Clothing that doesn't shrink like crazy once its dried??

[disneyofcourse]

Help! I am so tired of buying sweatshirts and shirts to have them go in the wash twice and not being able to wear them again. I have done inexpensive and semi expensive brands. Nike / J crew for his clothing and American Eagle, Express,Lucky etc for me. I've even bought Teens clothing like hollister because I found the carry some clothing with very long sleeves but then after one wash I'm wearing an almost belly shirt(But at least the sleeves still fit!). What am I doing wrong? I wash on warm or cold then pop them in the dryer on Medium. I used to use the low heat cycles and cold wash but it made no difference and things still shrunk. We are both very thin and tall people so finding clothing is hard enough. Then we both buy sizes much larger than what we need but we find the clothing till rising up and up.

Any stores for a young 20 something to shop for clothing? Any brands with extra long sleeves and lenghts for us "tall folk". The good news is at least I get donate alot of stuff to homeless shelters.

 

[dis-happy]

If it's 100% cotton, I wash in cold water and hang up to dry. It's the dryer that is shrinking your clothes.

 

[busyshrew]

Yup, it's not the washing, it's the dryer. DH and DD are long in the torso and arms so shirts can be tricky.

Try hanging all the clothes up to dry (the weight of the wet fabric will keep the garment stretched out). Then if you don't like that "crunchy feel", toss the clothes in the dryer when they are almost dry and give them a quick tumble for 5 minutes on a warm setting.

If the clothes are bone dry and you want to soften them, take an old t-shirt or lint-free towel, make it slightly damp and stick it into the dryer with the other clothes for the 5 minute tumble.

Also certain brands of clothing are definitely better for length - we like Gap because the shirts and sleeves seem to be nice and long, and it *used* to be that the quality of the clothing was good. (But it seems to be that Gap clothes are getting cheaper in construction, so this might be different now).

 

[KirstenB]

You can get tall sizes at Landsend.com. Also, their stuff doesn't shrink, and it lasts a long time.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We hang dry things we do not want to shrink here as well.

 

[OceanAnnie]

We hang dry things we do not want to shrink here as well.

We do too. Otherwise, I have a tendency to over dry things and they shrink, shrink, shrink.

 

[Ohiodislover]

We hang dry almost everything. Very few items that don't shrink in the dryer. It sucks!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We hang dry almost everything. Very few items that don't shrink in the dryer. It sucks!

I will tell you that the clothes stay newer looking longer when you don't use the dryer though.

 

[Imzadi]

Yes, it's not the name brand. It's what the material is made of, combined with putting them in the dryer.

Natural fibers will shrink.
100% cotton and some cotton blends will shrink.
Rayons will tend to shrink.
Linen will shrink.
Ramie will shrink.
Wool definitely shrinks.

If you really like the clothes and want to put them into the dryer, you have to factor in that it will shrink and purposely buy the next size larger.

I hang dry 90% of my good clothes. They look newer longer. The fibers don't get fuzzy from being agitated in the dryer, rubbing against each other. (Polyester & acrylic pill from the dryer.) And the colors don't fade from the heat.

Also, even if you factor in the shrinkage, you don't know which direction it will shrink. Sweatshirts tend to shrink shorter and get wider at the same time.

 

[HannaBelle]

We hang dry things we do not want to shrink here as well.

We hang dry all of our t-shirts.

DH is 6'3", I buy all of his shirts/t-shirts from Lands End. Their talls are longer than the "extra talls" from JC Penny's.

I have also found that Aerospotale t-shirts are serval inches longer than American Eagle. They also have a sale 2x a year on SS graphic T's for $9.99. We stock up!

 

[N.Bailey]

The more cotton, the more shrinkage you'll get. It's the heat in the dryer that's causing the shrinkage, not the actual dryer itself.

