Unfade Jeans

While faded jeans are a common fashion choice, there may circumstances in which you want to return your jeans to their original color. Luckily, you can unfade your jeans by re-dying them their original color. Instead of buying a whole new pair of jeans, try using a denim specific dye to darken your faded jeans.

Steps

Setting Up Your Materials

  1. Weigh your jeans. Use a food scale to weigh the jeans that you want to dye. Knowing the weight of the item of clothing will help you determine how much dye you need to use to re-dye the jeans.[1]
    • If you don't own a scale you can estimate the weight of your jeans.
    • Mens jeans will often weigh more than female jeans.
  2. Purchase a denim fabric dye. You can purchase denim fabric dye at arts and crafts stores, department stores, and online. Read the label on the package before buying it to make sure that it's safe to use on denim. Match the color of the dye you're purchasing with the color of your jeans.[2]
    • Fabric dye colors include denim blue, navy blue, and black.[1]
    • RIT is a popular denim dye that's widely available in stores.
  3. Wash your jeans. Oil and dirt on your jeans will prevent the dye from binding with the jeans. Hand wash your jeans or wash them in a washing machine to remove dirt and oil. Once you're done washing them, make sure to rinse and dry them thoroughly so that there's no more residue from your detergent left on the jeans.[2]
  4. Fill a bucket with hot water. Run the hot water from your bathroom faucet until it gets as hot as it can. Fill a bucket with 3 gallons (11.35 l) of hot water when unfading one pair of pants.[3]

Dying Your Jeans

  1. Pour denim dye into your bucket. Read the instructions on the back of the dye so that you know how much dye you have to use. Measure the dye and slowly pour it into your bucket of water. Use a metal spoon or wooden paint stick to mix the dye thoroughly.[4]
  2. Add a cup (273 g) of salt to the solution. Adding regular table salt to your dye mixture will help it adhere to the threads in your denim fabric. Once you pour the salt into your bucket, mix it well until the salt dissolves.[1]
  3. Saturate and agitate the jeans in the bucket. Place your jeans into the bucket to fully saturate them. Use your hands to agitate the jeans in the solution so that the dye can bind with your jean fibers easier. Wear rubber gloves so that the dye doesn't get transferred to your hands and make sure that the jeans are fully saturated.
  4. Soak the jeans for an hour. Leave the jeans in the dye bucket for an hour. During this time the dye should seep into the fabric of your jeans and remove any faded portions that may remain.[5]

Washing your Jeans

  1. Remove the jeans from the solution and wring them out. After allowing your jeans to soak, you can remove them from the solution and wring out the initial water. If the jeans aren't as dark as you wanted, you can submerge them back into the dye and allow them to soak for another hour.
  2. Rinse your jeans with cold water. Do a thorough rinsing of your jeans under your bathroom or kitchen faucet. Continue rinsing your jeans under cold water until they start to run clear. Keep in mind that the initial dye will bleed into your sink.[1]
    • To avoid dying the sink, make sure that you clean it immediately with soap and water after rinsing your newly dyed jeans.
  3. Wash your jeans. Run your jeans through a warm wash or hand wash them to get the remaining dye out of your pants. Continue to wash them until the dye stops bleeding into the water.[6]
    • It may take two full machine cycles before your jeans are clean.
  4. Hang your jeans to dry. Hang your jeans up outside or in a breezy place inside of your house. Wear them for 20-30 minutes to loosen them up.
  5. Wash your jeans with a color safe detergent. After you rinse and wash your jeans, you can wash them as you normally would along with your other clothes. Using a color safe detergent will help your jeans retain their color.[6]

Things You'll Need

  • Food scale (optional)
  • Denim fabric dye
  • Large bucket or bin
  • Water
  • Metal spoon or wooden paint mixer
  • Rubber gloves

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://www.ritstudio.com/2015/03/11/how-to-make-old-blue-jeans-new-again/
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.gq.com/story/how-to-dye-faded-jeans-indigo
  3. ↑ https://www.ritstudio.com/2013/09/12/bucket-dye-jeans-2/
  4. ↑ https://theidleman.com/manual/advice/how-to-dye-your-jeans/
  5. ↑ http://www.primermagazine.com/2014/spend/back-from-the-dead-revive-your-faded-favorite-jeans-by-dyeing-them-for-less-than-5
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 http://www.momadvice.com/post/how-to-dye-a-faded-pair-of-jeans

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