Update 2008-05-13: Due to the popularity of this article and the helpful discussion in the comments with readers I have posted an updated article with new tips and approaches to achieving the best jeans you’ll ever own. For more on Levi’s 501xx Original Shrink to Fit Jeans, please see my other articles on the subject.
I love Levi’s 501 Shrink to Fit jeans and have done the shrinking thing a bunch of times. Some ways work, others are not so good; here’s the best way:
- Fill your bathtub (or kitchen sink if you don’t have one) with the hottest water that will come out of the tap.
- Put the pants in there and let them marinate for 15-20 minutes
- Drain the water and hang the pants over the tub (they’ll drip. They’ll also make a mess so be prepared to give the tub a scrub down after you are done).
- Optional Step A few hours into drying (when they are no longer actively dripping), put them on and let them dry on your body for a bit.
After they are dry (overnight) they will be so stiff you may be able to stand them upright. Even so, Try them on and see if they are close to the right size. You can repeat the above steps many times to shrink them down further. I find that after the initial shrinking, the length is less likely to change than the tightness.- When you think you have the right size, wash them in the washer machine BY THEMSELVES or else they will bleed all over everything. I’ve tried to wear them in without washing first but it doesn’t work as well. After the first wash is when you can go long times between washes to get them really sculpted.
I’d recommend buying them 1″ too big in the waist and 2-3″ too big in the inseam. This will give you a skinny but relaxed fit (classic). Adjust from there if you want a tighter or shorter look.
Mistakes I’ve made that you should not repeat:
- Getting in the tub full of scalding hot water wearing the pants: I thought that they would “mold to my body”, instead all the skin peeled of my legs.
- Washing the pants before the hot water marinating: they shrunk but it took a lot longer for them to start looking good. If you need to take some serious inches off them, this will not work as well as the marinating.
- Buying the wrong size: if you buy the wrong size and they just don’t shrink correctly you are usually just plain out of luck (SOL). I buy my pants at the Levi’s Store and they guarantee my satisfaction. This means even after I shrink them, if I don’t like them, I can still return them.
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Does this work with pre-shrunk 501s?
BH: yes it certainly will work with pre-shrunk jeans…in fact it will work to an extent with all cotton clothes. The amount the jeans will shrink will be MUCH less than with the shrink to fit but you may see some good change. YMMV
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wow the last comments are pretty recent. umm i bought the 511 (skinny) but they are a little too loose. will this method work still?
blair: it is certainly worth a shot. please let us know the results! there has been a lot of questions as to whether it works are pre-shrunk jeans.
I’m trying out my first pair of 501 Shrink to Fits, and thanks for the instructions. I’m curious if after you wash yours in the washing machine, do you tumble dry or hang dry? I bought 34×40 because I have to have the length. I’m just trying to get down to a 31-32 waist if possible.
Hi Joe, I’d recommend trying them on after shrinking and drying them. if they are close to the size you are looking for go ahead and put them in the washer; otherwise give them another shrinking. It’s not an exact science. Good luck! let us know how it goes.
I wear levis all the time, mostly 501XX. I purchase shrink-to-fit at my true waist size and 2″ long in the inseam. When I’m ready to break in a new pair of 501XX jeans, I will wear ‘em brand new, unbroken in, for a week or two. When I’m ready for the initial shrink, I will fill up the bath tub with very warm water. I will get into the filled tub with my jeans on, and stay in the tub for 10 minutes. When I get out of the tub, I will keep my levis on, ’till dry. As my levis dry, it begins to mold to my body. As the levis dry on my body, I’ll also to some stretch exercises. My levis end up fitting the way I like, looking snug but feels roomy. I usually wash my levis in the bath tub, not the washing machine. I figure the way I do it is the modern day version on how it used to be done.
Steve, Thanks for sharing your experience and tips! It sounds like a great way to do it, my only question is how can you stand wearing the wet jeans until they dry? don’t you make a mess by wearing them around the house? don’t your legs turn all blue from it? just curious.
I’m curious if anyone’s figured out after how many repeated soak/hang-dry cycles it’s taken before the jeans stop shrinking. I’m now on my 3rd soak, and wondering how much more they’ll shrink in. I’ve been trying them on after the overnight hang-dry, and they’re still a bit too big in the waist.
