What causes clothes to shrink? Will drying clothes shrink?

Clothes shrinkage has a great impact on appearance. There are many reasons for clothes shrinkage. When we wash and maintain clothes, we must pay attention to the cleaning and maintenance methods of clothes of different materials and wash clothes correctly.

What causes clothes to shrink?

Clothes shrink mainly because of the structure and properties of fabric fibers. Wool fabrics are more likely to shrink and difficult to recover. Most of the clothes we wear every day are made of ordinary fabrics, which have a certain shrinkage rate. Synthetic fibers have the smallest shrinkage rate, while artificial cotton and artificial wool fabrics have the largest shrinkage rate.

Does drying clothes shrink?

Pure cotton clothes will shrink. My short-sleeved T-shirts shrunk in the summer, so I won’t use pure cotton clothes in the dryer next time. Dryers are rarely used in China, and many clothes have not been pre-shrunk, so they are generally marked as not suitable for drying. Many clothes abroad are pre-shrunk before leaving the factory, so they are marked as suitable for drying, but I put many clothes in the dryer. If expensive clothes are marked as not suitable for drying, don’t try to avoid shrinking too much and being unable to wear them.

What to do if clothes shrink after drying

Steam ironing:

The fibers of shrunken sweaters can be heated with a steam iron, and then stretched with both hands while they are hot. According to experience, due to the limited heating area of ​​the steam iron, in order to ensure uniform fiber stretching, the sweater is stretched locally, segmented, and heated. It is impossible to stretch the fibers a lot at a time, and it is necessary to repeat the heating and stretching many times. Before stretching, you should have a clear idea of ​​the total length of the stretching, so that you can also have a clear idea of ​​the stretching length of each section. After all the stretching is completed, the total length should be measured with a ruler. If the length is not enough, repeat it. Pay special attention to the size not to stretch too much, and make appropriate adjustments at the end. The operation should be carried out on the ironing table. At home, you can put a blanket on the table to do it. After all the completion, it is best to heat and shape it with a portrait machine and cool it to fix it.

Cardboard:

There are ways to increase the shrinkage of sweaters after washing. The specific method is: use thick cardboard (cardboard for home appliance packaging boxes) to cut into the original size and shape of the sweater. It is best to use sandpaper to polish the cut to avoid snagging the sweater. Put the sweater on the cardboard, fix it with a few clothespins at the bottom, and then use an electric iron to repeatedly steam iron various parts of the sweater, and remove it after it has completely cooled.

How to restore clothes that have shrunk?

If the clothes are shrunk, you can heat them with a steam iron and use your hands to stretch the fibers of the clothes. Do not stretch them too much at one time. Heat and stretch them multiple times. Be careful not to overstretch the size. Put the clothes on a sweater to prop them up and iron them with an iron to restore them to their original state.