This Surprisingly Simple Laundry Hack Lets You Unshrink Clothes (2024)

FAQs

Can you really unshrink clothes? ›

You can unshrink clothes using household items like baby shampoo or hair conditioner mixed with lukewarm water. To prevent future shrinkage, always read care labels and use lukewarm water for washing your garments.

To unshrink clothes, first, add 1 Tbsp. of conditioner to a small bucket or container filled with warm water, mixing the product as much as possible. Fully immerse the garment in the mixture and let it soak for 30 minutes. Finally, rinse the conditioner from the item and gently stretch it to your desired size.

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.

T-shirts or other cotton items that have gone tiny can be stretched if you use this method from Cotton Incorporated: Put 3 tablespoons of hair conditioner in a basin of warm water. Add the shirt and let it soak for about five minutes.

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.

If you lay your wet garment flat to dry after washing, no additional shrinkage will occur and the fibers in your clothing will de-swell and reform to their original size. However, if you machine dry the clothing, it can indeed shrink for good.

Mix a half cup of white vinegar with a fourth cup of hair conditioner to a sink of warm water. After soaking the clothing for about 30 minutes, gently stretch the garments. Continue soaking for another hour and then wash as usual to unshrink clothing.

Wash the item of clothing in the washing machine using a hot water cycle. Dry the garment on high heat for up to 60 minutes, checking on it in five-minute intervals to monitor how quickly it shrinks. Remove the item when you believe it has shrunk to the desired size.

How do you remove shrinkage from fabric? ›

To remove residual shrinkage, you only need to wash ONCE. And really all you need to do is to soak the fabric in hot water for 15 minutes. You do not need to agitate unless you want to soften the fabric. That can also be done by tumbling with no heat in a dyer.

Patience is key to unshrinking clothing. Allow the garment to soak in the conditioned water for at least 15-30 minutes. This timeframe provides the fibers with ample time to relax and regain some of their original elasticity.

You can often manually stretch clothes that shrunk by getting them wet in cold water, wringing excess water (or putting them in the rinse/spin cycle in the washer in cold water), then pulling on/stretching them, & allowing them to air dry.

Do clothes shrink in the washer or the dryer? Clothes may shrink in the washer if they are washed in a hot water cycle with heavy agitation, as well as in a dryer in high-heat settings that may cause overdrying. As a rule of thumb, high temperatures increase the likelihood of clothes shrinking in your laundry routine.

Additional Tips for how do you unshrink clothes

Use these tips to restore your shrunken clothing: Steam Ironing: Lightly steam ironing the garment can help relax the fibers and restore its original size.

Dissolve one tablespoon of hair conditioner or fabric softener to a bucket filled with lukewarm water and add the shrunken wool garment. Let it soak for about thirty minutes; afterwards, rinse the jumper of the conditioner and gently stretch the shirt back to its original size. Let it hang dry.