I’ve had a jean jacket in my closet for a long time. I’d say over ten years. I don’t think I’ve ever actually worn it, because the fabric is so stiff and uncomfortable. I was going to donate it, but then I decided bleaching it might soften the fibers and give it a comfy, worn feel. I soaked my jacket in a bucket filled with a quart of bleach and 6 or 7 quarts of warm water for 4 hours.
The result was… meh. The jacket got quite a bit softer and more flexible, but my bleach bucket was a tad too small so I had to wad up the jacket a little to fit it in there. Although I stirred the bucket regularly, the wadding caused mottled dark splotches here and there where the bleach didn’t penetrate the fabric thoroughly (especially in the right armpit).
The worst part is that the whole jacket turned a strange yellowish green shade. It’s not that apparent in the photo above, but look at it next to standard blue denim…
I guess if there’s no regular blue denim nearby to compare it to, it doesn’t look too bad. I think I’ll keep it around for a while to see how often I end up wearing it.
Have you ever tried to bleach denim?
