A hack for performing life-saving surgery on too-tight jeans without any tailoring has excited social media users.
In a TikTok with over 4.7 million views, Lily Schoknecht (@bug318_) explains how she bought a pair of secondhand jeans that she fell in love with. However, the pants were a size below what she typically wears, and although she could button the pants, they were too tight for a comfortable fit.
She chalked the situation up to a loss, but her grandmother had a trick up her sleeve.
"She was like, 'have you showered in them yet?' and I was like, 'What?' I was like, 'No, I haven't showered in my jeans?'" Schoknecht said in her TikTok. "And she was like, 'Just trust me, shower in them, wear them around the house."
According to her grandmother, this will stretch them out in the wet areas enough to make the jeans comfortable to wear.
Schoknecht explained that it is crucial to air dry the jeans after wearing them and to never put them in the drier again.
"This morning I put them on after air drying … " Schoknecht says in her video as she pulls at her waistband to show how much room her jeans now have. "They fit perfect."
@bug318_ GUYS THIS IS HUGE !!!! #sustainablefashion #sustainable #showerinyourjeans #trusttheprocess ♬ original sound - Bug318_
As astonished as she was, Schoknecht said she wanted to share this hack because she couldn't fathom gatekeeping such an effective money-saving tip.
She ends her video by saying, "Sustainability hack of the year. Shower in your jeans," with a reminder to "Trust the process."
Needless to say, commenters were as shocked as the original poster.
"Thinking of all the jeans I got rid of that I could have just showered in," one person commented.
"You don't have to fully soak the material, just spray the tight spots, wear them around until they are almost dry," one commenter recommended.
"I'm old enough to possess hidden knowledge ... this was standard in the 70's 80's we used to sit in a cold bath," another user commented.
Not everyone agrees with this hack. Some cite bagging at the knees and hips as reasons not to try this hack, but those who have tried it swear by it as a way to loosen tight-fitting jeans.
Schoknecht experimented with a few of the suggestions that commenters left under her original video, one of which was washing the jeans she had showered in to see if they shrunk.
She found that washing the jeans did not cause them to shrink, although she reported the jeans now have a little less give than before.
@bug318_ Updated video on what's happens if you wash your streched out shower jeans and if you dry your too big pair of jeans !! #sustainablefashion #sustainability #jeanshack ♬ original sound - Bug318_
Besides the cost savings of not buying another pair of jeans, this simple hack has some serious benefits for the planet. For starters, it helps prevent jeans from being thrown away –– where they pollute a landfill.
More indirectly, this hack is a great way to save resources. Roughly 1,800 gallons of water are needed just to grow the cotton used to make one pair of jeans –– equivalent to 10 years' worth of drinking water for one person.
Altering a pair of jeans to be more wearable means wasting far less water.
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