Solutions For Shrunk Clothing

I am a believer in not dry cleaning, but recently I washed some Dry Clean Only clothes, in cold water on the gentle cycle, and had some problems with mild shrinking. The pieces didn't shrink a lot, but just enough.

This is probably a silly question, but does anyone know of any real way to un-shrink clothing that has been shrunk? Clothing was made of wool, viscose or rayon, which can be very delicate, but not always. Sometimes it turns out fine when washed gently in cold water.

I have heard that soaking the item in cold water with hair conditioner and then stretching it out helps, but maybe nothing really does.

I'd appreciate any tips anyone might have!

Anna

Answers:

Solutions For Shrunk Clothing

I've actually had this happen a few times and the solution I have found is to rewash and then stretch the item if needed. Then hang to dry. (05/18/2005)

Solutions For Shrunk Clothing

Make a blocking form out of cardboard and contact paper. Soak the item, but don't wring it out. Put it on the form to stretch it back to its original shape. It sounds like a lot of work, but it's worth it. (05/19/2005)

By Ardis

Solutions For Shrunk Clothing

Have you ironed the item? Sometimes washing will shrivel material, but once it's ironed, it will flatten and stretch the material back to the original or almost original size. (05/19/2005)

By Joanne

Solutions For Shrunk Clothing

My ex-boss told me to un-shrink my wool dress I should put it in a load of conditioner and water. Then "not" put in the dryer. (12/02/2007)

By Amy

Solutions For Shrunk Clothing

Seems to me that you can get a wool item very wet and then slowly stretch it back to size. After some other reading, I believe that the wool will loosen up a bit when you wet it and pull it apart. I want to actually shrink a red wool dress just a tad and will try to wet it and put it in the dryer for a bit. Good luck. (01/27/2008)

By HTP