How would I soften a denim jacket?
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Fabric softener and a few washes can only make this jacket more worn and softer,It will get there!
It is denim jacket weather isn't it!! Happy almost fall!!
Soak the jacket in a bucket with a cup of vinegar to each gallon of water. Soak for an hour, check for softness. Not soft enough, soak for another hour. Repeat until it is to your liking, then run through a regular wash, alone so it doesn't bleed on to anything. Air dry in the sun. Enjoy!!
P.S. you will always want to wash the jacket with dark clothes as denim sometimes "bleeds" for many, many washings!
Repeated washing takes out the sizing that makes it stiff.
If you wash it, use dryer sheets (when you put it in the dryer), and use fabric softener it should become softer
Normally it will take quite a few washing to get it the way you want. You can try to do what I did as a child and soak it in a bucket with some stones and fabric softner. I added bleach to mine because I wanted the old faded demin look.
Other than this you'll just need to keep washing this and drying it to get it the way you want. It can take a lot of time to get denim soft and feeling good.
Most new clothing has 'sizing' as this is what generally gives it the 'new' feeling and the sizing washes out after one or two washings.
Some denim does have sizing but Levi says if the denim is really, really stiff it usually means it is a denser material and (for jeans) they recommend wearing many times without washing; not too many people will do this and it may not work very well with a jacket.
You will find numerous 'methods' listed online and most likely most will work so you may just have to decide which one you want to try first.
Suggestions include: using baking soda, white vinegar, table salt, Epsom salt (works really well), fabric softener liquid, fabric softener sheets, coca cola (coke), sandpaper, tennis shoes/balls in dryer, and on and on.
With 6 children to raise (many years ago), I went through a lot of denim and it was stiffer back then (and probably a lot better) so I have tried most of these 'methods' at one time or another.
I believe you will get faster results if you set your washer on low wash (fast agitate), add 1/2 to 1 cup of one of the above choices (maybe whatever you have on hand), add jacket, let soak for several hours or overnight, start washer and go through full agitate until machine stops (no draining), start it over again with same solution. Complete this wash and then run through wash cycle with 1 cup of white vinegar or 1/2 to 1 cup of fabric softener.
Fill your machine, soak in cold water with a little white vinegar and one cup of fabric softener about 30 minutes. Finish with a delicate rinse and spin. Hang dry. A few times should soften the fibers.
Dry it with tennis balls :)
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