Every raw denim head knows crotch blowout. If you’ve been wearing your denim a long time without washing, and they fit kinda tight, and the denim is pretty heavy, eventually you might get a hole in the crotch. Otherwise known as, crotch blowout. I read around online and found a patch made in the U.S.A. that some folks recommended and decided to give it a try.
My first candidate was my STUDIO D’ARTISAN D1809 FUNCTION. A hybrid material that gives a bit of a stretch made by the awesome Osaka-based company. I got these summer 2020 and wore them a lot, washing them (checks notes) exactly 20 times before I noticed the blowout. I think I just wore them out, plus, these fit a little tight, not skinny jeans tight, but close. I think those tight fitting jeans will suffer crotch blowout faster than most.
I ordered patches from Iron Patches (https://irononjeanpatches.com/) after reading some recommendations on Reddit. They arrived quickly, in a simple low-environmental footprint envelope, and after I got my nerves up I get it a go. I went with the Ultra Thin High Strength Backing Patches – White which only cost like 5 bucks at the time, and free shipping!
The instructions are relatively simple and included in the shipment.
- Wash your stuff. (OK raw denim heads I know you might skip this but I’m sure the patch will stick better if you don’t.)
- Peel off the patch.
- Iron it on, without steam, at the hottest setting your iron will go.
- Iron both sides of the fabric, so, directly on the patch, and then on the other side as well.
Basically that’s it, but there is more detail in the official instructions.
You may need to cut the patch to change the shape to get it onto the crotch. I’m no expert, but if you do have to cut, I think using as large a patch as possible while still allowing yourself the ability to iron the entire patch while everything is laying flat is the best way to go.
Iron that sucker ON!
Iron the other side too.
And then… I hung them up to… adhere.
Let’s see how it goes!
Iron Patches (https://irononjeanpatches.com/) claim to be the only jeans patches still made in the United States. The internet community also seems to think they work really well. I’ll try to remember to post again after I have worn them and washed them a few times with the patch!
Next I need to patch my pair of UES jeans.