How to Shrink Sweatpants

CHANCE HENSON

Polyester fabric is one of mankind’s great inventions — it’s stain resistant, wrinkle resistant and water resistant. On the downside, it’s super durability also makes it shrink resistant, which can be a major headache if you’re trying to resize clothes such as a cotton/polyester-blend sweatshirt. Cotton is natural cellulose material, which is susceptible to shrinkage when exposed to heat. Although polyester is not a cellulose, water temperatures exceeding 176 degrees Fahrenheit can alter the chemistry of this man-made material and force it to shrink.

Explore this article

• Machine Wash on Shrink
• Boiled Down to Size

things needed

• Washing machine
• Dryer
• Large cooking pot
• Rubber gloves
• Tongs

1 Machine Wash on Shrink

Load the sweatshirt into a washing machine. Read the garment care labels of any other garments you plan to wash with the sweatshirt to ensure that they can be safely washed with hot water.

Adjust the washing machine’s temperature setting to hot — the heat will naturally shrink the cotton fibers in the sweatshirt but will have little effect on the polyester. Run the washing machine through a full cycle.

Transfer the garment to the dryer and add your preferred fabric softener. Adjust the dryer to it’s highest temperature setting and dry the sweatshirt for no less than 15 minutes. The heat in the dryer will further shrink both the cotton and polyester fibers in the sweatshirt.

Remove the sweatshirt from the dryer and inspect it for shrinkage. Return the garment to the dryer for an additional 15 to 20 minutes if it has not adequately shrunk. Let the garment air-dry if it shrank to an acceptable size.

2 Boiled Down to Size

Fill a large cooking pot with 2 gallons of hot water and place it on the stove. Use enough hot water for the sweatshirt to move freely.

Rinse the garment in warm water until it is wet throughout. Wring out the excess water and place the sweatshirt in the pot.

Heat the water on the stove to boiling; the water must be hotter than 176 degrees Fahrenheit to disrupt the polymer bonds in polyester and make them shrink.

Boil the sweatshirt for 15 to 20 minutes. Use tongs and heat-resistant rubber gloves to periodically check the progression of the sweatshirt’s shrinkage.

Carefully transfer the sweatshirt from the pot to a sink or tub and let it cool for 10 minutes. Use rubber gloves to wring out the excess water and then load it in the dryer with your preferred fabric softener.

Dry the sweatshirt on the dryer’s highest temperature setting. Remove the sweatshirt from the dryer after 20 minutes and inspect it for shrinkage. Dry for an additional 20 minutes to shrink more or let it air-dry if the desired size has been achieved.

Sewing is an artsy method of doing a lot of things with fabrics. You can create new clothes, sew torn clothes, create designs, sew a soft toy and do so much more with sewing. But sewing is not a very easy job and sometimes you need a solution in minutes and that is when you can turn to simple hacks that do not need sewing but can get the job done.

How Can I Make My Pants Waist Smaller Without Sewing

You can reduce the waist of your pants using safety pins and a small piece of elastic. It is not rocket science and can be done in 10-15 minutes. So, the next time your pants look like they need a fitting, try this method. Grab a scissor, a fresh piece of elastic and get going. Do remember though, this no sew method may not need a sewing machine but it definitely needs some good cutting skills. Read on to know how to make your pants’ waist smaller without sewing.

How to Reduce the Waist?

What you Need:

This process will help you reduce your pants’ waist by 3-4 inches. Here is what you will need to execute it.

• Tailor’s chalk
• A pair of very sharp scissors
• Sewing pins
• Elastic
• Safety pins

Steps:

