I don’t know about you but there’s nothing more annoying to me than pulling my favorite pair of jeans out of the wash and finding strange ripples all over them.

Like, what happened in there? Were they battling for their lives in the spin cycle?

It’s the annoying part because they fit perfectly one moment, and in the blink of an eye, they are knotted on your body like some washing machine was chewing you up and spitting you out.

If you’ve ever had questions about jeans, funny wrinkles and ripples, this article is for you.

And this isn’t any old fabric malfunction. There’s a reason why it happens — several, actually. Almost all popular jeans today are woven with some stretch, which helps with comfort but also makes them easier to damage. The biggest culprit? Heat. But the dryer is not solely to blame. How you wash, dry and even store your jeans can be a game changer.

So, if you’ve ever stood there, staring at your formerly-smooth jeans and asking yourself where did things go wrong, you’re in the right spot. Let’s break it all down.