How Do You Shrink Clothes?

Having a garment that is too big can mean the difference between frequent wear and relegation to the back of the closet. Luckily, it is possible to shrink many items at home with a few household appliances. It is even possible to shrink certain areas of an item of clothing, such as shirt cuffs, sleeves or collars, without shrinking the garment overall.

Shrinking large garments at home provides a cheap alternative to taking them to a professional tailor, while eliminating the waste of throwing away perfectly usable clothing. Whether adjusting the size of a pair of pants and a shirt for use as hand-me-downs for the kids, or extending the shelf life of clothes after the wearer has lost weight, anyone looking to shrink clothes can benefit from these simple tips.

Measuring Clothes
While it is not necessary to get an exact measurement of the clothing item before attempting to shrink it, it is a good idea to determine how much shrinkage is necessary. Depending on the fabric, at-home shrinking methods can only remove a few sizes. Therefore, it is a good idea for the owner of the garment to decide whether or not shrinking the item at home is sufficient for it to fit.

Determining Fabric Type
The difference in how well clothes shrink largely depends upon their type of material. Some fabrics are able to shrink more than others, while people can also ruin some clothes with any attempt to shrink them.

 Cotton clothing is by far the easiest to shrink at home, but the age of the item can also have an impact. Older clothing is likely to resist shrinking, while newer items shrink more easily.


Selecting a Method
Once there is a clear idea of how much shrinking is necessary, as well as whether or not the fabric is amenable to shrinking, it is time to choose a method. There are a few different ways to shrink clothing at home with a washing machine, a dryer, or with an iron.

Dryer Method
If an item only needs to shrink a size or two, a standard dryer alone can do the job. This method also helps to preserve the color of the clothing because it does not require washing with hot water. Instead, whoever is shrinking the clothing should wash the garment in cool or cold water and then put it in a hot dryer. It is a good idea to check on the clothing partway through the cycle to see if it has shrunk enough. Once the garment reaches the correct size, the person performing the shrinking should remove it from the dryer. If the garment is still wet, letting it line or flat dry the rest of the way prevents further shrinkage.

Washing Machine and Dryer Method
For clothing that is more than two sizes too big, using both the washing machine and dryer for shrinking gives the garment a better chance of becoming smaller. A person should use the washing machine on its hot water setting, which is much more effective for shrinking than cold or warm water, before putting the clothing in a hot dryer and proceeding through the dryer method. It is important to note that this method can lead to color fading in some fabrics.

To shrink a sweater or similar knits, put it through the hot water wash cycle as described above. Instead of putting it in the dryer, lay it out in the desired shape and allow it to dry accordingly. When dry, the sweater should fit in the new shape and size.

For shrinking large cotton t-shirts, after the hot water wash and removal from the dryer place the shirt in a pot of boiling water. Let the shirt boil for 5 minutes, longer if the shirt is really big, then turn off the heat and let the water cool to the degree that the shirt can be handled. Ring out the excess water and look to see if it has shrunk down to the desired size. If not, put it back into the water to boil a little longer until it is the right size.