If you haven’t heard about freezing your jeans yet, it’s time to give this unconventional method a chance.
Although it sounds a little bit strange, jeans manufacturer Levi actually recommends it as an alternative to washing jeans.
Check out why Levis wants you to wash your jeans less.
And of course, it will work on all other brands.
It’s really easy to do and can save you quite a bit of money on laundry.
How It Works
The theory behind freezing jeans is that a lot of the bacteria and odors that you wash out of the jeans will actually come out just as well if you put the jeans in the freezer for a while.
The process kills the bacteria and freshens the jeans up, all without wearing out the fabric. Of course, freezing jeans won’t get stains out, so you’ll have to use a more conventional method for stain removal.
How to Freeze Jeans
- Brush the debris off your jeans
- Fold them neatly
- Put them in a plastic bag
- Stick them in the freezer for at least 12 hours
It helps if they’re flat in the freezer, so set aside space for the jeans.
For example, many Whirlpool refrigerators have lots of shelves in the freezer so you could designate a full shelf in a side-by-side model or part of a shelf in a model with the freezer across the bottom or top.
How Much Can You Save?
The amount of money you will save largely depends on how many pairs of jeans you have and how frequently you would have washed them if you hadn’t been freezing them.
Let’s calculate your savings per load of laundry you avoid:
- Washing the jeans in cold water costs about 13 cents, or if you use warm water, 33 cents.
- Washing a load of jeans uses about 40 gallons of water, or 20 gallons if you have a front-loading machine. At 1/2 cent per gallon, that’s another 10 to 20 cents.
- Add about 40 cents to dry the jeans in an electric dryer, or 20 cents for a gas dryer.
- Add another 20 cents or so per load for detergent, unless you use a homemade alternative, which can cost as little as 2 cents per load.
That’s a total of anywhere from 45 cents to $1.13 per load of laundry. Multiply this by the number of loads of laundry you can avoid by freezing your jeans and you’ll find out how much you’re saving.
Another place you save money by freezing jeans instead of washing them is in the cost of jeans themselves. Washing the fabric wears it out more quickly than freezing it, which means you won’t have to purchase jeans as frequently.
If we estimate that freezing your jeans half the time and washing them half the time will double their life span, you can cut your annual cost for buying jeans in half!
Are You Ready?
It can’t hurt to give the freezing method a try at least once and see whether you like it.
If you don’t notice a difference between freezing and washing, then opting for the freezer can save you money each time, which is always a good feeling.
Plus, you’ll have a cool fact to tell anyone who compliments you on how nice your jeans look!
What do you think? Would you freeze your jeans?
This guest post was written by Maire. Along with her love for saving money, Maire also loves to blog on the behalf of Sears and other quality products.
Photo Credit: Martin Bravenboer
I don’t get my jeans dirty. However, they stretch out with multiple wearings so I wash and dry them to get them to draw back up to a snug fit. Don’t think freezing would help.
I wouldn’t freeze my jeans either. But they do fade badly after washing and stretch out like you said.
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