DIY Vintage Jeans... Coffee Style

It's amazing the things you can find in the dumpster. We found some expired coffee grounds that were thrown out and decided to use them to make an old pair of worn out jeans vintage and hip.

Step 1 Making the "coffee" dye.

First off, to make the dye, you will need 2 bags of coffee grounds (About 10 oz each), preferably espresso.

Comments

[kinghippo]

Very good idea... But, can you then wash the jeans with other clothes? or would it release some of the coffee each time you wash it so that the other clothes get blotches???? I just love washing everything together without caring about what clothes might dye others :D

[CamillaLuvzMusic]

make em smell good though ;)

[Crash2108]

Old jeans look new? Do not you mean the other way around? Anyway, if you want old shitty jeans, just go to a pawn shop or garage sale.

[adapt]

how many people buy jeans at pawn shops?

[skylane]

LOL... apparently plenty... I've never seen jeans in a pawn shop.. always sold out!!

[Crash2108]

(removed by author or community request)

[sayako]

Hey, but who tell you, that it must be new jeans? I will do it at my old jeans.

[adapt]

to some, the distressing adds character. i don't know how much thrift store shopping you actually do, but by reading your response, i'd say "not much". for one, thrift stores rarely put out jeans w/holes. another reason is that pre-worn jeans rarely fit right because most people that wear jeans to the point of fraying wear them as work jeans. work jeans are baggy and fit stupidly (case in point: levi's 550s). pre-distressed jeans are you people who don't want to have to sacrifice the fit for the distress. if you're going to argue that people should wear them out "the natural way", i don't exactly have the time nor the patience to wear the same pair of pants every day for 1-2 years. its cool if you have that kind of time/dedication. i don't.

[Crash2108]

You people must buy a lot of new jeans.

[adapt]

i'm actually not a supporter of the pre-distressed look, but i can see why people are into them. for the record, i've bought one new pair of jeans in the last seven years. it's just absurd to assume the timeline of distressing your own jeans... what, are they supposed to become a family heirloom or something? buy one pair, wear until they fall apart, then buy another? you get to enjoy what, like two months of sweet, sweet distressing? then, you suggest to go buy another pair to eat up two more years? pshhhh.

[Full Frontal Graphic]

Distressed jeans are about 4x the value of a new pair. Just broken in jeans are about equal in value to new ones. Really artfully distressed jeans can be several hundred dollars in a shop... maybe into the 1000 dollar + range depending on who what hwere and when... don't pooh-pooh the value of this instruble

[adapt]

i'm not talking down on it, this other dude is and has been through the duration. most dealers can tell pre-distress from the real stuff, not just through the thread count and such but inside tags. you're not exactly adding value here but i can see why a lot of people would really be into this.

[Full Frontal Graphic]

Yeah... and costumers for the studios (I live near Hollywood) do stuff like this all the time... I wish I knew where to buy some hemp canvas jeans. Those actually might outlast me.

[Brom4]

I also tried this and found no results. Granted I did use a new pair of jeans but even after a day in the coffee( two 10oz bags) and a day to let the jeans dry and the stain set. The stain still washed out after the first wash in cold water. Not even the pockets remained coffee stained. I believe in theory this is a great idea but not so much in practice. Maybe I'll try again with a lighter more worn pair but not any time soon. On a more positive note the tips for distressing the jeans worked excellently. I highly recommend doing those instead of buying a pair of pre-distressed jeans. Unless you want to wear the jeans to a pulp because that works too.

[J@50n]

 was it espresso? espresso is STRONGER!

[thartaros]

could you use black tea as a dye instead of coffee?

[Red Monkey]

Dirty jeans. Nice.

[lurnto]

I posted this on my blog and you can see a video of how to do it - http://lurnto.com/?p=376

[peskypesky]

ok...i tried it and had no success. the jeans looked almost exactly the same as before. granted, i only used one bag of espresso coffee, but i though i would see at least some stainage after an entire night of soaking. i'll guess i'll try it again with tweo bags and see if i have more luck. will let y'all know.

[jonbee]

I know this thread is outdated, but I just I would throw in my 2 cents worth, such as it is. This was already covered in part, but yes, you should dry the jeans after soaking them in your steeped solution, This will heat set the stain, obviously. In addition, when you wash them for the first time, wash them on cold, with no detergent. Simply pour in 2 teaspoons... or tablespoons... pick the bigger of the two, i can't remember which is which. for whatever reason, I'm not a chemist, the vinegar causes the color to bind to the fabric better than heat treating alone.

