How can I fix or prevent getting holes in my jeans near the crotch?

Question

I am a male and I get a hole in the crotch of my jeans all the time. It happens in about 6-12 months of owning the jeans. It always happens in the same spot. I have tried many different brands now and it happens to all of them. What is causing this? What can I do to prevent it? How do I fix it if it already has holes?

Answer 1

It's likely caused by the friction of your inner thighs rubbing together causing the material to wear in that spot quicker (especially because there are a few seams right there).

This can also be exacerbated by wearing pants that are too tight so that it's relatively tight around the upper leg or ones you shrunk by washing in hot water and running them in a dryer. If you're going to dry them you should wash them in cold water and dry them on low to minimize shrinkage. I have shrunk great jeans before and had to get rid of them because I made them too small. Finding a different pant cut may alleviate this, however, this will probably happen to any jean if you wear and wash them too much so if you can have more pairs of jeans and wash them a bit less they'll probably last a little longer, but it's pretty much always going to happen eventually.

You could fix them by sewing a jean patch on (cut up a different pair of jeans or buy a patch from the store) but you have to remember you're going to add more seams and a patch of jean that's either a different color or older/newer jean material and it probably is not going to last all that long.

Answer 2

As an engineer, I’d suggest reenforcing that specific area.

You can get an iron-on patch and cut a shape out of it, and apply that to the inside. That way it won’t show any extra seams.

You can also do that with military-grade duck tape (like Gorilla brand) which will survive many washings, but is meant to be put on temporarily.

Since it breaks adjecent to the seam, I think it’s not friction/wear like some have suggested, but is too tight there. Some motions will stretch the faberic more than it can handle and damage accumulates. Where it was sewn is actually weaker, and the join can cause stresses to concentrate in that location.

So, make that specific spot more resistant to being pulled open.

Answer 3

Is it okay to offer up a brand of jeans that you may want to try? There is a company* in the US that manufactures jeans that feature a gusseted crotch, they are well made and last years.

Darning is one of the best ways to repair denim. You can do this by hand or machine; with or without a patch. Same way you darn socks or holes in a shirt.

Here are a couple pics I found online: you can see that this was machine sewn.
this is machine sewn and is a great example of how nicely you can darn a hole so it is not visible. Notice the sewing foot that was used due to the hole being so near the seam.

*As a doting customer for more than a decade, Diamond Gusset Jeans are worth the investment. The main reason this falls under this topic, is the design. All of their jeans (including women's) have the gusset in the crotch. This design along with the quality of denim make for years of daily wear. My husband still wears his first pair and he wears jeans every day. They are no longer black, more like charcoal grey, but, no holes in the knees or crotch. On the other hand, my jeans have begun to wear in the crotch seam this past year, but as a curved woman whose shorts and pants have always worn first at the crotch, they surpass my expectations.