Why does clothes shrink when washed

Fiber content — Certain natural fibers, such as wool and cotton, are more likely to shrink than others. Wool fibers are covered in scales, and when these scales come into contact with heat and moisture, they mesh together, causing fabrics to shrink. This is known as felting shrinkage. Additionally, cotton and wool can both absorb quite a bit of water, which can also lead to shrinking.

Excess moisture — Natural fibers like cotton, linen and silk can also be prone to a condition known as relaxation shrinkage. This happens when these absorbent fibers are exposed to water, which causes the fibers to swell and the overall size of the garment to decrease. Heat and agitation — Sometimes, the combination of hot water and the agitation from the washer and dryer can cause consolidation shrinkage. These conditions cause fibers, which are tightly woven and stretched out during the manufacturing process, to release this tension and return to their natural, smaller and shorter shape.

Related : Caring for Your Washer and Dryer. See more in:. Real Estate Tips. Lifestyle Ideas and Tips. Quick Tips for the Home. Helpful tips? It's an everyday tragedy of the modern world: you have a favorite piece of clothing that fits just so , but when it comes out of the wash, it's shrunk. Did you offend the clothing gods with your style? Is Maytag in league with American Apparel to keep you buying new clothes? In fact, your shrunken clothes didn't even really shrink.

Let's take a look at what's going on. A cotton t-shirt is made of cloth -- made of woven together threads, which are in turn made up of cotton fibers. These fibers are constructed of long molecular chains, which are linked end-to-end by hydrogen bonds. As the fibers are spun into thread and the thread is woven into cloth, the fibers and the polymers they're made of get pulled, stretched and twisted and the hydrogen bonds holding everything together get stressed.

Getting into the habit of sorting your laundry according to colour as well as washing temperature will help avoid shrinkage. Remember too that your washing machine and tumble dryer might offer programmes for specific fabrics as well, like a jeans cycle. For more laundry tips, check out our guide on how to load your washing machine and tumble dryer properly. This goes hand in hand with choosing the right temperature, as certain cycle will automatically set the washing temperature.

Not only will this cycle reduce the washing temperature, it will reduce the spin speed, resulting in a gentler wash and less shrinkage. Hand washing is another option, and it might even be the instruction the care label gives you. This is certainly the least damaging method of washing your clothes, but of course, the most labour-intensive.

Again, paying attention to care labels is key here. However, if it indicates that the item can be tumble dried, make sure you choose the right temperature setting. Drying clothes which require a low heat on a high heat setting is likely to result in shrinkage.

Again, if your tumble dryer offers fabric-specific programmes, be sure to use these. Thank you for your feedback. You just added this product to your wishlist.

You just removed this product from your wishlist. You can't add more to wishlist. Are you sure you want to clear your wishlist? You can only compare products from the same category. You just added an item to compare! Keep going!