasing, since pale brown jeans do not look very stylish.
2. Blue jeans are ideal for experimentation. Dark shades make blue, and very light or even white stripes will only add charm.
3. It is much easier to make spots and stripes than to lighten the fabric evenly.
4. Bright stitching on the sides is a separate issue. Threads usually do not lighten, so it is better to choose models with blue, yellow or gray stitching.
5. If you want to get a worn effect, then use fine sandpaper after the fabric has dried well.

How to choose the right product. Gentle bleaches

Aggressive materials are required to bleach the fabric. Furthermore, the stronger the bleach you need, the more serious you want to be about the outcome. First, let’s discuss the safest:

Soda solution

Mild, hardly perceptible lightning:

1. Pour 100 g of soda and a little washing powder into a basin of hot water.
2. Place jeans in the solution and leave for an hour and a half.

The color will repeatedly lighten, but it won’t completely stop talking.

Hydrogen peroxide

A pharmacy solution will allow you to alter the color to multiple tones:

1. We take 5 tbsp. l. peroxide and dissolve them in 10 liters of water.
2. Soak jeans in the solution for 60 minutes.

Hydroperite tablets

Another choice that enables you to bleach jeans is this one:

1. Crush three tablets and throw them in a pair with washing powder into the compartment of the washing machine.
2. Put jeans in the drum and start the "Cotton" program at a temperature of 40-60 degrees. It is not worth it above if we do not want to reduce the size.

Citric acid

An additional method to subtly alter the color of your beloved jeans:

1. Used as a freshly squeezed lemon (10 st. l.), and crystalline powder (10 h. l.).
2. Add the indicated amount to a bucket of water and soak the jeans, stirring periodically and ensuring that not a single site sticks over the solution.

If your white jeans have become gray or yellowed over time, you can also use any of the above techniques to bring them back to life. Stains are effectively removed by solutions, even oily ones. However, soaking blue ink and washing it in milk makes sense because no traces will remain.

For radical lightening

Denim pants with a rough, thick indigo dye are typically boiled, but bleaches can also be used:

• "Whiteness". There are two options for using it: cold and hot. We will consider the second below. A cold method is considered more gentle, in which it is recommended to pour a solution of "Whiteness" over the jeans (a glass of bleach per bucket of water). Place the product in it and, stirring regularly, wait 40 minutes, then wash as usual.
• "Domestos". The active components of the substance are designed to give the plumbing fixtures an ideal whiteness. They will also provide lightening of the fabric. To do this, dilute a glass of "Domestos" in 6 liters of water and soak the jeans in the solution for 30 minutes. You will need not only a thorough wash, but also drying in the fresh air to get rid of the smell.
• Potassium permanganate. Surprisingly, the pink solution is also able to whiten the fabric. To do this, you will need to dissolve manganese in water (30 g per 1 kg of things). To enhance the effect, add a few pinches of citric acid. Keep the clothes for at least 30 minutes, then rinse and dry.

You can try the procedure again if the outcome is not entirely satisfactory. Though there is a chance to make them lighter each time, keep in mind that you will not be able to return the color of the clothes.

Famous "boiled jeans"

Jeans that are "boiled" are back in style. It’s time to revamp that old, worn-out pair of blue shoes you have lying around into a stylish piece. Tablets like "Belina," "Domestos," or bleach will expedite the procedure.

To ensure uniform bleaching of the jeans, you’ll need a metal bucket or a large enamel basin, bleach, and wooden tongs or a stick for stirring.

Guidelines:

• Fill the bucket with water, taking into account that the jeans will also go into it.
• Add 100 ml of "Belina" or 20 bleach tablets. You can change the concentration, depending on how pronounced the effect you want to get.
• Immerse the jeans in the solution and, stirring from time to time, bring to a boil.
• Boil for 30-60 minutes over medium or low heat.
• Turn off and let cool.
• Carefully remove the product from the water.
• Wash in water 40-50 degrees (so that there is no contrast with the cooled "Whiteness" solution) with double rinsing.
• Stretch the jeans to restore their shape (denim will shrink after boiling) and air dry.

It’s not as hard as it sounds to bring back the brightness of your jeans or give them a lighter appearance. By using the proper techniques, you can give the fabric a modern, new look without causing any damage.

The most important thing is to follow the instructions precisely, regardless of whether you decide to use chemical solutions like bleach or natural ones like lemon juice and baking soda. To prevent any surprises, always begin with a test on a small, hidden area.

Recall that depending on the type of denim, the process might take some time and yield different results. You can attain the desired result and prolong the great look of your jeans by exercising patience and paying attention to detail.

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