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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

#251

Post by itsgrimetime »

sitharus wrote: post #186
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 just try to buy natural or the semi-synthetic cellulose fabrics, there's quite a variety. Natural fabrics are cotton, silk, wool and linen of course, but the semi-synthetic fabrics like the rayons (viscose, modal, "bamboo", Tencel, Lyocell, Bemberg, and some sorts of artificial silk) are wood cellulose chemically rearranged so they're just cellulose when they reach you. The fabric referred to as Acetate is cellulos…

ive recently found some rayon shirts I really like, but how do you wash them without destroying them? everything I've read online says dry cleaning is the only way

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

#252

Post by Retric »

userbinator wrote: post #248
ravenstine wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can confirm that you really don't want to breathe in any of that crap. A year and a half ago I developed symptoms of what was some form of bronchitis. Lots of mucus, constantly coughing, etc. I was pretty freaking sick. I tend to wait some things like this out, but it wasn't going away so I went to a doctor and got some medications including albuterol and some kind of steroid (prednisone, I think). It got a little…

Inhaling large quantities of any type of fiber is not good, cotton included: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byssinosis But if anything I'd think plastic fibers are less likely to have any effects, because they're inert.

Being chemically inert isn’t enough for your lungs, the mechanical properties are also critical.

Microplastics aren’t necessarily chemically inert either, but it’s worth remembering just how delicate your lungs are.

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

#253

Post by helterskelter »

stratosmacker wrote: post #247
helterskelter wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to swear by them but I ordered like half a dozen pairs of their standard double fronted work dungs and they fell apart in the washer after 2-3 cycles. This was 2022-2023. It was weird, seams weren't stitched properly, the fabric was lighter, etc. I saw comments on their site which shared my experience. I think this around the time they shifted production outside the USA (memory is hazy). If you see a "helmets…

Commented elsewhere but you can still get the Union made USA pants; model B01. Avoid pretty much everything else I will have to try these Baileys though, how do they fit?

Good to know, I might give them a shot again. For Wild Ass, I'd go up probably two-four sizes from your Carhartts. If you're a 32 in Carhartt you'll want at least a 34 in WA. Go for 36 if the Carhartts are snug. WA will shrink slightly too.

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

#254

Post by [deleted] »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #58
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…

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.

[deleted]

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

#255

Post by Centigonal »

Gigachad wrote: post #229
Centigonal wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uniqlo does still have some gems, but it's been rapidly enshittifying. My uniqlo clothes from 2019 are incomparable to what they have today. Some of their stuff is still good, but it's a game of roulette every time, because they'll replace products with very similarly branded new versions that suck.

At least in Australia I haven't had an issue with anything from Uniqlo. Their shirts have lasted longer than almost all the other stores I've bought from. They do have some polyester crap, but they are better than most at having 100% cotton options.

Might be a US-only thing. I've heard Uniqlo in Japan is totally different from the ones in the US.

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

#256

Post by hattmall »

ajcp wrote: post #250
ravenstine wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can confirm that you really don't want to breathe in any of that crap. A year and a half ago I developed symptoms of what was some form of bronchitis. Lots of mucus, constantly coughing, etc. I was pretty freaking sick. I tend to wait some things like this out, but it wasn't going away so I went to a doctor and got some medications including albuterol and some kind of steroid (prednisone, I think). It got a little…

I'd be interested to know why buying, installing, jerryrigging, and (presumably every time you did a load of laundry) hooking and unhooking collapsible hosing for a washer and dryer in a bedroom you worked from, was in any way more convenient or cheaper or useful than just using the communal laundry room or a dedicated laundry service?

Don't forget "almost dying from toxic air pollution" too

I was in a similar situation and my solution was to just buy enough clothes and not get them dirty when wearing so that it would last me about 2 months between having to do laundry. But I didn't have communal laundry, I had to drive across town to a public laundry.

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

#257

Post by miladyincontrol »

symfoniq wrote: post #239
kccqzy wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a fascination with 100% cotton clothing about ten years ago. These days I don’t. I’m working out a lot more and I care more about quick-drying and moisture-wicking fabrics. I suppose I’m a victim of the athleisure trend where athletic wear becomes everyday wear.

I sweat a lot and as a result try to avoid cotton for the most part. Wool is just a far better material in my experience, and doesn’t hold odor like cotton.

Problem is most wools are "super wash" aka coated in plastic. Real wool is expensive and finicky, even when hand washed.

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

#258

Post by miladyincontrol »

sva_ wrote: post #127
epolanski wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have recently started refusing to buy all of this plastic filled clothes. If I see any % of it I don't buy it. Period. I spend much more upfront for clothes, but I gain a lot long term. Clothes don't look terrible after few washings and they tend to last forever.

Pro tip: if your clothes say 100% merino wool or whatever, this is only about the fiber, and they may still be covered in plastic from the "superwash" process (for example, almost all merino wool is)

Yeah. Also while not a conclusive test, any wool that even suggests it could go in the washer is absolutely heavily super wash processed.

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

#259

Post by HWR_14 »

bluGill wrote: post #76
HWR_14 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just moisture sensing. Modern dryers also use patterns to prevent shrinking in terms of reducing the heat and then bringing it back as opposed to a constant temperature until dry.

Unless the load is very small this doesn't really do much - water evaporates and uses however much heat the dryer can put out. It is only near the end of the cycle where this can make a difference in most cases.

The whole point is that the amount of heat the dryer puts out goes to zero/very low amount for a period of time. So the evaporation stops and the cloth I guess has some time to make smaller adjustments? Then the heat resumes. I don't understand why it works, but I do know modern dryers do it.

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

#260

Post by klooney »

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.

You have to buy hipster clothes to have it happen
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