TIPS TO PREVENT SHRINKING CLOTHES

Now, this rule of thumb goes for all your clothes, all the time. It’s the first thing you should do before washing, drying, ironing, or even purchasing a clothing item. 

Your label will have specific instructions on how to care for the fabric of your clothing, and not follow these instructions can very well lead to accidental shrinking.

To be safe, a good tip to prevent shrinking clothes is to double check labels of all clothes before each wash to be sure you are following fabric care guidelines.

These clothing labels will also let you know if you should launder or dry clean the item.

One of the best tips to prevent shrinking clothes is to reduce heat while drying them. The intense heat of a dryer can cause shrinkage, particularly in fabrics like rayon or wool. 

So, not only is it important to read your clothing tags for instructions on how to wash, dry or iron your clothing but also so you can see what types of materials are used and properly care for your items.

If your tags tell you to dry a shirt or pants on a low setting, make sure you only dry that item with other like items.

You should be aware that drying things at a lower temperature will take additional time, taking several more hours to your laundry day.

We’re all guilty of this: you’re busy or not at home when your clothes finish in the dryer, so they end up sitting there for a few hours or even days, getting wrinkled. 

When you finally get the time to fold them and put them away, you restart your dryer for 30 minutes just to get those wrinkles out. The problem is this will cause your clothes to shrink.

To prevent this, make sure you will be ready to fold your clothes as soon as the dryer is finished. However, you should also be careful not to over dry your clothes by leaving them in too long because that can cause fading.

Check your clothes several times throughout the drying cycle to be sure they don’t continue to have heat applied to them after they’ve dried out completely.