Do unwashed Levi 517's shrink like 501 shrink-to-fit's?

I want my jeans to fit like Levi's 501 shrink-to-fit's at the thigh, but have plenty of room in the calves. So unwashed Levi 517 boot cuts sound awesome, if they shrink. The question is: do they?501's 517's Asked by josephholsten 50 months ago Similar questions: unwashed Levi 517's shrink 501 shrink to fit's Lifestyle > Fashion.

Similar questions: unwashed Levi 517's shrink 501 shrink to fit's.

Friends would break their shrink-to-fit's together in bath tub, like in the ' ... a stonewashed 501 This is Part 2 of a very popular article I wrote last year on how to shrink your Levi 501 XX Shrink to Fit jeans. For more on Levi’s 501xx Original Shrink to Fit Jeans, please see my other articles on the subject. The first article I wrote on this topic was after a few tries with Levi’s Shrink to Fit Jeans.

I achieved the best pants I had ever owned and wore them exclusively for almost a year (the picture shows newly shrunk ones with my old faithfuls. No one believes me when I tell them that they were once the same color). 501’s by design feel roomier then they look which is the reason they are so comfortable and stylish.

A button fly and $40 a pair seals the deal. If you haven’t tried them I’d highly recommend it. It is fun to do and you get jeans in the end that feel like they were made just for you.

I recently did another pair and just love the results. This is what I did:Buy your new raw jeans at your normal waist size but with long lengthI am a tall skinny guy and I like jeans that fit comfortably with minimum bagginess. I bought the new un-shrunk jeans at my waist size and the longest leg length they had; this left me with 31-36 (told you I was tall and thin).

The final fit is snug and probably perfect length although I would have preferred a bit longer (if they sold 31-38’s it would be perfect in my mind they do make 38’s! Here’s a link to where you can buy them depending on availability). I buy my jeans at the Levi’s store so that if I don’t like how they come out after shrinking I can return them for my money back.

Pretty sweet. Wear your new un-shrunk jeans for a few days before shrinking themI don’t think I could quantify the benefits of doing this, but wearing them with that deep navy color and cuffs is just darned cool. They are a bit stiff at this point but you’ll be surprised how quickly they adjust to being worn (or you adjust to them?).

When you are ready to shrink them, draw a hot bath and get in wearing your jeansOne time when I was shrinking my jeans I made the bath too hot an scalded my legs. Not fun! It’s not necessary to make the water that hot.

In fact I hear you can also shrink them by going swimming (something I’d love to try in Lake Michigan this summer) Just draw a comfortable bath and sit in it wearing your jeans for about a half an hour. You can also shower with them if you prefer but I haven’t tried it. Keep them on for the rest of the day while they dryBefore I actually tried it I thought this step was full of problems.

It was actually quite painless. The key learning was that they dry much faster on your body then they do hanging up in the bathroom. I sat in the tub with no water in it for another hour or so then walked around the house and went about my business.

They had stopped dripping constantly by then. If you want to sit down and feel like they are still wet enough to leave marks on your furniture, try putting down a dark towel first. If it is warm weather, take a walk outside or sit in the park!

More practically you can use these few hours to clean your tub which will certainly be blue after soaking in it with your jeans. Try to keep them on for four or five hours, you’ll be surprised how dry they are by then. If you can’t stand the dampness anymore at that point go ahead and hang them up.

If I could do it in the winter so can you. Keep wearing them for a week or twoDon’t do anything else to them until you’ve worn them for a week or two straight out of the shrink tub. This will help them mold to your body even more.

If they get too baggy to stand move to the next step. Back to the shrink tubI choose to do the shrinking again at this stage. I’m not sure how much it helped but it certainly didn’t hurt.

In fact you can repeat these last few steps as many times as you like. Your jeans will get lighter every time which is good if you are going for a lighter look quicker. If you just love that deep deep navy and they are fitting well, I recommend skipping the subsequent shrinking after the first one.

Wear them until they need to be washed then hand wash themWear them a lot which won’t be hard cause you’ll probably be in love with them by now (does that blue dye go to your brain? Maybe…). Since I like to keep the color dark at first, I hand wash them in the tub inside out with warm water and just enough detergent to get them clean (surprisingly little…that stuff is potent).

I hang them up to dry which takes at least over night for me sometimes longer. Using a dryer at this stage is ok if you are in a rush. If you are going for a lighter look, make the water hot, wash them right side out, use more detergent and rinse them in hot water a bunch of times.

Drying them outside in the sun also helps to fade them quicker.

Unwashed Levi 517's For more on Levi’s 501xx Original Shrink to Fit Jeans, please see my other articles on the subject. Thank you to all the commenters for the great information and experience they have brought to these articles. The FAQBoy oh boy, I’ll tell you I really had no idea.

When I wrote the first Howto on shrinking Levi’s 501xx Shrink to Fit (STF) blue jeans I had no clue what a huge and fun topic it really was! I still feel like the 501xx is the best value in jeans out there today and certainly the most personal experience when compared to the pre-washed variety. Plus — and I don’t care how much you pay for them — new jeans that are manufactured with a “already worn” look will never look as good as a pair of well loved 501’s.

On just the two articles I have gotten close to 200 comments and questions from really insightful, curious, and knowledgeable people. Together I think we have all learned a lot about jeans based on our own experience and the research that everyone has put into it. I felt like it was about time to post another article with the highlights from these discussions.

Keep commenting and keep breaking in those jeans! Can you quickly describe the best way to shrink your 501 Shrink to Fit jeans? As a review, the generally accepted best way to shrink you 501xx’s is to:Buy a new pair at your regular waist size and about 3 inches longer than you usually buy pants.

Wear the stiff jeans until they become a bit softer. Draw a normal temperature bath and wear the jeans in the tub for about 30 minutes. Get out of the tub and continue to wear your jeans until they are dry.

Wear your newly shrunk jeans for a while before washing them for the first time. There are many more tweaks and aspects to understand about this process which I will hopefully answer in further detail below. Can I get my 501’s any slimmer?501’s are a classic cut which is slightly straighter leg then is currently in syle for men’s jeans (skinny jeans for the most part).

I have a few answers when people ask me this question:Be sure to buy your STF’s at or below your waist size for a snug fit After your first soak before you wash your jeans, you can do a second tub soak which will shrink them further but not nearly as dramatically as the first soak. 501xx’s actually feel roomier than they look. Be sure to get some feedback from people you trust about how they look rather than just going by how they feel.As you wear and wash the jeans they will continue to change and mold to your body.

Try wearing them for a while before giving up entirely on them. Hot water and hot dryers shrink jeans (and almost everything else). Boiling will also shrink them.

Be warned though, you will lose a lot of indigo dye by treating them this severely. If you want a fadded look this will help the process along. If not be sure to turn them inside out or use colder water.

Less dye means less contrast. See below for more on color. Sources: http://blog.nedsferatu.com/levis-501xx-shrink-to-fit-faq .

Is it true that people shrink over the course of a day....due to gravity I presume.

Why do our fingers shrink when we keep them under water for a long time.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.