I have been doing laundry for a couple years but always shrink my clothes. Why does this keep happening?
By John from NY
Something is too hot - either the water or the dryer. Wash on cold or warm and if you need to dry in the dryer for wrinkle prevention, do so on low and get them out while still damp...except towels and sheets. You can hang shirts and let them finish drying on the shower rod. Pants will also dry this way.
Try to buy only 50/50 Cotton/ Poly, not all cotton which will shrink OR over stretchout when worn. It's unreliable. Follow the suggestions of using cold water and cool air for machine wash/dry.
You may be washing clothes that should not be washed - like rayon. some fabrics are dry clean only because of the shrinkage problem. Usually, you can wash those clothes in cold water, by hand, and dry flat. You may be using too hot a water &/or too hot a dryer. NEVER use high heat on your dryer. I guess things like towels are okay on the highest heat, but clothes - never.
I dry all my things, except those that say hang to dry or dry flat, in the dryer, till they are dry, on my medium setting. My clothes do not shrink (I wish I could use that as an excuse - it is me getting bigger! LOL) Some older dryers only have one setting, which may be too hot.
Its not major shrinkage its like half an inch, usually is 95% cotton do these always shrink no matter what? How much of a difference is tumble dry low to high?