• The first step is to iron the waist of your pants. Remove all the wrinkles and folds, so that there are no miscalculations in size.
• Turn the pants inside out and lay it flat on a surface.
• At the back of your pants, mark two points 5-6 inches apart.
• Measure and mark these points so that they are centered properly on the back seams. Consider the pant seat as center to mark these points.
• With a sharp pair of scissors, cut the stitches on the marked points and proceed to cut the fold on the waist.
• Make sure that the cut stays on the inner side only and is not visible on the outside.
• This cut should end 1 cm before the top of the fold. This means, do not cut the waist fold completely. Start at the bottom and leave space at the bottom.
• Cut at both the points similarly and keep the cut length the same.
• Now is the time to measure and cut your elastic. Your elastic cannot be wider than the cuts you have made.
• Once you have chosen your elastic, measure it to cut. Its length has to be less than the distance between the two cuts. The length of the elastic also depends on how elastic it is. If the elastic is too tight, cut it as long as the ¾ distance between the two cuts. If it is not too tight, cut it as long as ½ the distance between the two cuts.
• Insert the elastic into the seam through one cut. Pin it using a sewing pin. Pull the elastic out of the other side. Secure it with the pin on this end as well. Now take safety pins and replace the sewing pins with safety pins.
• Your pant’s waist will crumble at this point, indicating that your waist size has been reduced. If you do not see wrinkles or they are not enough, you may want to further reduce the size of your elastic and re-pin it.
• Your pants are now ready to be worn. This is an easy and convenient way of reducing the waist size without sewing.

How do I make My Pants’ Waist Smaller with Sewing?

The above-mentioned method is the easiest way of reducing your waist size but it does not offer proper finishing. With that method you also stand the risk of pricking yourself with the safety pins, if they open by chance. Following is an equally simple method of reducing the waist size but this one uses a sewing machine. To execute this method, you will need a sewing machine and basic sewing skills. Let’s see how to use this method to reduce your pants’ waist size.

• Turn your waist inside out and wear it. Stand in the front of the mirror and pinch it at the sides.
• Pinch your pants equally on both the sides so that your waist correction stays balanced after sewing.
• Mark the pinched waist with a tailor’s chalk so that you will know where you have to sew once you remove the pants.
• Remove the pants and lay it flat on a surface. Hold the fabric of your waist at the points that you had marked. Pinch and secure with the help of pins. Do this for both sides.
• Mark the line on which you need to sew. Remember from the pinched area you have to narrow down your stitches towards the side stitches of your pants.
• Thread your sewing machine with a matching thread and set the stitches to small, straight stitches.
• Secure your fabric under the sewing foot and remove the pins. Sew on the lines that you have marked.
• After sewing on both sides, your pants are now ready to wear.

In this method, you stitch the sides of your pants but you can also reduce your pants’ waist by stitching at two points at the back of the pants. This process needs more finesse because the stitches will be visible, so you will have to professionally tuck in and if you are not sure if you can do a fine job, stick to stitching on the sides.

How to Reduce the Waist of a Skirt?

You can use both the above-mentioned methods to reduce the waist size of the skirt. There’s one more method to work with skirts and this applies to skirts that already have an elastic. You can simply remove the elastic and replace it with a good one. One more thing that you can do with the elastic is, make a cut in the fold of the waist, pull out the elastic and pinch it as much as you want to tighten your waist.

You can secure this pinch with a pin or you can sew it. You can also cut the extra elastic that you have held in the pinch and sew the ends of the elastic together. Choose any method based on your comfort and expertise and your skirt will be good to go.

How do you Make a Dress Shorter without Sewing?

Don’t be surprised, this is completely doable. Again, it is a smart hack and may not be as flawless as sewing. You will need a pair of scissors, an iron and a hem tape to shorten your dress without sewing. Following are the few steps that will give you a short dress in no time.

• Cut the hem of your dress to the new length.
• Iron the cut hem to straighten all the wrinkles.
• Fold the hem inside. Make this fold of ½ an inch. Now iron the hem.
• Make another fold of the same size and iron again.
• Now is the time to seal the hem and this will be done by a hem tape.
• Open the hem tape and insert it under the fold of the dress.
• Iron the fold and hold the iron in one place for a few seconds, until the hem tape fuses to the fabric.
• The amount of time you need to iron the hem depends on the type of material you are working with. Lighter materials need less time as compared to thick fabrics.

This method can be used to reduce the length of any kind of straight dress be it a skirt, a frock, a sundress or a simple wrap around.

No sew method is simple and provides easy solutions to those who do not know how to sew. These little tricks make life easier when it comes to fixing the waist or the length of your dress. All the methods mentioned in this article may not be permanent but they can definitely save the day.

