Shrinkage - What is it?

[Giles]

Yarns and/or fabrics are not fixed materials.  They consist of separate fibres that will stretch when exposed to tension, i.e. they elongate during the process of being made into cloth (during spinning, weaving, bleaching, dyeing and the various finishing processes, yarns and cloth are under continuous tension).  Some or all of this stretch within the fabric is retained in the post-loom fabric because of friction between the fibres and the yarns.

The stretch that occurs can be eliminated when the friction within the fabric is reduced.  This will happen during  soaking and/or washing, where both water and soap act as lubricants.  The lubricants, along with the mechanical action of the washer, help the fibres relax and contract (shrink) back to their original length.

One of the reasons that dry cleaning does not shrink natural fabrics is that the friction within the fabric is not reduced by dampening.

[MikeC]

I love shrinkage!!!

[Ponyboy312]

I love shrinkage!!!

Thats what she said.

[Giles]

We get a lot of question of the type:

How much will the thigh shrink?
How much will the front rise shrink?

All vertical measurements will shrink at the same ratio as the inseam shrinkage
All horizontal measurements will shrink at the same ratio as the waist shrinkage

So say the shrinkage of the inseam in 2" over 36", that is 5.55% shrinkage 

[simonc]

Nice.

[derivative666]

Shrinkage, isn't this what happens during an ice cold shower?

[Giles]

Not to me.....:-)

[Seul]

There isn't enough to shrink...

[calhart]

Hi Guys,
im going to resurrect this topic, or put it to sleep. i work for an industrial laundry machine supplier and some of our machines produce 120kg of washed linen every 2 minutes. we spend huge amounts of money proving to large hotel chains that its not our fault their sheets or towels have shrunk. we regularly ship sample packages to our lab in the Netherlands to be test. and then people dont like being told that the 1 million euro worth of sheets they just bought will shrink unevenly or by huge amounts. we sometimes get garments to test and my friend there states in his opinion some denim is the worst for quality and for ripping people off, for example one manufacturer in particular beginning with D the denim is bought extremly cheaply and the cost of one pair to produce can be under 3 euro, they then sell for up to 250 euro!! the shrinkage in these is abnormal.
all items shrink at different rates even from the same roll of material. what im getting to is ....IHUK i think do an awesome job of informing on size and shrinkage, and the jeans are top quality 

[Giles]

@calhart You do know I am desperate to see one of your machines don't you?

[calhart]

this link is a quick video, sorry about the dodgy music :-)
if you ever want to look round one of these places there are a couple near you i think,

[dj]

Pandemic has been great for me, more time for exercise, meditation, yoga, baking, cooking etc.

But I have lost 1.5 stone and some of my jeans have not shrunk with me. What would be the best way to shrink them - each pair I have had had a hand got wash before being hemmed.

Should I try as hot a wash as possible in the washing machine, inside out but with a gentle spin cycle? I don’t have a tumble dryer.  Need to permanently lose at least an inch from the waist of the trousers.

[organisys]

Wash em Hot and for a long time, it's the agitation that helps the shrinkage....

[neph93]

Should I try as hot a wash as possible in the washing machine, inside out but with a gentle spin cycle? I don’t have a tumble dryer.  Need to permanently lose at least an inch from the waist of the trousers.

Heat, water and agitation together is what you are after. But there is no guarantee it will work. It depends entirely on the fabric involved, how many and which processes they have been subjected to. Cotton fabric has a finite level of shrinkage. If this is maxed out already through, washing, sanforising, or other processes you won’t get any shrinkage at all whatever you do to them.