How to Restore the Color to Faded Areas on Jeans

Fading is common for jeans, and the places on them that receive the most wear are also usually the first places to lose their dye. Like other clothing, jeans can be redyed all over, but if you only have fading in a couple spots, here are three methods that can work to restore them.

This method works well for all shades of denim.

You Will Need:

• A crayon
• Wax paper
• An iron

Steps to Restore the Color:

1. Get a crayon that is as close to the same color of the jeans as possible.
2. Rub the crayon over the faded areas to color them in.
3. Lay a piece of wax paper over the colored area.
4. Warm an iron on the lowest setting.
5. Gently rub the warm iron over the wax paper. This will set the color.
6. Eventually, the crayon will fade again and the process will need to be repeated.

This method works well with dark jeans because they often have excess dye, but may also work with any jeans that are relatively new.

You Will Need:

• A cloth
• Isopropyl alcohol

Steps to Restore the Color:

1. Wet a cloth or cotton swab with isopropyl alcohol.
2. Rub the cloth over the jeans starting an inch or two outside the spot and moving towards the middle of the spot. The alcohol will loosen the dye on the jeans and the cloth will drag it over to the faded area.
3. Repeat the process as many times as needed to fully cover the faded areas.

This method is difficult to achieve success with for light and medium shades of jeans, but if all else fails, it is an option you can try.

You Will Need:

• A marker
• A cloth
• Isopropyl alcohol

Steps to Restore the Color:

1. Get a fabric marker or permanent marker that closely resembles the color of the jeans. You can test it on an inside hem first to determine how close it actually is to the desired color.
2. Gently brush the marker over the area. Do not press the marker onto the area as this will deposit too much ink. Just very lightly brush it over the surface.
3. If you have pressed too hard and deposited too much ink into the fabric, blot the area with isopropyl alcohol to remove it. Be sure to use a cloth that you don’t mind staining with the ink.

• If you have jeans that are a similar color to the ones with faded areas, wash them together. Sometimes this can help to restore the color to the faded areas.
• Jeans that have faded all over can be restored by adding liquid bluing to the wash water. This works well for both blue and black jeans, as well as for brightening white jeans. Follow the instructions on the label of your selected product.

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