I recently treated myself to a new pair of Levi’s Vintage 501® jeans, made in the U.S.A. with selvedge raw denim from the dearly departed Cone Mills White Oak plant in Greensboro, North Carolina, the last selvedge denim mill in the United States. The mill shut its doors after 112 years in business on December 31, 2017, and Levi Strauss is using its remaining denim reserves from the mill for its Vintage line.

The denim is glorious. It’s tough, heavy and sturdy, the way denim is supposed to be. And like all raw and rigid denim, it will shrink if/when washed. With that, a question remains: What size to buy?

The right answer depends on how you plan to wear them and how you plan to wash them. Some men like to keep their jeans rigid, rarely or never washing them. Others like to stick them in the washer and dryer like the rest of their cottons. I’m somewhere in between.

In washed and pre-shrunk denim, my regular fit for a pair of Levi’s is 30W x 32L. But because of the unwashed, shrink-to-fit dynamic of raw denim and how it shrinks when it interacts with warm water and heat from a dryer, I have to size a little differently.

I already have a pair of shrink-to-fit 501®s that I just wash and dry with the rest of my clothes. The size I bought was 31W x 34L. After several wearings, washings and machine dryings, they’ve shrunk to a pretty good size, and they’ll shrink even closer to a 30W x 32L over time. These are my “doing dirty work” jeans – the one’s I’d wear when doing chores in the apartment, working on my bike or cleaning out my mom’s garage.

How the new 1966 501®s look from the front. New rigid denim jeans are always “big” before the first wash.

The plan for my new 1966 Vintage 501®s is a little different. I want to keep the dark, rigid character of the denim without being too precious about it. For now, even as I sit here typing, I wear them unwashed and rigid so they can “learn” my body and its movements as I work around the apartment or take the dogs out for a walk. I’m breaking them in like a new pair of shoes, wearing them like task pants in the evenings or on weekends when I’m off the clock.

Born in the U.S.A.

After a few months, they’ll be ready for their first soak in water. This first soak will involve me putting them on and literally soaking in a bathtub of warm water and a little Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Castile Soap for about 45 minutes, which will be a great time for me to catch up on the last issue of The New Yorker that I will have surely not read.

When I’m done with the soak and all caught up the previous week’s politics and culture, I’ll drain the tub, take the jeans off and leave them in the tub for an hour or so to let most of the excess water drain from them. Then they’ll go over the shower curtain rod overnight until they’re bone dry.

Close-up of the label and the back pocket.

Putting them on for the first time after that first soak is a very interesting feeling. Everything the denim has “learned” about my body and its movements is all there, and the jeans start to have a truly genuine custom fit. Down the road, the creases, fade marks, scuffs… they’ll all be mine, not artificially manufactured in a factory.

Unless my jeans get really stained or splashed with something nasty, I don’t wash them that often at all. A few times a year, probably. For those washings, they go in the machine with other darks. But unlike those other darks, they never see a dryer and, instead, get slung over the back of a chair to air dry.

I treated my last pair of shrink-to-fit 501®s like this about 10 years ago, and the jeans really lasted. I’d still be wearing them today if I hadn’t accidentally put them in the dryer, which shrunk the waist to an unwearable size. Live and learn. I’ll be more careful with these.

At present, my current denim inventory includes these new vintage 501®s, that other pair that I wash and dry with regular laundry, and two pairs of selvedge denim 511s for my slim-fit moods, which I also hang dry. Essentially, I’m all set and out of the new jeans market for many years.

An interesting tidbit… When the 1966 Vintage 501®s arrived, they came with the most helpful bit of information about how to care for the jeans. Levi’s essentially recommends one of three different care methods, each depending on how one plans to wear them. Here’s the rundown (I’m going with #2.) :

1. How to Bleach Mens’ Dress Shirts
2. How to Take Care of 100% Cotton Sweatshirts
3. How to Wash Viscose Clothing
4. How to Clean Viscose Shawls
5. How to Take Out Wrinkles From a Merino Wool Sweater

A beloved sweatshirt is a treasure for comfortable wear, but a fitted one is great for style. A baggy sweatshirt, although comfy, can leave you looking shapeless. With a little help from your washer and dryer, you can shrink baggy sweatshirts to fit your body better and maintain that cozy feel.