Hi! I’ve read that in the old days, the purchaser of new 501XX shrink-to-fit jeans would put his new jeans on then jump into the creek or horse trough to shrink his jeans to size. In California, in the ’50′s-’60′s-’70′s, hippies & rebellous youth would wear their new XX shrink-to-fit jeans into the ocean. I’ve also read about friends who would put on their new XX shrink-to-fit jeans and have a shrink party in the bath tub. As a pre-teen/teen, I swam in cutoffs & long-legged jeans, with other buddies, then sometimes we went to the mall or a restaurant in damp levis, but had an extra shirt, a dry shirt. Too me, wet levis meant having a good time. Of course, using my shrinking method, I have to watch out for dripping indigo dye. Levis does not put as much indigo dye into their jeans, as when they were made in the USA. Yes, in the ’80′s and ’90′s, I did get blue legs from the dye, but it was part of the fun. My mother used to scold me about the dye. I still say, properly shrunk 501XX shrink-to-fit jeans are suppose to look slim but fit roomier than they look, and that’s done by wearing them wet, and letting the 501XX naturally air-dry as you continue to wear them, with the big factor being, IF YOU WEAR THE WET 501xx ‘TILL DRY, THE DRYING JEANS WILL MOLD AROUND THE SHAPE OF YOUR BODY. This is the point that most people miss. If I had a creek or horse trough available, I would jump in.
Since September, levis has available BLACK 501XX shrink-to-fit jeans. The denim seems lighter than the indigo version, but has more dye, and the dye is almost odorless. Levis has also started making an old favorate again, rigid 505′s, the denim seems more rigid than the STF and there is a stronger indigo dye ordor. I started out with rigid 505 jeans. Levis is the best value for raw denim jeans.
Thanks Steve! your comments have been very valuable to the discussion! you’re comments have made me want to go and buy a new pair! I’ve only ever done about 3 shrinking sessions at a time. However I have noticed that if you wear them for a long time between washings they will continue to shrink gradually over time. What do you think of the new rigid style, or the new black style? do you prefer them over the original? I may have to try them myself!
Think of me as your XX shrink-to-fit instructor. When breaking in my new 501XX STF jeans, I do not use the soak/hand-dry method. If you use the soak/hang-dry method, how can the jeans mold to your body? Once again, when purchasing 501XX STF jeans, I buy my true waist size and 2 inches longer in length. Ned, you shouldn’t buy more than 1″ bigger in the waist. I’ll wear my new 501XX STF jeans for a week or two before the first shrink, with turn-ups. When I’m ready for the first shrink, I get into a bath tub of very warm water, with my levis still on. I sit in the water for about 10 minutes. Next, I get out of the tub, keeping my jeans on. As my jeans dry around my body, my jeans are also shrinking to my body’s form. By the time my jeans are almost dry, I’m wearing the best-fitting pants in the world! Denim does stretch, so the jeans get a little looser. I eventually do another shrink, the same way as the first. I find that the first shrink gives me about 7o-80 percent of all the shrink I’m gonna get. After the second shrink, I have about 80 to 90 percent of all the shrink I’m gonna get. I do not put my levis in the washer/dryer, I wash ‘em in the bath tub and let ‘em hang dry. Today’s 501XX STF, third world manufactured jeans, are a roomier fit, than the USA made 501XX jeans of several years ago.
I prefer jeans that’s raw denim, rigid, and a dark color that’s full of dye. I do not like pre-faded jeans, I take pleasure at fading my levis from everyday living, everyday wear-and-tear. I’ve bought 6 pairs of the black 501XX shrink-to-fit jeans and 3 pairs of the 505 rigid. I’m currently breaking in a black 501XX. I’ve given these black jeans several shrinkings/washings and I see no sign of fading yet. I’m looking forward to see how my black 501XX STF jeans will fade. As a youth, my first levis were 505 rigid’s. I haven’t tried these new 505 rigid jeans yet, but it’s looks very much like an indigo 501XX jean, but with a zipper. I’ll be interesting to see if the new black 501XX STF jeans are a permenant levis fixture, or a fad.
