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Why some clothes shrink in the wash and how to unshrink them

swinburne.edu.au

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Re: Why some clothes shrink in the wash and how to unshrink them

#101

Post by jarjoura »

owlninja wrote: post #86
troyvit wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have any clothes as old as yours though for sure, but line drying generally helps your clothes last longer. I'm so glad I live in Colorado. It's a warm winter, but it takes like 3 hours to dry stuff on the line (especially synthetics). Of course that means all my synthetic fibers are literally billowing into the air I guess. Still, we've been going without a dryer for about five years now and I've had no regr…

My strategy forever is to wash all my shirts, put them in the dryer on low for 5 minutes, then hang them all up in a doorway overnight. My clothes last much longer this way and never get wrinkled.

Do you live in a liminal hall of doorways? LOL

Re: Why some clothes shrink in the wash and how to unshrink them

#102

Post by ortusdux »

dgacmu wrote: post #81
ortusdux wrote: post #79

There was a great custom order screen printing website blog where they documented their shrinkage testing. They made a pressure sensitive shirt form and then ran 30+ brands of shirts through a battery of tests, measuring fit after each washing. I've heard reports that the newer heat pump clothes dryers are less prone to cause shrinking. In their default mode they act more like a dehumidifier than a heater. In theory…

Do you have pointers to good sources you've found about that? I've been wondering about exactly this from an optimization-of-the-laundry perspective. (I've been tempted to just yolo buy one to try it out but installing it in my house is a pain in the rear because of the location.)

As I understand it, many people prefer the heat pump dryers because they are easier to install. Most are 110v and don't exhaust moisture, so you can just shove one in a closet if it has sufficient electricity. You do need to remove the water reservoir and pour it down a drain after every few loads of laundry.

Re: Why some clothes shrink in the wash and how to unshrink them

#103

Post by Izkata »

saghm wrote: post #89

Growing up I was always told that cotton would shrink in the dryer but polyester wouldn't, and I should just check the tag on a shirt to find out if it would shrink (which usually would say something like 100% cotton, 100% polyester, 50% cotton/50% polyester, etc.). Seeing the title on this article made me think that it would be a refutation of that conventional wisdom, but it sounds like what I was taught growing up…

Cotton shrinks, and that your dryer is too hot or running too long. Born in the late 80s, I think this was even a joke on sitcoms at one point (I have this vague memory of a husband pulling his favorite shirt out of the dryer and wearing it while it was still damp just so it wouldn't shrink), so it seems more like previously-common knowledge that was lost.

Re: Why some clothes shrink in the wash and how to unshrink them

#104

Post by abdullahkhalids »

Xenoamorphous wrote: post #28
abdullahkhalids wrote: post #27

I had the opposite problem recently. Where Levi's jeans expanded and loosened up after a couple of washes. What's the reason for that?

That's probably not the washes but due to wear.

If somebody wants to wear tight jeans, how can they do that, if the jeans that were tight in store expand afterwards? Surely you can't buy a size smaller because then you can't wear them to break them.

Re: Why some clothes shrink in the wash and how to unshrink them

#105

Post by lo_zamoyski »

troyvit wrote: post #56
ynac wrote: post #51

I'm down to just a few sweat shirts and over shirts from the 80s, but they are hanging in there. Both the colors and the fabric. When the subject comes up with friends who ask about a particular shirt I joke, "The cotton was tougher back then". Recently, I've had jeans, shirts, and even socks that didn't make it through a single summer. Is anyone else freaked out about cleaning their dryer's lint filter given all the…

I don't have any clothes as old as yours though for sure, but line drying generally helps your clothes last longer. I'm so glad I live in Colorado. It's a warm winter, but it takes like 3 hours to dry stuff on the line (especially synthetics). Of course that means all my synthetic fibers are literally billowing into the air I guess. Still, we've been going without a dryer for about five years now and I've had no regr…

Or, if you are using a dryer, keep the heat low to moderate.

Re: Why some clothes shrink in the wash and how to unshrink them

#107

Post by helterskelter »

vyaa wrote: post #96
jazzyjackson wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's still good fabrics out there you just have to pay for them. I've mostly replaced my wardrobe now with natural undyed cottons and wools from the likes of "unbleached apparel" and "industry of all nations". There is cotton grown in new mexico, socks spun in north carolina. "Filson" makes a few things in Seattle. Don't skip the stuff made in Peru or India neither.

Do you have any brand recommendations?

$.02:

- American Giant is pretty good for their pullover hoodies. They'll wear out at the cuffs first, but I've kept a single hoody in use for like five years with some repair stitching.

- Standard Issue makes good waffle knit shirts. They'll last a few years depending on how often you wash them.

- Duluth Trading makes some good cotton shirts and boxers. Quality has declined slightly, but they're the best plain cotton shirts and boxers I've found so far.

- Big John makes denim jeans on old Levi looms. They even use cotton stitching.

- Carhartt makes some okay dressy dungarees. Their work pants are worthless these days though (in my experience). They've been pivoting to lifestyle for a few years now.

- Filson in my opinion has declined, but they're still pretty good. The socks are great, but they're overpriced.

(Only posting this because I've struggled finding decent clothes myself and it's hard to tell what's good when you're shopping online)

Re: Why some clothes shrink in the wash and how to unshrink them

#108

Post by malfist »

gwbas1c wrote: post #83
ortusdux wrote: post #79

There was a great custom order screen printing website blog where they documented their shrinkage testing. They made a pressure sensitive shirt form and then ran 30+ brands of shirts through a battery of tests, measuring fit after each washing. I've heard reports that the newer heat pump clothes dryers are less prone to cause shrinking. In their default mode they act more like a dehumidifier than a heater. In theory…

I have a heat pump dryer, and I can confirm no shrinkage. It's very gentle on clothes, but it does take a bit longer to dry.

Do you like it? I've toyed with the idea of getting one for energy efficiency, but my current washer and dryer (electric) are still chugging along and it feels wasteful

Re: Why some clothes shrink in the wash and how to unshrink them

#109

Post by dlcarrier »

taeric wrote: post #6

It has been ages since I had clothes shrink on me. To the point that I had assumed something must have gotten better in modern dryers. Is that not the case? Edit: Quickly searching, this appears to be the case? Specifically modern moisture sensing dryers that stop appropriately goes a long way to never having something shrink on you.

I have a moisture-sensing dryer from the 80's that lets me select between multiple dryness levels, and it is extremely repeatable, as opposed to my parent's modern moisture-sensing dryer that that adds a fixed amount of drying time after the sensor trips, in hopes that the clothes will be dry enough. Sometimes they are and sometimes they aren't.

Re: Why some clothes shrink in the wash and how to unshrink them

#110

Post by stuxnet79 »

vyaa wrote: post #96
jazzyjackson wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's still good fabrics out there you just have to pay for them. I've mostly replaced my wardrobe now with natural undyed cottons and wools from the likes of "unbleached apparel" and "industry of all nations". There is cotton grown in new mexico, socks spun in north carolina. "Filson" makes a few things in Seattle. Don't skip the stuff made in Peru or India neither.

Do you have any brand recommendations?

Rather than focus on brand, I'd recommend developing a better eye and learning how to identify durable, high quality fabrics.

While looking at the brand might be a good heuristic to rely on in the short term, the temptation is too high for vendors to take advantage of their brand power to offload cheaper fabrics for higher margins, I'm looking at you H&M and UNIQLO ...

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