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How to Clean Jeans Without Washing Them

Need to Clean Your Jeans but Don't Want Them to Fade? Try This Freezer Hack

A good pair of jeans is always worth the investment, but you should make sure to follow the care instructions to a T. The best rule for making jeans last is to avoid washing them à la Victoria Beckham, but you can only escape doing laundry for so long. So when a Nordstrom employee shared her tried-and-true freezer method that doesn't involve the washer, we had to put it to the test.

All you have to do is store your jeans in a gallon-size Ziploc bag and pop them into the freezer for a full 24 hours. But make sure they're properly sealed (otherwise, your jeans will smell like the contents of your freezer). The Nordstrom employee promised that the cold air would remove any odors, all without causing the jeans to fade or stretch.

If you ever wash your jeans in hot water or throw them into the dryer when they're feeling loose, know that the heat is ruining their elasticity and removing dye each time. You'll find that your jeans can no longer restore to the original size and, eventually, the dryer won't be enough to shrink them.

We've read from multiple outlets that your freezer's temperature isn't cold enough to actually kill bacteria and that odors will resurface once your jeans warm up. Well, after trying out the hack for ourselves, we can confirm that the freezer trick does in fact work! Even after letting the jeans sit out for a few hours, they still smelled fresh.

Although we weren't able to prove whether or not the bacteria stuck around, the jeans at least no longer smelled like dirty laundry. The only tip we have is to double seal your jeans in two Ziploc bags (we tried using just one the first time around and this resulted in some pretty damp pants). Obviously, the freezer won't remove stains, so we suggest spot-cleaning as an alternative to washing them completely.

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