Strengthening jeans/denim?

What I do is put fabric glue or fray check to prevent the hems from fraying, or for thinning cotton fabrics, I make my own patches by cutting out iron-on transfer paper (the kind that you use to transfer printed images onto T shirts) and then ironing it onto the inside of the thinning area of my jeans.  It works like a charm.  

oops, double post! sorry!

No matter how much superglue you put on the bottom of your jeans, they will get destroyed unless they're the right length...

it's not that hard to hem them or get them hemmed ;) You can also fold-hem if you don't want to cut off any fabric (like if you eventually want to resell and you have shorter legs than most people your height)

Hmm, couldn't you get them hemmed so they just graze the ground when you have shoes on? No need for the highwaters, dad-jeans look. Other than that, I don't think there's any way around the inevitable (and pretty quick) destruction of your hems...

(Maybe I'm just really confused by this because I take exceptional care of my jeans, knowing that, most likely, my yo-yoing weight will force me to resell them in fairly short order)

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmkent 

Thank you for the reply.  I looked up Fray Check.  is it like a super glue type product?  How hard does it get once applied?  I had the idea a long time ago for a product that solved this problem specifically for jeans but have not found anything.   

 

I have ruined way too many pairs and would love to make them last longer.  Do you think a product marketed specifically for jeans would sell?  I am picturing something like a show polish applicator that increases the durability of the bottom 3-5 inches of jeans. 

 

Let me know what you thing, I would love to get your thoughts. 

 

Thanks again,

Kevin

Fray Check is like fabric glue but comes lighter, thinner, and less sticky. Therefore Fray Check dries softer and more flexible than fabric glue. Best to cut off long or loose frays before applying Fray Check.  

If you had a product that increases the durability of hems so that I could wear my jeans long, I would buy your product!       

Quote:

Originally Posted by shopaholism 

No matter how much superglue you put on the bottom of your jeans, they will get destroyed unless they're the right length...

 

it's not that hard to hem them or get them hemmed ;) You can also fold-hem if you don't want to cut off any fabric (like if you eventually want to resell and you have shorter legs than most people your height)

quite agree,my jeans bottom always broken
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmkent 

Sounds good, I just rec'd the Fray Check yesterday and am giving it a try.  I will let you know how it work and if I come up with a better solution.

Cool. keep us posted. =)  I'd be curious to know what you think of Fray Check.  I find that it works better for ribbons, but maybe that's just me? 

^Yeah, I've tried fraycheck on raw hems (I have a pair of 7FAM GCW crops that came with a raw, let-out hem) and it didn't work very well--I don't have a serger so some sort of glue is my only real option for keeping those intact. I actually used my rhinestone/crystal glue on a pair of homemade cut-off shorts and it's held up well so far.

I thought of another possible hem solution too--you could do sort of a curved hem that leaves the jeans longer in front (preserving the long look) but short enough in back that you're not stepping on them. I think Siwy used to make some of their pairs like this.