Clothes Shrunk in the Wash? Here's How to Unshrink Them (2024)

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Clothes Shrunk in the Wash? Here's How to Unshrink Them? ›

In most scenarios, all you need is a container full of warm water with a capful of liquid detergent. Next, make sure to add in your clothes and stir them into the solution until they are completely soaked. Gently wring out the clothing to expel excess liquid and gently stretch the clothing back to its original size.

To fix shrunken clothes, you can try soaking them in lukewarm water mixed with gentle shampoo or conditioner. After soaking, gently stretch the fabric back to its original shape and size.

Take a bucket of warm water, add half a cupful of hair conditioner and a squirt of washing up liquid and mix. Add clothes and stir until hair conditioner has covered all fibres. Squeeze clothing to expel excess liquid. Lay flat and manually stretch back to shape then leave to dry.

How to Unshrink Cotton. If you find yourself with a tiny top in your hands, fully saturate the damaged shirt in water. Holmes then suggests gently stretching your wet shirt out on a flat surface or drying rack to the desired size. "Keep the shirt in place with household weights like heavy jars or cans," Holmes says.

You can, however, use fabric softener to unshrink clothes enough that they will fit again. Fill a bucket or sink with warm water, add a cup of fabric softener and soak your shrunken garment over night. Wring it out and stretch gently while still damp. Spread out to dry and rejoice when it returns to its old form.

Add a small amount of hair conditioner, which helps relax fibers. Submerge the shrunken item and let it soak for at least 30 minutes, up to a few hours for severely shrunk items. As the garment soaks, the fibers will gently expand and loosen up. Occasionally stretch and massage the fabric to coax it back into shape.

“When agitated too much during washing, the barbs lock together, causing felting shrinkage, which is permanent,” Gagliardi says. However, if a cashmere sweater has relaxation shrinkage, it can gently be pulled back to its original shape while it is wet before you lay it flat to dry.

In a small bucket, mix 1 litre (4.2 c) of warm water with about 0.25 litres (1.1 c) of white vinegar. Pour this mixture over the clothing item. The combined effects of the baking soda and vinegar should help to soften and stretch the fabric. Lay the garment out flat and let it air dry.

How to recover shrink clothes? ›

In most scenarios, all you need is a container full of warm water with a capful of liquid detergent. Next, make sure to add in your clothes and stir them into the solution until they are completely soaked. Gently wring out the clothing to expel excess liquid and gently stretch the clothing back to its original size.

If it was a cotton blend shirt or anything along those lines, you can soak the clothes in a mixture of hair conditioner and cold water (it loosens the fibers) for a while and then once you take it out, try to gently stretch the fabric out without ripping any of the stitching or seams obviously and then let it air dry.

Luckily, cotton typically only shrinks once. The fibers could continue tightening if you keep washing the item in hot water and tumble-drying it on high heat. But generally speaking, most of the contracting will happen on the first laundry cycle.

How to reverse shrinking clothes. For some fabrics, you can reverse shrinkage by soaking garments in lukewarm water, adding a couple tablespoons of hair conditioner, stretching and air drying.

"By adding a conditioner, you're softening and lubricating the fibers to loosen them back up so you can stretch them," he says. However, Westervelt cautions that the conditioner could leave behind a residue, causing the garment to attract more dirt, bacteria, and odors.

It is up to the retailer. However, most stores will take back merchandise even if you have removed the tags as long as they can tell that it has not been worn.

Place the shrunken item in the container. Fill the container with enough warm water to submerge the garment, ensuring it's fully covered. Add a teaspoon of shampoo to the water to relax the fabric fibers. Stir the solution gently, then let the garment soak for a few minutes.