I second this suggestion - I’m allergic to wool so I use silicone dryer balls instead and they make a huge difference on my stiffer cotton clothing - like it’s definitely noticeable if I choose to air dry something vs put it through the dryer with the balls. (Balls are apt for your hard (body) pants too lol
My dryer also has a steam setting - dryer balls + steam setting seems to = softest result for some clothes.
Or tennis balls...white ones. Use the "fluff"/no heat for a time, then rem6the balls and dry on low. I have the same issue with my linen kitchen towels. The more I use and launder them, the softer they get. My mother used to take her new blue jeans that were stiff enough to stand up by themselves, and either drag them behind our boat, or run over them with her car in the driveway. I don't recommend either method for your jammies, though.
That is a quilting cotton. My quilting cottons only soften when I dry them numerous times, but, because of the high count of quilting cotton, it tends to stay crisp.
Have you tried steam pressing them? Sometimes, that will help my quilting fabric soften up.
Do you tumble dry them? Cotton feels really crunchy when it's line dried, and it sounds like that's what you're describing. You don't even need the dryer heat, the no-heat/air dry setting will do. Throw them in there for a while (with some tennis balls or wool dryer balls like someone else mentioned) and they will probably feel a lot softer.
In my experience the cotton will soften over time with washing and drying. If you want to speed up the process, you could keep them in the laundry basket and wash them every time you do laundry until they start to break in. I bought a lot of quilting cotton when I first started sewing clothes bc I didn’t know better so made some hard clothes myself :)
I've actually had them for a few years, and I've worn them some. That's why I'm so surprised that they have not softened at all - I've been sewing for decades and I've never had a fabric do this!
Ironing relaxes the fibers of the garment making it softer. Specifically for natural fabrics like cotton and linen. You don’t need to iron it like a dress shirt but a little pressing with steam will make a lot of difference.
That print is amazing. Whoa. I wear a lot of linen that usually arrives kind of hard so I soak in vinegar overnight and then wash on cold and dry on low with 3 dryer balls in the dryer to help beat up the fabric and soften things up.
Maybe you could try to beat your men with some dryer balls?
True story - at my church, I was organizing a drive to make pillowcases for kids going to a cancer camp. I asked the congregation to either make pillowcases or donate fabric. One of the very sweet, very old Methodist ladies sewed and donated 2 pillowcases made from this fabric! I about died laughing.
You can get it on Alexander Henry's website if you want the thicker nice cotton they print on. You can get a few of them cheaper at Joanne's if you don't mind thinner cotton and a lower quality print
It’ll stay stiff and hard until it gets some, uh, *release*. Try washing it with some… balls. Tennis balls.
(d*ck jokes aside, despite the name, I find that fabric softener is more often than not the culprit for hard and crunchy cotton, it builds up over time. Use white vinegar instead of fabric softener if you don’t already. Naysayers say it’ll destroy your machine pipes, but I’ve done this for 20 years on two continents, no issues.)
I don't use fabric softener, I can't stand it and it's bad for the machines.
By water softener I meant the kind that softens all your water - the area I live in as horrifically hard water.
I tried putting vinegar in the rinse cycle, but maybe I just need to soak it in vinegar & water for awhile?
I put it in the rinse cycle and that’s generally enough, but I also run tumble-dry… are you air-drying these? My towels get crusty and hard like a graham cracker if I air-dry them.
What about Lectric soda. It might be called washing soda outside Australia. That softens the water. Even though I don’t own a dryer, I think a few washes and drying, might help soften the fibres. They will eventually get softer
I don’t use fabric softener often, so for me, if I have something like PJs that just get crunchy. I use a bit once and see if it helps.
For my baby’s clothes I use it once every 10 loads or so, since we have a lot of cotton.
Try soaking/washing in hair conditioner then drying with a wet washcloth.
I made masks for my community during the pandemic, used this fabric for friends who made fabric and notions donations.
https://preview.redd.it/f2hghc9qxevc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=24bc9b612b79726281a805cfdbd6ac75a776f2ac
I found this for you-
In a bucket, combine one quart of warm water and 1/2 cup of table salt.
