Canadian Winter Stains on Denim

[koloftman]

Hey, I was wondering what people do about the road salt/shit that gets on the bottom of your jeans. Mine have gotten pretty dirty and the salt stiffens up the fabric quite a bit, which makes it more vulnerable to ripping (which I don't want). I have had my dry jeans for 2 months so far and I don't want to wash them just for these stains. Is it possible to wash just the bottom where it's dirty? About 3" or so of height only

Thanks for your input

[blm14]

You can wash just the hems but the water will leech the salt up higher too a little bit. You could just dry clean or do a soak. Eventually you'll have to do something - you dont want all that salt next to your skin all the time, esp once summer comes around and you're sweating in them

[hurleyboarder11]

The downside to rinsing just the bottom hem location is the fact that uneven fading might occur. If you want to rinse I suggest you soak the entire pair of jeans in very cold water.

[koloftman]

You can wash just the hems but the water will leech the salt up higher too a little bit. You could just dry clean or do a soak. Eventually you'll have to do something - you dont want all that salt next to your skin all the time, esp once summer comes around and you're sweating in them

The salted part is very low/touching the bottom of my sneakers only. it's only about half an inch, not that visible actually. It's just the fact that it's causing a very small rip at the bottom that's bothering me. Looks wise, it's not that big a problem...

If I do a cold soak, it will do all the shrinking it's going to do? or will there be more once I wash it after 6 months? because I left just enough length at the fold so that when I wash it, I won't have to fold anymore, becuase i prefer the no fold look.

[watchman]

a cold soak will not get out all the shrinkage unless you plan on never letting them touch hot water.

[gimmegimme]

If you're diligent about it, you can try blotting with a paper towel soaked with vinegar. Not effective if your pants are totally soaked in salt, but works suprisingly well on any salt stain. You could also try soaking the bottoms in a bit of vinegar before soaking the whole pair in cold water, as mentioned above.