Interesting, my experience with Levi's and Wrangler is equally the opposite, and to the larger extent - 501's, 510's would barely survive 6-9 months of wearing, while Wranglers (mostly Arizona And Texas) happily roll into... <checks purchase date> third year.

Washing in 30 degrees, always tumble drying on low (dryer has a humidity sensor and stops when it's dry, doesn't overdo).

Levis quality has gone done and their pants doesn't last long, but neither does most Wrangler. However, Wrangler does have a line of pants made from 100% cotton, not added elastic materials. I have yet to test, but my theory is that the people who have long lasting Wrangler may have purchased the 100% cotton variant, but remind unaware of that fact.

That's kind of what happens to denim when you air dry it. They are fine. Wear them a bit and you won't notice. If it bothers you next time tumble dry them on low.

Having recently compared one tumble dryer to another, “low” covers an exceedingly wide range, from genuinely lukewarm to “damage my clothing please”. Oddly, both machines I compared were LG and were not especially old. “Low” is a relative term.

Then beat them on the clothes line with a stick. Denim always gets stiff when it’s dried like that.

Yeah, I like that about new denim. After 6 months of wear it won’t do that so much and you’ll miss it. Maybe the poster is used to denims that are not 100% cotton.