Shrinking clothes?
Hello,
A month ago I noticed that my clothes had started to shrink, whether it was a 50% polyester sweater, a 50% cotton shirt, or a 100% cotton shirt, or even a cotton jersey T-shirt…
I usually set them to the easy-care cycle at 30 degrees. All clothes that can be washed normally and those that should be washed on the gentle cycle go together (we're not talking about wool here).
Does anyone have any idea why the clothes still shrink?
In jeans it is known that the fabric enters after the first wash. This happens because the fibers bring themselves into a “more comfortable” form when they become wet for the first time after spinning and weaving. Due to the twist, the yarn becomes thicker and shorter at the same time when the fibers relax.
This can also be observed with tea bags when their threads become wet during brewing. Then the thread gets a twist that “slept” in the dry state. When drying, the tea bag hanging on the thread would have to turn back a bit backward when it came to rest wet.
Very interesting, but we speak specifically about polyester and cotton.
And things that have been washed and worn many times
I’ve explicitly looked at cotton. Polyester can only shrink if you wash it too hot and thus reverse the stretching of the fibers. But this should actually be excluded under the given washing conditions.
Cotton does not shrink. If you eat more than usual, you will gradually become thicker, almost without notice.
In my case, it’s that I’m slim and big. But I don’t care, the situation doesn’t fit with me.
But something already happens with the clothes 🤷