Step 1

Place your sweatshirt in the washer by itself. Do not try this using other clothes, as you don’t want other garments to shrink or bleed from the amount of heat this method uses. Use detergent that is color safe to protect the sweatshirt from fading. Wash the sweatshirt on high heat using the regular cycle.

Step 2

Place your sweatshirt in the dryer and set it on the highest heat setting. Make sure the lint trap is clean to prevent dryer fires. Check the sweatshirt after 30 minutes. If it is still damp, continue drying in 30-minute segments until it is completely dry.

Step 3

Try on the sweatshirt. If it is still too baggy, repeat the process until it fits to your liking. Should you shrink the sweatshirt too much, wash the sweatshirt again. Dry it stretched, laying it flat and placing heavy objects on the sleeves, collar and bottom to keep it stretched while it air-dries.

It’s a painful experience for a man to throw away a pair of ill-fitting jeans he has no use for, because that was money he could’ve spent on something useful… like sneakers he doesn’t strictly need or some artisanal pale ale. But just like you can distress your jeans at home, you can also perform life-saving surgery on baggy denim. With a few DIY tricks, you can alter the fit of your jeans, without forking out on a new pair.

Shrinking jeans isn’t a 21st century life hack. In fact, the first pair of jeans invented by Levi Strauss in the 19th century were made of unwashed, raw denim that came straight from the loom, and had to be rinsed by the customer to fit them. These were dubbed shrink-to-fit jeans, and were popular up until the 60s. You may have seen this demonstrated by Phil Daniels’s character in Quadrophenia, who submerged himself in the bath to get a classic mod fit.

So, whether you’ve gone through a fitness transformation and lost a few of pounds or just overestimated the extent to which you’d like the late 90s baggy trend, here’s the denim snob’s guide to shrinking your jeans properly.

5 Ways To Shrink Your Jeans

Turn Up The Heat

Your parents might have told you to stay away from the high heat on the washing machine and dryer, but now is the time to disregard that advice and rebel against this housekeeping commandment.

Place your jeans in the washing machine and set them to the highest temperature and cycle. Unlike the bath method (below), here it’s fine to add powder or softener, as it won’t affect the outcome of the wash.

When this is finished, put the jeans straight into a hot tumble dryer spin until dry. If they’re still not right, you can repeat these steps until you get the fit you require. But all in all, this shouldn’t take you more than a couple of hours.

What You Need: A washing machine, fabric softener
How Long It Takes: 2 hours
Level Of Difficulty: 1/5

The Bath Technique

This is probably the easiest of the jean shrinking techniques and is ideal for unsanforized (shrink-to-fit) denim, although it might feel odd and you may get a few strange looks from your flatmates if you leave the door unlocked.

Fill a bathtub with hot water without any soap. Put on your loose-fitting jeans, get into the tub and wait until the water cools before stepping out.

Once out the tub, shake off any excess water and step outside into the sun and wait for them to dry, fitting naturally to your form. During this drying period, you should walk around and perform some lower-body exercises such as lunges and squats to stretch out the denim if they feel too tight.

If the weather is particularly cold, speed things up with a hairdryer or simply hang them out to dry after stretching. Getting pneumonia in the name of denim really isn’t worth it.

What You Need: A bath
How Long It Takes: 30 minutes plus drying time
Difficulty: 1/5

Boil Them

If the thought of sitting in water with your jeans on makes you feel weird, give your denim the spaghetti treatment instead and drunk them in a pan of hot water. This technique can lead to a slight loss of colour if you boil your jeans for too long or at too high a temperature, but on the plus side you won’t get indigo dye on your thighs. Your call.

For this one, fill up a large pot or pan with water boiled straight from the kettle. Turn your jeans inside out and place them in the pan, submerging them in the water until all of the denim has been covered. Leave them to simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring them now and again. Once the time is up, drain the water and dry them on a high heat for perfect, al dente denim. Bellissimo.

What You Need: A large container
How Long It Takes: 30 minutes
Difficulty: 2/5

Take Them To A Tailor

Okay, this is technically cheating because it’s hardly DIY, but if you really love the style of jeans you own, have an inclination you’ll set your kitchen on fire by boiling them, and some spare cash in your wallet, take them to a tailor.