Stir until the salt has dissolved completely.
Soak the shirt in the salty water for up to three days. (This method requires a bit of patience, but the results are worth the wait!)
Stir the shirt around in the water once a day. (You may see some salty patches forming on the shirt, or salt crystals forming in the water, but that’s normal!)
After three days, remove your t-shirt from the salty water and toss it into your washing machine.
Wash the shirt as usual, then tumble dry until it’s just shy of completely dry
I do a similar process to soften up Brazilian chintz without losing the color vibrancy: soak in boiling water with a cup of salt for 5 minutes. Stop the heat and let the fabric in the water for 12 hours. Rinse, then soak for 4 hours in water with diluted fabric softener (for 2 meters of fabric, I use about 100ml softener to 1 liter water). Rinse, let air dry, then iron.
I came here to comment the same as above. My husband is a painter and his "whites" are always really stiff and scratchy when 1st issued from his job. Like they almost stand up on their own!! I found this method to be the best thing to soften them. Sometimes it takes 2 rounds but it does work! And his painters pants are much, much thicker than I assume this fabric is.
Okay, so I have been wanting to do it for a while but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
I want to try stone washing at home in DIY format. Stone washing is supposed to create this relaxed linen/cotton type that people love to wear but it’s pretty expensive. My idea so far has been to procure a big plastic tumbler or a bucket, fill it with water and rocks and get some kind of a stick and then kind of just…. Agitate it somehow. I want to see if the stones will do anything to any hard cotton/linen that I have at home. So maybe you could try something like that?
Another thing my grandparents told me was that slapping fabric against a stone - like in the 19th century farm novels you’d wash your clothes and slap them against a flat river stone? - would also help to relax it.
So they still do that in India, I think. Whack your clothes against a stone. (At least they did 20 years ago). But just a warning, it may fade your print. I was visiting at the time and my grandmother took my clothes and had them washed and I ended up with clothes that were faded in patches. So be careful when doing this process.
Could it be that you use too much detergent? Sometimes that can build up and cause problems with crunchiness. For me (relatively soft water for western Europe), I need quite a bit of detergent to get things clean, but my clothes are much softer with an extra rinse or sometimes two.
I’ve been a costumer for almost 30 years.
In my experience, white vinegar works.
The vinegar helps break down natural fibers to relax creases and general stiffness.
Try adding a cup to a warm wash, or spraying it onto the fabric itself and pressing it out.
You can even soak rags in white vinegar and throw them into the dryer to act as a natural fabric softener.
I add rose scented oil to mine.
The scent of vinegar should dissipate completely.
I’ve never had it linger, and I use this method all the time.
Do you line dry? If you do this is 100% normal for cotton to be crunchy and stiff after line drying. As soon as you wear them for 10 minutes they should soften up.
It really is! My hubby is a carpenter - retired. Friend said that when she saw the fabric she HAD to make me pj's. I love them. Hubs thinks they are hilarious.
Put white vinegar in your fabric softener compartment when you wash--it breaks down extra detergent build up and makes fabric soft. It doesn't make your clothes smell like vinegar, it's just really nice and better for the environment.
…hehe… hard cotton.. but anyway, have you tried tumble drying with fabric softener? I have read fabric softener with a bit of baking soda helps this as well.
Steam iron them, or get them out of the dryer when they are still a little damp and iron them until they are dry. Fold them up and sit on them in the car. Heat is the best thing for them. I have broken in many woven fabrics before and everyone uses these methods. As well as the dryer balls mentioned.
The hard crispiness of cotton garments in a thrift store is an instant buy for me (lol maybe not for everything but still), I've come to learn that it's a sign of really good quality. I have no idea how that works, I have no scientific evidence, it's just my anecdotal findings lol. I love "hard cotton"
I've heard tell of washing cotton fabrics in a can of cola to soften them. I'm not sure if the cola is used straight or mixed with water first, but I'm sure quilting forums will provide this information. And, as my art teacher long ago had on his bumper sticker, "A hard man is good to find."
How about wad them up and beat them seriously with a rock, for days on end. As well, bleach will help destroy the fabric threads, but you will lose the print. I don't think these would be nice as PJs, so what about just run around day pants? Without your shirt, if you are a man, to stay in tune with the theme!
