How to (purposely) shrink clothing without damaging it

The normal thing is that if the laundry shrinks when washing it, we are very upset; But there are times when we look for precisely this to happen. Either because a garment is too big or because of an experiment, for example, there are people who want to know how to shrink clothes. To do it well, a series of precautions must be followed.

Although each type of fabric behaves differently, heat shrinks most fabrics and some fabrics even shrink when immersed for a long time in Hot water.

How to shrink clothes

1. Identify the tissue:

The first thing to do is to know what fabric the garment is made of. It must be taken into account that, in general, natural fibers like cotton, linen, cashmere, mohair, organza, georgette, dupioni silk or Thai silk, they shrink more easily than artificial ones. And pay attention, because it is not only about being attentive to the material of the garment that we want to shrink, but it also matters a lot how it was made. There are garments that have been preshrunk, so you have to read well the tags. These would not serve to shrink them at home, for example. This is the case of many wool fiber garments, which are made in this way to avoid disappointment to their buyers after the first wash. This is a common feature of jeans as well. Many styles of distressed jeans are preshrunk and that is the process that gives them their unique look.

• Cotton – 100% cotton is a natural fiber and it is easier to shrink in its first wash than when we have already washed it many times.
• Lino – Linen has an open weave and is easy to shrink. It tends to shrink more than cotton.
• Lana – Wool is also a natural fiber that shrinks easily with heat. When a woolen fabric shrinks, it can appear thicker and can form little balls.
• That – Silk shrinks with heat, but wrinkles or ripples may appear. Being a delicate fabric, you have to be careful when trying to shrink it. If silk is combined with lace, it may shrink in different amounts.

2. Shrink clothes in the washing machine:

As a general rule, the more hot let us put the water, the greater the shrinkage of the garment. Cotton, for example, tends to shrink, even with normal washing, by between 3% and 5%. If we want the garment to become even smaller, we will have to increase the temperature. 40ºC is considered warm water so you should use a program that heats the water more.

Once the cycle of the washing machine is over or if you decide to stop it to see how it goes, if you do not want to shrink the clothes any more, you can try to stop the process by hanging them on the clothesline or drying them on a flat place. On the contrary, to shrink it even more, use the dryer on the hottest setting.

When the garment is dry, try it on. If you want it to continue shrinking, put it back in the washing machine. This process of overheating It is what shrinks clothes. If you are still not satisfied with the degree of shrinkage, you can repeat the process again. Some clothes need several washes before reaching maximum shrinkage.

The trick to shrink clothes is don’t go over. It is better to go little by little than to end up with a garment that is too small.

3. Shrink the laundry by soaking it:

Another option for shrinking clothing is to soak it in warm or hot water. It is a slower process, but perhaps in which we can exercise a little more control, since we can look out what happens in each moment. The rule of thumb is simple: the longer clothes are soaked, the more they will shrink.

4. Shrink the clothes with the steam from the iron:

This is an alternative method if you don’t have a hairdryer. It’s about using the iron to apply heat. It is advisable to first do a test in an inconspicuous area of ​​the garment because there are times that water vapor can leave water stains or damage fabrics. Remember that steam no It is recommended for the silk or rayon and that you always have to put a cotton cloth between the iron and delicate fabrics.

With these techniques you will surely find a way to make your garment shrink, but you must be clear that there are times that this leads to colors are also affected. If you’ve tried to fix it and there’s no other way to try to make it fit, try shrinking it, but we don’t recommend using shrinkage as your first choice for fitting your clothes.