I have a clothes rack that I keep in my laundry room and I hang almost everything on a hanger to dry on that rack (not towels, sheets, socks, some jeans, undies etc... -but I won't put a bra in the dryer). It's a pain, but it will save your clothing!!!! Once the items are dry, I always toss them into the dryer with a dryer sheet (soften them up), but I use no heat at all. They'll still fluff up. The lint will still be removed if you have any, and they won't shrink!!

Sweaters and a few other things should be laid flat to dry so they don't stretch out of shape. Again though, I put them into the dryer with no heat once dry.

Not only will your clothing not shrink, they will probably last about 10 times as long. The dryer ruins the fabric too. Anything with a zipper (doesn't apply to jeans for some reason) should never be dried with heat. After a few washes, it will begin to do the wave thing. Any type of fur (faux that lines coats, sweatshirts etc), should NEVER be placed in a dryer with ANY heat at all. One time thru and your item will be ruined permanently.

 

[N.Bailey]

Another reason to not use the dryer for some items even if it doesn't contain a high cotton count is, if there are threads involved that differ on the garment, the shrinkage might not be the same across the entire article of clothing. For example, you buy a shirt from Hollister that has a number patch on it or a name patch. The actual shirt and the patch might not have come from the same cotton blend, thus, one area of the shirt might shrink 80% and the other 20%. Once that happens, it's off the garbage, or can then make a great waxing clothing for detailing your car.

 

[Imzadi]

You can also somewhat gently stretch back out clothing that has been heat dried in the dryer. After the next wash, when you take it out of the washer, while it is still damp, grab a sleeve at the top of the shoulder, just before the shoulder seam, and grab the cuff in the other hand. Give a gentle but firm tug. Sometimes, you can stretch it back down by a whole inch. Do same with the other arm, and/or even the body of the garment, as well as the neck hole.

Then HANG to dry. If it's a knit sweater, lay flat to dry.

 

[disfan07]

Everything I own is American Eagle and none of it shrinks.
I also do not dry anything.
Most clothes need to be hung. As a PP said, its the drying, not the washing that is shrinking things

 

[disneyofcourse]

Thank You for the info.

I set up a small area with hangers and a rod in our laundry room. So far so good with some of the new sweatshirts I just bought. The only downside is that its a little time consuming and takes up space but money wise its worth it.

 

[disneyofcourse]

Actually forgot something- What do I put underneath the dripping clothing to catch the water? We do not have a laundry sink or I'd be hanging things over that.

This whole thread makes me wish I just hadn't spent I hadn't spent all that money on a dryer last year.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Thank You for the info.

I set up a small area with hangers and a rod in our laundry room. So far so good with some of the new sweatshirts I just bought. The only downside is that its a little time consuming and takes up space but money wise its worth it.

It is worth it! It lengthens the life of the clothes. I also wash most of my clothes in cold water. If they have a stain, I pre-treat. Since changing my laundry habits (cold water, hanging to dry) they don't shrink, fade, or pill. I get our money's worth from the clothes now.

 

[Shyvioletisme]

I wear all different brands and materials of shirts and put everything in the dryer and don't have issues with things shrinking I have shirts I've been wearing for years now that haven't shrunk...

 

[OceanAnnie]

Actually forgot something- What do I put underneath the dripping clothing to catch the water? We do not have a laundry sink or I'd be hanging things over that.

This whole thread makes me wish I just hadn't spent I hadn't spent all that money on a dryer last year.

I would put a towel down. I'm wondering why your clothes are dripping wet? The spin cycle on your washer should wring out enough water to keep them from dripping.

I do use our dryer too. Sometimes I just put clothes in the dryer on low and when done if they are still a little damp, I let them air dry.

I wear all different brands and materials of shirts and put everything in the dryer and don't have issues with things shrinking I have shirts I've been wearing for years now that haven't shrunk...

I don't know. Some things I can wash and dry, no problem. I noticed the kids clothes shrinking the worst. I don't know why that is, but I do know they weren't growing that fast!

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I've never had a shrink issue with A&F and Express clothes, but I don't dry on medium or high heat, just low heat.