I have been meaning to write about one of our industries most misunderstood phenomena, which is what actually causes fabric to shrink, in particular cotton fabric and select rayons.
Now during my lifetime I have seen people show pictures of unwashed fabric and shirts compared against washed and dried articles, read statements proclaiming that its caused by dryer heat, and even someone trying to back up that dryer statement by saying that the appliance repairman told them so. But all those proclamations really fall short of answering the question.
While you may have indeed noticed that your cotton fabrics encountered shrinkage, you still really don’t know why. Did washing, drying or a combination of both cause it? Were there forces unknown to our civilization that caused it? A Government conspiracy maybe?
Here is what really caused you garment to shrink when you washed it, its called cellulose. Cellulose is primarily obtained from wood pulp and cotton and converted to textiles as well as other household materials that utilize converted cellulose. Yes its true, the wonderful solubility of cellulose in water is also what causes the shrinkage and wrinkling in your clothing when you launder them, machine washing and drying just makes the ill effects of shrinkage more noticeable.
Not convinced yet? The cotton actually draws in water so effectively that the cotton fibers swell way beyond proportion when wet and this swelling reshapes the garment. Hot drying simply chases the water out of the fibers at an accelerated rate and when you are drying the garment, the water and the cellulose molecules tend to compress the fibers as they dry. Obviously the clothes shrink and wrinkle in the process.
Another myth is that pre-washing prevents shrinkage. No it does not, while pre-washing is performed before a garment is sewn so to minimize shrinkage of the completed garment, it in no way prevents the sewn garment from further shrinking when its washed and dried. I would also like to add that there is no such thing as pre-shrinking, if it’s made from cotton it will continue to shrink until the cellulose deteriorates.
So now that you know what definitively causes fabric to shrink, you are probably wondering what you can do to prevent or minimize shrinkage. Well for starters you could take everything to a drycleaner, but that’s not cost effective for the masses. Our recommendation is to start out with good garments made from higher quality fabrics such as what’s used in our brand of Hawaiian shirts. Our Hawaiian apparel is constructed from cotton poplin fabric which has a higher thread count than most cotton fabrics; the high density minimizes the effects of water interacting with cellulose and minimizes shrinkage.
Hand washing and air-drying is sometimes suggested, but you have to remember that you are still introducing water to cellulose, thus the shrinkage is still occurring and just at a slower rate.
If you enjoyed this article please tell your friends. You may also be interested in how we design Hawaiian print fabrics.
Mahalo and have a wonderfull day!
Now during my lifetime I have seen people show pictures of unwashed fabric and shirts compared against washed and dried articles, read statements proclaiming that its caused by dryer heat, and even someone trying to back up that dryer statement by saying that the appliance repairman told them so. But all those proclamations really fall short of answering the question.
While you may have indeed noticed that your cotton fabrics encountered shrinkage, you still really don’t know why. Did washing, drying or a combination of both cause it? Were there forces unknown to our civilization that caused it? A Government conspiracy maybe?
Here is what really caused you garment to shrink when you washed it, its called cellulose. Cellulose is primarily obtained from wood pulp and cotton and converted to textiles as well as other household materials that utilize converted cellulose. Yes its true, the wonderful solubility of cellulose in water is also what causes the shrinkage and wrinkling in your clothing when you launder them, machine washing and drying just makes the ill effects of shrinkage more noticeable.
Not convinced yet? The cotton actually draws in water so effectively that the cotton fibers swell way beyond proportion when wet and this swelling reshapes the garment. Hot drying simply chases the water out of the fibers at an accelerated rate and when you are drying the garment, the water and the cellulose molecules tend to compress the fibers as they dry. Obviously the clothes shrink and wrinkle in the process.
Another myth is that pre-washing prevents shrinkage. No it does not, while pre-washing is performed before a garment is sewn so to minimize shrinkage of the completed garment, it in no way prevents the sewn garment from further shrinking when its washed and dried. I would also like to add that there is no such thing as pre-shrinking, if it’s made from cotton it will continue to shrink until the cellulose deteriorates.
So now that you know what definitively causes fabric to shrink, you are probably wondering what you can do to prevent or minimize shrinkage. Well for starters you could take everything to a drycleaner, but that’s not cost effective for the masses. Our recommendation is to start out with good garments made from higher quality fabrics such as what’s used in our brand of Hawaiian shirts. Our Hawaiian apparel is constructed from cotton poplin fabric which has a higher thread count than most cotton fabrics; the high density minimizes the effects of water interacting with cellulose and minimizes shrinkage.
Hand washing and air-drying is sometimes suggested, but you have to remember that you are still introducing water to cellulose, thus the shrinkage is still occurring and just at a slower rate.
If you enjoyed this article please tell your friends. You may also be interested in how we design Hawaiian print fabrics.
Mahalo and have a wonderfull day!