For some reason most of us just automatically assume that tailors are reserved for altering suits, but your local alterations shop will be more than willing to take in your jeans to your exact specifications for the legs, length and possibly the waistline. (Note that it’s difficult to alter the rise and hips).

It will probably take a couple of days for alterations to be made depending on how many there are, and shouldn’t set you back much more than £30. Which, for a professionally tailored fit, is a small price to pay.

What You Need: A trusty alterations tailor
How Long It Takes: 2 or 3 days
Difficulty: 0/5

Spot Washing

You may find that your jeans fit exactly how you want them to in some places (like around your calves) but don’t in others (around the thighs), so the above approaches might not be quite right for you. If this is the case, try spot washing your jeans.

Get yourself a spray bottle and fill it with hot water mixed with fabric softener, shaking until it’s dissolved. Spray this solution on the area of your jeans you want to target until it’s soaking wet and then stick them in the tumble dryer on the highest temperature setting. Repeat until you reach your perfect fit.

What You Need: A spray bottle, fabric softener
How Long It Takes: 10 minutes plus drying time
Difficulty: 3/5

Maintenance

We hate that passive-aggressive phrase, but do heed this warning: jeans are not meant to be constantly washed over and over again, as it alters its fit, quality and colour. Keep this in mind and only wash your beloved selvedge denim when necessary. If your jeans get slightly dirty or they need a refresh, simply go over any stains with a wet cloth or invest in an antibacterial garment spray. Happy wearing.

Over time, 98-percent cotton/2-percent spandex jeans will stretch out. This is due to the movement of the person wearing the jeans and normal wear and tear. You can shrink jeans about one whole size by placing them in hot water. This will return the jeans to a smaller size, but, eventually, the jeans will stretch out again. Every time you want to shrink the jeans you can repeat this process to keep them smaller and in shape. However, it is important to remember that the use of so much hot water on jeans will also weaken them and make them fade faster.

Heat 5 gallons of water in a pot on the stove. Allow the water to heat on the highest heat setting until the water comes to a rolling boil.

Remove the water from the stove using the oven mitts and pour the water into the large bucket. Place the jeans in the water using a broom handle.

Push the jeans into the water with a broom handle until they are soaked. Allow the jeans to sit in the water until it cools.

Run the jeans through the washing machine using the hot water setting.

Remove the jeans from the washer and place them in the dryer. Dry the jeans in the dryer for 20 minutes to one hour until they are completely dry. The jeans should be much smaller. Shrink the jeans a second time to make them even smaller. Once the jeans shrink two or three times, they will no longer shrink any smaller.

Different materials shrink differently and require different methods of shrinking, so it’s important to determine what the garment is made of before you try shrinking it. For example, cotton shrinks the best, polyester shrinks less, while leather and fur will get ruined rather than shrink.

Let’s take a look at some ways to shrink clothing. Note: For cotton, wool and polyester, if the process doesn’t shrink the garment enough, follow the directions for pre-shrunk and older clothes later in this article.

Cotton

1. Wash the cotton garment in hot water.
2. Put it in the dryer. Turn the dryer on high heat.
3. Check the garment’s size at various points during the drying cycle. This is especially important if this is the first time you’re washing the garment and it’s not a pre-shrunk garment. If it looks small enough, set the dryer to low heat/air dry and let it run until the garment is dry.

1. Wash the wool garment in hot water.
2. Put the garment in the dryer. Run the dryer on medium heat until the garment’s dry.

Polyester

1. Wash the polyester garment in cold water.
2. Put the garment in the dryer. Run the dryer on high heat until the garment’s dry.

Pre-shrunk and Older Garments

1. Boil water.
2. Soak the garment in the hot water. Be sure the water covers the entire garment.
3. Transfer the garment to the washing machine. Use insulated gloves or a long stick to avoid burning yourself.
4. Wash the garment in hot water using a very small amount of detergent.
5. Place the garment in the dryer as soon as the washing cycle ends. Dry the garment on high heat.
6. Check the size of the garment. If it’s still too large, repeat steps 1-5 until the garment shrinks enough.