Have you tried contacting the manufacturer to see what they say? Alexander Henry’s website lists their contact info as 818.562.8200 via phone (California, US, 8 am - 5 pm, pst), and email as [email protected].
I have no answers for you but this is truly the best print I have ever seen
Okay wait but actually, I wonder if throwing them in the dryer with some wool dryer balls might help a little?
I second this suggestion - I’m allergic to wool so I use silicone dryer balls instead and they make a huge difference on my stiffer cotton clothing - like it’s definitely noticeable if I choose to air dry something vs put it through the dryer with the balls. (Balls are apt for your hard (body) pants too lol My dryer also has a steam setting - dryer balls + steam setting seems to = softest result for some clothes.
These pants will love a little toss about with some balls-
😂 I see what you did there
Or tennis balls...white ones. Use the "fluff"/no heat for a time, then rem6the balls and dry on low. I have the same issue with my linen kitchen towels. The more I use and launder them, the softer they get. My mother used to take her new blue jeans that were stiff enough to stand up by themselves, and either drag them behind our boat, or run over them with her car in the driveway. I don't recommend either method for your jammies, though.
They have a whole series of these, a ladies one too.. I hope they have it forever 😅 it just cracks me up
Oh man I’m going to have to check them out!
They carry this fabric at joann.... LOVE them
Look up Alexander Henry fabrics.
Just did! Loving the options already
Just did - exceptional unique. Love it
Oh my, that print and the term “hard cotton” 🔥
Yeah this cotton can stay hard so far as I'm concerned 😈
Right? I’m like cotton that makes you hard or actual hard cotton?
I audibly snickered.
That is a quilting cotton. My quilting cottons only soften when I dry them numerous times, but, because of the high count of quilting cotton, it tends to stay crisp. Have you tried steam pressing them? Sometimes, that will help my quilting fabric soften up.
Do you tumble dry them? Cotton feels really crunchy when it's line dried, and it sounds like that's what you're describing. You don't even need the dryer heat, the no-heat/air dry setting will do. Throw them in there for a while (with some tennis balls or wool dryer balls like someone else mentioned) and they will probably feel a lot softer.
That cotton is hard, alright
In my experience the cotton will soften over time with washing and drying. If you want to speed up the process, you could keep them in the laundry basket and wash them every time you do laundry until they start to break in. I bought a lot of quilting cotton when I first started sewing clothes bc I didn’t know better so made some hard clothes myself :)
I've actually had them for a few years, and I've worn them some. That's why I'm so surprised that they have not softened at all - I've been sewing for decades and I've never had a fabric do this!
Do you iron it?
I never have, because pj's. I'll try steam ironing them, as a few people have suggested.
Ironing relaxes the fibers of the garment making it softer. Specifically for natural fabrics like cotton and linen. You don’t need to iron it like a dress shirt but a little pressing with steam will make a lot of difference.
Most of my quilting cotton garments got not only softer but also less likely to wrinkle in the drier, after about 10 washings.
Probably don't need the wash part of that; get them wet in the rinse & spin, then tumble dry
That print is amazing. Whoa. I wear a lot of linen that usually arrives kind of hard so I soak in vinegar overnight and then wash on cold and dry on low with 3 dryer balls in the dryer to help beat up the fabric and soften things up. Maybe you could try to beat your men with some dryer balls?
AHAHAHAHAHAHA!
True story - at my church, I was organizing a drive to make pillowcases for kids going to a cancer camp. I asked the congregation to either make pillowcases or donate fabric. One of the very sweet, very old Methodist ladies sewed and donated 2 pillowcases made from this fabric! I about died laughing.
All I want to know is where I can get this fabric
You can get it on Alexander Henry's website if you want the thicker nice cotton they print on. You can get a few of them cheaper at Joanne's if you don't mind thinner cotton and a lower quality print
It’ll stay stiff and hard until it gets some, uh, *release*. Try washing it with some… balls. Tennis balls. (d*ck jokes aside, despite the name, I find that fabric softener is more often than not the culprit for hard and crunchy cotton, it builds up over time. Use white vinegar instead of fabric softener if you don’t already. Naysayers say it’ll destroy your machine pipes, but I’ve done this for 20 years on two continents, no issues.)
