Durable corduroy can stand up to a bit of wear, but the trade-off for this fabric's strength is its stiffness. Your body heat and regular wearings can give pants a unique, curve-hugging shape, but for softness, you need to make changes during laundering. Corduroy pants comes in various wales, or number of cords per inch, fabric weight and designs. For the ultimate soft fit, select pants that have a percentage of stretchy ingredients like spandex.

Turn corduroy pants inside out and place them in the washing machine. Avoid washing this garment with cotton, linen or chenille items. These clothing types create lint that sticks to corduroy. Set the washing machine on the "cool" setting.

Add laundry detergent and fabric softener to the corduroy. Remove the pants when the cycle is complete. Some manufacturer's recommend line drying corduroy.

Set the dryer to the "permanent press" setting. Place the corduroys in the dryer, along with a softening dryer sheet. Remove the pants before they dry completely. Read the garment's care label before drying your corduroy pants.

Turn the pants right side out. Hang the pants on a hanger using clothespins or on a clothesline. When the pants are dry, rub the piles with a soft lint brush to fluff the fabric and remove any lint.