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You’ll want to live in these.

Sweatpants used to get a pretty bad rap—something you’d throw on when you completely gave up on style and only cared about comfort. (Cue: Mean Girls’ “You can only wear sweatpants on Friday” rule.) But now that everyone is practicing social distancing and staying at home as much as possible amid the COVID-19 pandemic, sweatpants have likely become your new BFF (along with the rest of your athleisure, natch).

Whether you’re working from home or doing at-home workouts, there’s a pair of sweatpants out there for you. That’s the beauty of sweatpants: They’re versatile and comfortable enough for whatever you throw at ’em. Not to mention, the slouchy style will always look cute while binge-watching Netflix in bed with your beau, brunching over FaceTime with your besties, and of course, taking on the latest TikTok dance challenge.

Ready to slip into your next pair? Refresh your WFH wardrobe with these 12 absolute best sweatpants for women:

1. Best For Yoga: Athleta Studio Jogger

As soon as you step into these yoga-ready sweatpants, you’ll say, “Nama-stay in these all day!” (Sorry, HAD to.) Specifically designed for both indoor and outdoor yoga—as well as life off the mat, these sweats nail the balance between slouchy and fitted.

Plus, they’re made of a lightweight, wicking, and quick-drying material and come in three lengths—regular, petite, and tall—so they’re perfect for yogis of all sizes.

2. Best for TikToks: Aviator Nation Tie Dye Sweatpants

Staying at home means you’ve probably got some extra free time on your hands, and if you’ve been using that time to make some TikToks, you gotta look good, right? Made of lightweight fleece, these tie-dye sweatpants won’t just move with you as you’re learning choreo, but will definitely catch the eye of all your adoring viewers.

Just prepare yourself for a lot of messages asking, “Where’d you get those. “

3. Best For Running: Adidas Essential Three-Stripe Joggers

These lightweight, stretchy sweats will make sure your muscles stay warm without overheating the rest of your bod.

Plus, with a semi-fitted cut and two pockets for all your small essentials, you (and your phone, keys, wallet, etc.) will feel secure on the go.

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When a garment is too large or lose, it is possible to shrink it a little. The steps to shrink a pant depends on the material with which the piece of clothing is made. Baseball pants can also be shrunk. This way, you can make the pant fit even better.

Shrinking the baseball pant does not damage it. The only thing is that the shrinking process has to be done right. Following the right steps can shrink the pant without any problems. The steps are quite easy to follow and depend on the extent of shrinkage required.

Why Do You Need to Shrink Baseball Pants?

The major reason for people to try and shrink their pant is to make it fit properly. These pants may come in sizes that don’t fit them perfectly. Usually, any sports pants are made a little loose and baggy for a lot of reasons.

Loose fit pants are not very comfortable and sometimes be a big disadvantage like when sliding for the base. There are also chances that the players slip and fall with baggy pants. Also, on too much use, it can get baggy and get even more uncomfortable, though the fabric is good to last a little longer. In these cases instead of buying a new pant, you can shrink it.

Shrinking pants are easy and are cheaper than buying a new pant. There are a lot of steps and methods to shrink your pant. The shrinking is related to the player. It is only done until the player feels comfortable. Here are a few ways to shrink the baseball pants in no time.

How to Shrink Baseball Pants

The main aim here is to shrink the baseball pant without damaging the fabric. The only point is that it can very easily start fading as it is usually shrunk by washing.

The first and the most important thing to do is to turn the pant inside out. This is to avoid bleeding or fading. The next step is to wash it. It is important to wash the pant in extremely hot water. It is not a necessity to add detergent in this process. You can if you want to wash the dirt on the pant as you shrink it. You can also put it in a washing machine. The cloth has to be put inside the drier immediately. It should be dried in the hottest heat setting and for the longest possible time. Heat is the most important part of the shrinking process.

Once these processes are done, take it out of the dryer and check the shrinkage. You can try wearing it. If it is not shrunk enough, you can repeat the process again to shrink it to a small extent.