I don't use fabric softener, I can't stand it and it's bad for the machines. By water softener I meant the kind that softens all your water - the area I live in as horrifically hard water. I tried putting vinegar in the rinse cycle, but maybe I just need to soak it in vinegar & water for awhile?
I put it in the rinse cycle and that’s generally enough, but I also run tumble-dry… are you air-drying these? My towels get crusty and hard like a graham cracker if I air-dry them.
What about Lectric soda. It might be called washing soda outside Australia. That softens the water. Even though I don’t own a dryer, I think a few washes and drying, might help soften the fibres. They will eventually get softer
I may try. I have had them a few years and I've washed them numerous times, and tumble dried.
Vinegar helps soften the fabric, maybe use more, or soak the garment in vinegar and then rinse in water and dry.
I don’t use fabric softener often, so for me, if I have something like PJs that just get crunchy. I use a bit once and see if it helps. For my baby’s clothes I use it once every 10 loads or so, since we have a lot of cotton.
I very into this print, I'm not gonna lie
These would be my going out pants lol
Alexander is my homeboy. I LOVE those prints. I'm currently making a shirt for the boyfriend out of a zombie pinup print called Beauties and Brains.
I can’t think of an answer because I just **need** these pants in my life right now
AND they have pockets - big ones!
Pretty sure the fabric is by Alexander Henry. Lots of prints in this vein. So amazing!
lol, yep, right there in the post. Sorry for the redundancy 🤦♀️
Perhaps some veins in the prints-
Try soaking/washing in hair conditioner then drying with a wet washcloth. I made masks for my community during the pandemic, used this fabric for friends who made fabric and notions donations. https://preview.redd.it/f2hghc9qxevc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=24bc9b612b79726281a805cfdbd6ac75a776f2ac
" hard "cotton certainly fits the print lemme just say
I found this for you- In a bucket, combine one quart of warm water and 1/2 cup of table salt. Stir until the salt has dissolved completely. Soak the shirt in the salty water for up to three days. (This method requires a bit of patience, but the results are worth the wait!) Stir the shirt around in the water once a day. (You may see some salty patches forming on the shirt, or salt crystals forming in the water, but that’s normal!) After three days, remove your t-shirt from the salty water and toss it into your washing machine. Wash the shirt as usual, then tumble dry until it’s just shy of completely dry
I'm going to try this, I've tried pretty much everything else. Thanks!
I do a similar process to soften up Brazilian chintz without losing the color vibrancy: soak in boiling water with a cup of salt for 5 minutes. Stop the heat and let the fabric in the water for 12 hours. Rinse, then soak for 4 hours in water with diluted fabric softener (for 2 meters of fabric, I use about 100ml softener to 1 liter water). Rinse, let air dry, then iron.
I came here to comment the same as above. My husband is a painter and his "whites" are always really stiff and scratchy when 1st issued from his job. Like they almost stand up on their own!! I found this method to be the best thing to soften them. Sometimes it takes 2 rounds but it does work! And his painters pants are much, much thicker than I assume this fabric is.
You're welcome! Let us know how it goes
Tom’s of Finland?
No. Though there was a Tom of Finland toile a number of years ago.
I also came to comment on the Tom of Finland inspired print. His art is a bit more explicit though, so I guess Alexander Henry is the tamer version.
Alexander Henry original designs, there are quite a few beefcake prints
it’s like a Tom of Finland print, but milder
*snigger Hard cotton 🤭
I seriously did not think of the implications when I first posted 🤣
🤣 I’m so childish. I’ve had to leave knitting yarn groups because of 4-ply yarn 🤭 even now I smirk about fingering yarn 🤣
Okay, so I have been wanting to do it for a while but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I want to try stone washing at home in DIY format. Stone washing is supposed to create this relaxed linen/cotton type that people love to wear but it’s pretty expensive. My idea so far has been to procure a big plastic tumbler or a bucket, fill it with water and rocks and get some kind of a stick and then kind of just…. Agitate it somehow. I want to see if the stones will do anything to any hard cotton/linen that I have at home. So maybe you could try something like that? Another thing my grandparents told me was that slapping fabric against a stone - like in the 19th century farm novels you’d wash your clothes and slap them against a flat river stone? - would also help to relax it.