Steve, thank you very much for the information. Your experience is very valuable. The hand wash approach appeals to me because I have sensitive skin and the hot water and dye do bad things to it. It is important to know that you can still enjoy shrink to fit without the hastle of messed up skin, blue legs, or blue puddles in your house. I have found that the jeans still mold to my body and look great when broken in using the hand wash method. I’m sure it doesn’t happen as fast or as well but the results look great, too. I think this spring i’m going to break in a new pair by swimming in lake michigan and maybe riding my bike around or walking around downtown chicago. Sounds like a great saturday or sunday!
Steve, I totally agree; I love breaking in my jeans slowly by wearing them and gradually becoming better and better. In fact I like that for almost everything I buy: leather clothes, tools, boots. I tried doing black once as well but I don’t like the style when they are very dark and it take a very long time for them to fade. Maybe it is time for a second try. Another thing that has burned me in the past is I’ll buy a great pair of 501xx and when I go back to the store a year later to get another they have discontinued my size. It would be nice to have a pant I could always come back to but it is also fun to rediscover the options as well.
Ned, It’s an excellent idea to break in your new 501XX jeans in Lake Michigan. Do bicycle in your levis. Break in your jeans according to what your lifestyle is. Don’t hold back. Give your levis an adventure.
Hi Ned, At first, I’ll break my jeans in slowly, trying to preserve the dye, meaning, trying to preserve the dark indigo/black color. Eventually I make the fateful decision to get rid of the dye, meaning a faded butt, crotch & knees. Maybe you need to be tougher on your black jeans to get the natural lifestyle fading that you desire. When you find a great pair of jeans that you love, buy a back-up pair or two! I do that. I you were out cruising/partying, what mixture of denim/leather would you wear? With the denim/leather/boots/chains/tools, that is a serious fashion statement! Good for you.
I’m done with my soak/dry cycle on my 34×40 501xx’s. All told I went through three hot water/hang dry cycles, and today I washed them in the machine on hot water, and dried them on hot in the dryer. I am trying to get my waist size down as much as possible since I normally wear a 32×36. As of now the length is fine, and the waist is not quite shrunk enough. It seemed after the 3rd soak/dry cycle that it wasn’t shrinking that much anymore. I think the hot dry shrunk it some more. They’re wearable right now with a belt, so my plan is to wear them for awhile and then the next time I wash them to do the hot/hot again and see if they come in a little more. I think the next pair I buy, I might try 32×38 and not try to shrink them as much.
Steve: do you find that the stretching compensates for the waist shrinkage? Is that why you buy STF’s at your waist size?
Steve:
Maybe you need to be tougher on your black jeans to get the natural lifestyle fading that you desire.
good idea.
When you find a great pair of jeans that you love, buy a back-up pair or two! I do that.
I think this is good practice for any clothing that you love. It seems like unfortunately I always find out too late what clothing I love, lasts forever, and wears in nicely. This is a very good idea and I do it a lot when I have the foresight for it.
you were out cruising/partying, what mixture of denim/leather would you wear? With the denim/leather/boots/chains/tools, that is a serious fashion statement! Good for you.
I wear leather boots almost exclusively. I like to be either barefoot or in boots! needless to say I have a lot of them. The two I’ve been wearing most recently are a pair of ankle high mod style with a zipper (kennith cole, found a great deal on them, take good care of them, and they will last me a loooong time) and a pair of chippewah 9″ motor cycle boots with buckles for a slightly heavier look. I used to do chains, combat boots, cowboy boots sometimes but not so much recently.
What about you Steve?
Joe, you must be about 6’3″- 6’4″ tall. Denim does stretch. Since I break in my 501XX jeans by wearing them soaked, then letting the jeans dry on me, that give the jeans the opportunity to mold around my body, so with this method, I am comfortable purchasing XX jeans at my true waist size. If I feel the jeans getting a little too snug, stretching exercises will make the denim stretch. Lets also remember that today’s 501XX jeans are cut roomier than the USA made ones of several years ago.
I only wear levis. I know that there are a lot of denimheads out there who hate levis, but I love levis, good styling at a reasonable price. Since levis jeans is the anchor to my wardrobe, I build my wardrobe around my levis. For my levis, I’ve purchased motorcycle boots, cowboy boots, lace-up work shoes/boots, sneaks, levis denim jackets, levis leather jackets, various leather jackets & bombers, levis jean shirts, plaid shirts, various jean belts and chains. In more recent years, I’ve been dressing up around my levis, with mainstream or upscale shirts/polos, sweaters, coats and shoes. Yesterday, I was in NYC, I was wearing 501XX jeans, turtleneck, Penguin long sleeve polo, chinos style belt, wool peacoat, and dressier shoes. I must be getting older.
