How to Lighten Jeans

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: January 11, 2023

Lightening your jeans is an easy project that can give you a new look without having to buy new jeans. Light jeans are great for casual wear. You can lighten your dark jeans with bleach, in the wash, or by spot-lightening. It only takes a few hours to turn your jeans into a pair of lighter jeans you’ll love.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Bleaching Your Jeans

1
Pick the right pair of jeans to bleach. It's best to pick a pair that doesn't have a lot of elastic or holes, because bleach will ruin the stretch and eat away at the edges of holes. You can check the elasticity by looking at the tag on your jeans. If you have really stretchy jeans try one of the other methods instead.^{[1]
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- If it's your first time bleaching your jeans, don't start with your absolute favorite pair. Give your self a little wiggle room to mess up by bleaching a pair you care less about.
2
Cover your work area with newspapers and wear gloves and eye protection. If you don’t wear gloves, your hands will really sting by the end of this project. Lab goggles will work, though you can also use eyeglass or even swimming goggles. Bleach stains clothes, so you might want to wear clothes you don’t care about or an apron over your clothes.^{[2]
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3
Fill a bucket with about one part bleach to five parts warm water. Don’t soak the jeans in pure bleach! Any kind of bleach will work, though new bleach will be more effective than an old bottle. The higher concentration of bleach to water that you use, the faster your jeans with bleach. Make enough solution to completely submerge your pants in.
- If you want a more "natural" lightening agent, an alternative to bleach is to fill the bucket with concentrated lemon juice instead, though this will be much more expensive.^{[3]
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- It might help to get your jeans damp in normal water before putting them in the solution.
4
Get your jeans damp in normal water. Bleach works better on damp clothing, so run your jeans under the faucet or wet them in the sink before you start. You don't have to soak them for a long time, just a quick dip will do.
5
Submerge the jeans in the bleach entirely. The longer you leave the jeans, the more faded they will become. Check the jeans every half an hour to see if they have reached the level of lightness you want.
- Take them out after thirty minutes for a subtle fade. If you want them to lighten a lot, you may have to wait hours.
- It looks darker when it’s wet, so take it out a little before its the color you want.^{[4]
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6
Remove the jeans from the bleach and wash them. Rinse them in cold water and then wash them in your washing machine on cold. There shouldn’t be any other clothes in the load, because the residual bleach in the jeans might stain them.
- You can hang dry or machine dry them.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Lightening by Wearing and Washing

1
Wear your jeans inside out when you are at home. The friction against your legs will help the jeans fade quicker. This method is slower than bleaching and is good for a subtler lightening.
- You have to be patient with this method, and ignore the weird looks of the people living in your house. Who knows, maybe you’ll start an inside-out jeans trend!
2
Put your jeans in the washing machine on a hot cycle. The hot water helps the dye break down. Be aware that washing in hot water may shrink the denim if the jeans are not preshrunk.
- If the tag on your jeans specifically says to wash cold, you should follow those instructions. It will just take a few more washes to lighten your jeans.
3
Hang dry the jeans in the sun. The sunlight will also help break down the dye. You can leave your jeans out in the sun for a few days. If the jeans aren't faded enough, you can wash and dry them again.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Spot-Lightening Your Jeans

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Decide which areas of your jeans you want to lighten. Popular fading areas are knee, seat, and pocket area. This can help give new jeans a worn-in, vintage look, without the effort of wearing jeans for years.^{[5]
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2
Rub the area you want to fade with sandpaper or pumice stone. Don’t rub too hard, because you don’t want to wear through the fabric entirely. Keep lifting up the sandpaper or pumice periodically to check that you haven't gotten too carried away.
- Rub your jeans with a handful of coffee beans if you don't have stone or sandpaper. The acid will help your jeans fade.^{[6]
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3
Draw with a bleach pen if you want to create designs. Stuff the jeans with newspaper so the bleach pen doesn't bleed through. Be sure to wear gloves and draw your designs carefully.
4
Wash your jeans in the washing machine. Wash them by themselves with a cold wash and detergent. This should remove the excess dye that you have rubbed off. If it hasn’t faded enough, you can repeat the process.^{[7]
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