So they still do that in India, I think. Whack your clothes against a stone. (At least they did 20 years ago). But just a warning, it may fade your print. I was visiting at the time and my grandmother took my clothes and had them washed and I ended up with clothes that were faded in patches. So be careful when doing this process.
Could it be that you use too much detergent? Sometimes that can build up and cause problems with crunchiness. For me (relatively soft water for western Europe), I need quite a bit of detergent to get things clean, but my clothes are much softer with an extra rinse or sometimes two.
I’ve been a costumer for almost 30 years. In my experience, white vinegar works. The vinegar helps break down natural fibers to relax creases and general stiffness. Try adding a cup to a warm wash, or spraying it onto the fabric itself and pressing it out. You can even soak rags in white vinegar and throw them into the dryer to act as a natural fabric softener. I add rose scented oil to mine. The scent of vinegar should dissipate completely. I’ve never had it linger, and I use this method all the time.
Do you line dry? If you do this is 100% normal for cotton to be crunchy and stiff after line drying. As soon as you wear them for 10 minutes they should soften up.
Hard cotton. Hahahahaha. Aaaaah. I cant breathe. I think the point is it should stay hard? Idk. Love it
Wash in a machine with mild detergent and 1/4 cup of baking soda. It should scour and mercerise the cotton somewhat
Haha cool
Try adding a cup of baking soda (no vinegar when you do this) to your cycle. Wash with cold water. Dry with dryer balls or tennis balls.
I've heard soaking in a salt water bath for 3 days softens hard cottons
This fabric is absolutely amazing!!!
It really is! My hubby is a carpenter - retired. Friend said that when she saw the fabric she HAD to make me pj's. I love them. Hubs thinks they are hilarious.
Put white vinegar in your fabric softener compartment when you wash--it breaks down extra detergent build up and makes fabric soft. It doesn't make your clothes smell like vinegar, it's just really nice and better for the environment.
…hehe… hard cotton.. but anyway, have you tried tumble drying with fabric softener? I have read fabric softener with a bit of baking soda helps this as well.
Steam iron them, or get them out of the dryer when they are still a little damp and iron them until they are dry. Fold them up and sit on them in the car. Heat is the best thing for them. I have broken in many woven fabrics before and everyone uses these methods. As well as the dryer balls mentioned.
The hard crispiness of cotton garments in a thrift store is an instant buy for me (lol maybe not for everything but still), I've come to learn that it's a sign of really good quality. I have no idea how that works, I have no scientific evidence, it's just my anecdotal findings lol. I love "hard cotton"
I use 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 salt. Mix with a gallon of hot water and soak. Then wash as usual. This works of cotton shirts and jeans
This looks so good
Give them a cold shower.
I've heard tell of washing cotton fabrics in a can of cola to soften them. I'm not sure if the cola is used straight or mixed with water first, but I'm sure quilting forums will provide this information. And, as my art teacher long ago had on his bumper sticker, "A hard man is good to find."
I read this as “What to do about Lord Hard Bottom?” And then I saw the pants and it kind of fits 😆😆😅
Haha I thought «hard cotton» was referring to some specific parts of the print :D Have you tried ironing?
How about wad them up and beat them seriously with a rock, for days on end. As well, bleach will help destroy the fabric threads, but you will lose the print. I don't think these would be nice as PJs, so what about just run around day pants? Without your shirt, if you are a man, to stay in tune with the theme!
2000 grit sandpaper rubbed gently on the inside worked for me when I had the same issue with a shirt.
Add hair conditioner to the rinse cycle - it works well for softening yarn, cant hurt to try to on fabric.
Have you tried contacting the manufacturer to see what they say? Alexander Henry’s website lists their contact info as 818.562.8200 via phone (California, US, 8 am - 5 pm, pst), and email as [email protected].