[sayako]

Omg! I just have a jeans what i just love, they suits me perfectly, and i have a hole in the back O.o Now i do THIS to they, this will be awesome.. *__* BIG thanks, guys! You save my jeans xD

[urbanhg]

so i didnt read all of the comments but maybe you can try just putting them in the dryer on a high setting that should help set in the stain. i imagine by washing them you take out most of the the fresh wet coffee... also if you do think you should wash them try not using any detergent just run it with water.... and maybe before you put it in the dryer run it in the spin cycle of the washer to get out a bit of extra moisture

[schimmi]

i wanna do this with a shirt

[QUICKDOG]

Where can I buy that Yellow submarine? It's really cool.

[dumbluck13]

Maybe they need an instructable so you can make one! :)

[Labot2001]

Hey guys!

If you want to do this project, I just want to point out that it didn't work so well for me, and I tried on 3 different pairs of jeans! The tint wasn't very dark, it produced more of a "dirty" look than I had hoped for, and it all washed out when I washed it. Now, granted that my "variables" may be different than yours, but hey, you have been forewarned...

[crusty]

Colour is nice but is it safe to wash other clothes with that jeans in hte washing machine ? For the rest, I cant understand people wanting dressing like homeless...????

[beckinacea]

Very cool instructable! Inventive and cost-effective. Now you can sell your jeans at Hollister for $350!! LOL

[shop dweller]

I'll try it. Not a bad idea since most of my old jeans are stained with coffee anyway...

[lotusduck]

You should add that you should dry them THEN wash them. You have to heat-set the stain of the coffee, so after they're stained you should iron them, dry them in the sun or stick them in the dryer. After that you definitely should wash them by themselves so that the next time the extra coffee won't wash out on your other clothes. Making your pants brown is also a good way to hide other stains.

[Roxner]

nice with the coffie.. but seriously wear the pants for one whole year instead of making your own "scratches".. if you wear a pair of pants for 1 year i promes you they will have many interesting colours and rips and scratches and all that ;D!

[turbo2092]

nice man and i hav that phone

[Sgt.Waffles]

Killer! + and Faves!

[The Expert Noob]

you know what! I tried this on a pair of jeans I had splashed Draino on. (spotty bleached it) Anyway, after brewing and soaking for about 20 hours, I washed them and nothing happened, Maybe my detergent was so strong it took the espresso stain out or maybe it was because I used cheap espresso. So, i decided to lay the jeans out on my back sidewalk and splash more draino on the bottom 3/4 of the leggings. Now I just need to sand them a bit and "cook" them in some power lines and I'll be in business.

[Brennn10]

This way sure beats developing countries contaminating their water supplies by making the same type of jeans.

[bduffman]

yea i bought some jean shorts from jay jays and with in a day i got a rip in them and since then they have just gotten bigger and bigger its a mass hole now as will theses become cause they will rip more when they make them at the shop they dont rip them they just stich it as a rip type thing

[jontycampbell]

You know, If my jeans looked like that I'd buy a new pair. I see 'distressed' denim in UK boutiques all the time like next, top man, H & M and so on selling for around £50-60/$100 or more.

As they are not 'distressed' but 'damaged' imo, I expect a heavy discount :D

Fashion eh?

To think you can age a pair of jeans by just *wearing* them, or even sticking them in a boil wash then tumble drying them with a hanful of pumice stones like I've been doing for 10 years and now baby soft - and completely free...I cannae underatand why folk dont do this.

Oh and M & S make the best mens jeans 98% cotton 2% lycra...just enough to prevent bagging, not so much to make em too hot to wear.

[incorrigible packrat]

I like the dye idea. We used to use tea, to make ancient parchment looking paper, for dopey school projects. This was in an age before there was a Staples on every second block, selling reams of pre-made parchmenty-looking paper. On the other hand, I'm not so sure about pre-distressed jeans. I've always viewed it as cheating somehow. If I want wrecked-looking pants, I just wear them for certain farming activities, such as hay bale wagon unloading. By the way, luv the Yellow Submarine. Is it a cookie jar, or teapot, or some such? It looks kinda ceramic.

[Gjdj3]

That's pretty awesome. When I "distress" my jeans, I stick my lunch card in my pocket and run a knife over it. At first it doesn't look like it's doing much, then some little jean bits come off, and finally it starts to tear.

[pbpenguin5]

dude that yellow submarine is awesome.