Stretchy Jeans Almost Killed the Dollar Bill

Allure Daily Beauty Reporter

by Ramona Emerson


Dominique Maitre
Dominique Maitre

We all know thigh-slimming, butt-lifting, everything-smoothing, skin-tight jeans are money, but you probably didn't know that curve-hugging denim almost caused the extinction of American currency.


Almost 30 percent of the very special cotton blend that makes up our dolla dolla bills is made out of recycled denim scraps, according to an article in the Washington Post.

See more: Celebrity Hairstyles That Will Make You Look 10 Years Younger


This was all fine and good until the 1990s, when a little something called spandex began popping up in jeans. While the stretchy fiber looks great on behinds, it's hell on the other bottom line: A single strand of spandex can ruin an entire batch of currency paper. And at this point you'd be hard-pressed to find a pair of jeans that doesn't have at least a little spandex-induced stretch.


See more: 9 Style Trends to Retire in 2014

But we were hardly about to give up our favorite jeans. So Crane, the company that makes American currency (yes, the same Crane as those Crane & Co. stationary stores you see in the mall), was forced to cut denim out of their supply chain and start buying cotton elsewhere, which is why flattering jeans and fives, tens, and twenties can now peacefully coexist.


More from Allure:
12 Beauty Lessons We've Learned from Celebrity Sisters
50 Beauty Products to Try Before You Die
Find the Best Haircut for Your Face Shape
Top 21 Drugstore Beauty Bargains