What part of the washing and drying cycle makes clothes shrink? How can i avoid shrinkage to my shirts & pants

Answer 1

Wash in cold water. Always use the dryer cycle for low heat. If you are putting cotton clothes in there, it will shrink a tiny bit anyway. Sorry.

Answer 2

Most people believe that using hot water and drying in the dryer on high heat is the main factor. However there are other factors.

Shrinkage can be caused by the tumbling action as the garments hit the sides of the dryer.

Shrinkage is also caused by the washing process itself.

When a garment is made manufacturers often stretch a fabric to its max so that slightly less cloth is needed. (A tiny bit of fabric factored over thousands of identical garments is a significant savings.)

But when the garment is washed, the cloth fibers will shrink to their natural state.

The warmer the water, the greater the reversion.

These sites give some interesting information on the issue.

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
What part of the washing and drying cycle makes clothes shrink? How can i avoid shrinkage to my shirts & pants

Answer 4

The most important is check your clothes washing instructions. If your clothes are made of cotton, your clothes will more likely shrink if you use warm or hot water. It will shrink even more if you use the dryer. I suggest hang dry for 100% cottons.

If your clothes are for dry cleaning only such as clothes made of wool, your clothes will shrink. Use cold water and in use the delicate settings. Do not use the dryer and do not hang dry. Place this item either on top of a hamper to dry or on any drying equipment for delicate itmes. this is to avoid ruining the shape of your clothes.

Check also your washing machine manual so you will know what settings are appropriate but the safe settings are always on cold settings not only to avoid shrinking but also for colorfast clothes. The manual will suggest how much load to put to avoid dumping too much clothes. It might suggest using a laundry net.

Answer 5

Wash clothes on the permanent press cycle like my shirts pants skirts etc, and in cold water,look @ labels because some are for delicate cycle majority of the times the ones that say delicate is always cold water anyway. To dry low heat or to be on safe side hang them to dry. Especially shirts

Answer 6

It is probably the drying part of the cycle that is causing shrinkage. Be sure to read the labels inside your clothing for wash instructions and use the coolest water possible and hang dry your clothes.

Answer 7

It is the HOT water that will shrink clothes. Wash in cold water on a gentle cycle and hang shirts and pants to dry on their own. You might have to iron them, but they shouldn't shrink

Answer 8

If you want to be on the safe side, just wash them in cold water and line dry them. Don't place these items in the dryer, and you won't run the risk of any shrinkage.

Answer 9

It's the temperature of the water. If you wash things in hot, they will shrink. Try washing things in cold or warm. I only wash socks, underwear, sheets & towels, and sometimes jeans on hot. Everything else gets washed on warm or cold. The dryer will shrink clothing sometimes if it is something that says "lay flat to dry" or "drip dry." But, we had a housekeeper once who washed & dried a pair of "dry clean only" pants of mine, and I was terrified they had shrunk. They didn't, but only because she washed them on cold. The dryer didn't effect them at all.

Answer 10

Heat causes shrinkage--use cold water and low/no heat in dryer or hang them out to dry