I was at Dr. Jay’s, it’s a hip-hop style clothing store. I was cruising their levis section, just for the hell of it. I saw something interesting, it’s the 569-0048 jean. 569 is a loose straight jean. The 569-0048 jean uses shiny gold stitching for the accurate stitching on the back pockets and the top of the 5th pocket. The left side of the left back pocket and the right side of the right back pocket also has a rivet, each. I think it’s interesting that levis may be thinking of jazzing up their basic line of jeans.
6’6″ actually, and skinny. I’ve been buying only Lucky Brand jeans for awhile because their extra long inseam is 37″. But their jeans stretch a lot, and the denim wears out quickly. On top of that you’ve gotta drop at least $80-$100 on a pair. So when I found out a pair of 501xx’s could be had for less than $40 shipped I had to try it out.
For my next pair I’m gonna have to figure out a way to do the wear them dry thing without making a mess of my apartment. Perhaps I’ll let em hang for a bit til they stop dripping and then wear em the rest of the day.
I like the dark wash of the 501xx’s precisely for the fact that they can be dressed up or down. They look as good with a tshirt and tennis shoes as they do with some dress shoes and a button down collared shirt.
thanks for this I just bought my first pair of 501xx shrink to fit jeans yesterday and this helped alot
How much indigo dye am i going to lose if i do a warm 15 minute shrink? because i would like to preserve it and stop them from bleeding on my shoes
The water will turn blue but the jeans will still be dark. If you want to remove most of the dye, wash them in the machine after shrinking them.
I hot soaked my jeans 3 times and have washed/dried on hot in the machine. They have faded slightly, but are still a deep indigo.
do you turn the jeans inside-out when you marinate them for about 15-20 min? or leave it the way it is?
personally I leave them inside-in but if you are looking to have them end up being as dark as possible inside-out is not a bad option. same goes for future launderings.
Thought I’d post an update. I got my second pair of STF’s. This time I opted for 32×38 instead of 34×40. With my previous pair I had to wash/dry them so many times to try to get the waist down to the 31/32 range that they lost most of the dark indigo. My wife thinks their a horrible color now, calling them “highlighter blue”.
So this time around I got 32×38′s, planning to wash them much much less. This is what I’ve done with them:
1) 15 min inside-out soak in a tub filled with hot tap water.
2) Turned them right side out and took a shower in them for 10-15 min.
3) Hung dry until damp
4) Put them on an went for a 30 min walk outside (nice weather helps)
5) Hung to complete dry over night
6) Light handwashing in a tub of cold water with a little detergent. When rinsing with clean cold water, added a little liquid fabric softener so they wouldn’t be as stiff when dry.
7) Hung dry til damp.
8) Another 30 min walk outside to let them conform to my shape as they dry.
I plan to handwash them inside out in the future, and hang dry because I want them to keep as much color as possible and I can’t afford to lose any length to shrinkage. This pair is turning out a lot better than my first. When I want them to look nice, I’ll turn them inside out and steam iron them. Then they look awesome.
I can’t believe I ever paid $100+ for Lucky jeans when these 501 STF’s look this nice, fit well and only set me back $40 shipped.
Thanks Joe!
I got a new pair recently as well and am thrilled with the results. Expect a new updated post soon!
Is it possible to make them fit a little slimmer in the leg without shrinking the waist?
Alex: A couple thoughts-
1) You could try soaking the legs of the jeans a little longer to promote more shrinkage there, though I haven’t tried this. A possible side-effect might be visible difference in color between the two sections, since more time in the water might also pull out more dye from the legs.
2) In my experience with STF’s and jeans in general, they always stretch outward after a couple wearings. The first time I put mine on after washing/drying, they are snug in the waist. But then after a couple days they loosen up.
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I have published an updated Howto on Shrink to Fit Levi’s that you can read here. I will be closing these comments so please continue this great discussion at the new post. Thanks!
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