Make stonewashed jeans yourself – it’s that easy!

You want to customize the washing of your DIY jeans according to your own ideas and give them a very individual used look? Then this tutorial for homemade stonewash finishes is the right place for you! And all you need to turn your plain-colored jeans into stylish DIY jeans with a used look yourself is a piece of sandpaper or a pumice stone. Are you ready? Let’s go!

What tools do you need for the stonewash technique:   sandpaper or a pumice stone, Tailor’s Chalk

STEP 1 – WHICH JEANS ARE SUITABLE FOR STONEWASHED EFFECTS?

We recommend that you use jeans that are 100% cotton. Only with pure cotton jeans do the white cotton fibers come into their own in the process of working with sandpaper or pumice stone and give your DIY jeans a professional designer look.

If, on the other hand, you use jeans that are not entirely made of cotton, the exposed transverse jeans threads are usually made of plastic and the stonewashed look is not quite as intense as that of pure cotton jeans.

STEP 2 – SELECT PLACES FOR THE STONEWASHED EFFECT

Of course, you alone decide where you would like to “wash out” your DIY jeans yourself. Popular areas for the stonewash finish are the knees and thighs, but also all the seams and edges of your jeans, as well as the zipper cover and the jeans pockets. The back pockets of your DIY jeans are particularly suitable for a really cool used look.

Pro tip: Of course, the stonewashed effect is super authentic when it is created in places where your jeans are normally subject to real wear and tear, e.g. due to movement or friction. So it’s best to put on your jeans once before working with sandpaper and test with a few movements where exactly your jeans would have the most wear. Then simply mark these areas with a little tailor’s chalk or with a pen.

STEP 3 – WORK JEANS WITH SANDPAPER OR PUMICE STONE

So now it’s time to get down to it, or rather the colored one, because now you will create a casual stonewash finish yourself at the places you have chosen, by treating these areas with a pumice stone or with a little sandpaper.

Basically, the following applies: With the pumice stone you will achieve a significantly more moderate stonewashed effect than with sandpaper since the removed fiber layer is considerably less. Use a pumice stone to process your DIY jeans if you want to slowly start creating a stonewashed look or if you want to test whether you like a stonewashed effect at the selected point.

You will achieve significantly stronger stonewashed effects if you process your jeans yourself with sandpaper. Feel free to experiment a little with different pressure levels when rubbing the sandpaper, but also with different grain sizes of the sandpaper (from fine to coarse) to find exactly the sandpaper that produces the optimal stonewashed style for you.

Pro tip: Your stonewash look will be really chic if you first process the area you have chosen with the coarse sandpaper and then adjust the transitions at the edges of the stonewashed area with the fine sandpaper or pumice stone. This is how your stonewashed effect looks super professional later. By the way, especially when processing the parts of the front jeans, you can also put on your DIY jeans while producing the stonewashed effects – this way you can immediately determine whether you have placed the stonewashed look in the right place for you.

STEP 4 – STONEWASH INTO THE WASHING MACHINE!

Now there is only one thing left to do to give your new stonewash the finishing touch: once in the washing machine with your DIY jeans to remove the small fiber residues that have formed during the processing of your jeans with sandpaper and pumice stone.

Very important: Pay attention to the washing recommendations of the manufacturer. Basically, the washing temperature of the jeans should not be too high, around 30 degrees Celsius, and you should only use mild detergents. We also recommend that you turn your jeans inside out before washing and then store them in a laundry net before throwing them in the washing machine.

Tadaa! Your DIY jeans with stylish stonewashed effects are ready!

Congratulations and have fun wearing your new trend piece! We hope you have enjoyed working on your jeans and that you try out more of our step-by-step tutorials here on this page.

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