The other thing that you can do is after a hot wash and hot rinse, you should transfer the pant to an ironing board. This should be done immediately after the washing cycle is done. This does not mean you can just iron the cloth. For safety, you have to put a pressing cloth over the pant before ironing. This is to prevent fabric damage due to heat. Make sure you do not use the steam setting on the baseball pant as steam can damage it. Using dry iron will help dry out the pant and give you a good shrunk cloth in the end. Just like in the previous method, check the shrinkage and repeat if required.

There are some important things to keep in mind while doing the above processes. Check if you are putting it inside out. Make sure you put the pressing cloth on the pant properly. The pant cannot be directly pressed by the iron. There are also a lot of other methods to do the same and these two prove to be easy and also quite effective. Make sure you do not shrink the pant too much. Shrink only up to the extent that it perfectly fits the player.

Final Words

This usually works for almost all types of pants but make sure the method is perfect for the material with which your pant is made. Dedicate enough time and effort on it. Check the level of shrinkage. Don’t make it shrink too much. Some materials may resist shrinking. In that case, nothing can be done.

Make sure you don’t use bleach or detergent that can remove the color from the pants. If you think the color is fading, then stop the process. All materials can only be shrunk to a particular extent usually up to one or two sizes, so do not shrink if the pant is too big.

Fred’s Appliance May 28, 2014 Service Leave a Comment

It’s downright frustrating when you remove a load of laundry from the dryer only to discover that your favorite shirt or pair of paints has shrunk to the point where you can no longer comfortably wear it. Allowing your clothes to sit in the washing machine isn’t an option, as this promotes the growth of mold and mildew, but placing them in the dryer may cause them to shrink. So, what steps can you take to safely clean and dry your cloths without causing them to shrink?

Why Clothes Shrink In The Dryer

First and foremost, it’s important to understand why some clothes shrink in the dryer. Dryers use a combination of heat and rotation to remove moisture content. Different materials react in different ways to heat, but most fabric textiles shrink when exposed to high temperatures. As the dryer tosses around a load of clothes in a hot, enclosed area, it forces the fibers to gradually constrict; thus, resulting in shrunken garments.

Know Your Fabrics

The shrinking impact of dryer heat varies depending on the particular type of fabric. Granted, most fabrics shrink rather than expand when exposed to high temperatures, some shrink more than others. Knowing which fabrics are the most susceptible to shrinkage will allow you to make smarter choices when washing and drying your clothes.

Wool is one of the worst offenders in terms of heat shrinkage. Whether it’s a sweater, shirt or any other type of wool garment, you should consider drying them in a separate load. This soft and fluffy material constricts when exposed to high temperatures. 100% cotton garments also have a tendency to shrink in the dryer.

Tips To Prevent Your Clothes From Shrinking:

• Dry your clothes on the lowest heat setting possible.
• Consider investing in a sweater drying rack (uses room-temperature air) to dry your wool and all-cotton garments.
• Read, and follow, the care instructions on your garments’ labels.
• Avoid drying your clothes multiple times. One time should do the trick.
• You can air-dry clothes by hanging them from the shower rod in your bathroom.
• Use the cold water setting on your washing machine.
• When a load of laundry is finished drying, immediately remove it from the unit and begin folding it.
• Some dryers have a “tumble” setting which only uses motion to dry clothes. Use this setting when drying delicate clothes that would otherwise shrink.

I got sweatpants from roots and im pretty sure its 100% cotton. Anyways i really want to keep it baggy and when you wash it, it shrinks. how do i wash it without it shrinking?

8 Answers

Always use cold water but look at the tag on the inside first. If it says to hand wash cold then you should hand wash it and not use the delicate/hand wash cycle in the washer. If the tag says machine wash cold then it is safe to use the washing machine on delicate cycle with cold water. If you machine wash sweatpants that should be hand washed, you are taking a risk of the fabric color fading, damaging the fabric, and cracking any printed or painted logos or designs on them. Most sweats have tags that say tumble dry low which means either put them in the dryer on low heat or air dry them on a clothes hanger.

Use your washing machine like always but use cold water. Then hang them on a hanger and hang over your shower curtain rod to dry.

If when they are dry they are stiff and wrinkled put them in the dryer for 10 minutes and they should be good as new.

100 Cotton Sweats

Cold water and dont put them in the dryer, air dry them 🙂 hope i helped