Purposely shrinking clothes

Hello. I really want a shirt, but the problem is that it is XL and the company only made them in that size for some reason. It unfortunately is XL and I'm a Medium.

I've never shrunk clothes because it usually is a bad thing so I avoid it at all costs, but I really want to purposely shrink this shirt this time.

Has anyone done this from a large or extra large shirt to a medium? How did you do it and how did it go?

It's 100% cotton. Please help. Thank you.

you can shrink a large shirt down to a medium by washing it in warm/hot water and drying it with the hottest setting,

but i'm not sure if you can shrink the shirt two sizes down using the same method.

i've shrunk a t-shirt a size down with hot water/air plenty of times,

and the only issue i've had is that the seams/zippers don't shrink down as much or at all..

so the seams might "curl."

sorry, i can't explain this better..

good luck though!

you can shrink a large shirt down to a medium by washing it in warm/hot water and drying it with the hottest setting,

but i'm not sure if you can shrink the shirt two sizes down using the same method.

i've shrunk a t-shirt a size down with hot water/air plenty of times,

and the only issue i've had is that the seams/zippers don't shrink down as much or at all..

so the seams might "curl."

sorry, i can't explain this better..

good luck though!

Thank you for the reply.

Is it warm or hot?

I had a jacket once that I used for a long time but it shrunk a little around the zipper over time and it did curl as you mentioned so it brings up my main concern.

My main concern is the seams. I really can't predict how much they will shrink and if they will shrink in proportion to the rest of the shirt.

Do the sleeves and the "body" of the shirt shrink by the same amount most of the time?

It might be a better investment to take the shirt to a seamstress and see if they can make it smaller. If it's a t-shirt it will probably be a cheap and easy fix. Shrinking the shirt is unpredictable; the seams might twist, the shirt might just get shorter but not narrower, etc.

I had this shirt that I really like that was a sz XL but wanted it to be a Small-med. I dropped it in boiling hot water, placed it in spin cycle and popped it in the dryer. It worked.

It might be a better investment to take the shirt to a seamstress and see if they can make it smaller. If it's a t-shirt it will probably be a cheap and easy fix. Shrinking the shirt is unpredictable; the seams might twist, the shirt might just get shorter but not narrower, etc.

I'll consider it. Thank you.

I had this shirt that I really like that was a sz XL but wanted it to be a Small-med. I dropped it in boiling hot water, placed it in spin cycle and popped it in the dryer. It worked.

Was the dryer also set to the maximum heat?

You have to be careful when doing that if the shirt's colors are going to bleed.  I'd probably just take it to a tailor/seamstress and see if they can help.

Thank you for the reply.

Is it warm or hot?

I had a jacket once that I used for a long time but it shrunk a little around the zipper over time and it did curl as you mentioned so it brings up my main concern.

My main concern is the seams. I really can't predict how much they will shrink and if they will shrink in proportion to the rest of the shirt.

Do the sleeves and the "body" of the shirt shrink by the same amount most of the time?

the temperature of the water depends on the color of the fabric.

if it's a darker color, i use a mix of warm and cold water (mostly cold) so that the color wont bleed as much.

if it's a light color, i use hot water since i wont have to worry about the color bleeding as much.

it's the drying heat that i focus more on..

for maximum shrinkage,

have the dryer on the hottest setting.

BUT if there's a print on the shirt,

i probably wouldn't try to shrink it in the wash myself.

i've only shrunk plain shirts without prints.

i found that cotton shirts and shirts with a blend of cotton shrink proportionately..

it's the synthetic fabrics that you'd want to worry about twisting and dramatic shrinkage.

but the seams on cotton shirts probably will not shrink as much as you'd like them too.

if you really care about the shirt,

i'd recommend that you take the shirt to a seamstress/dry cleaners for a professional opinion

like some of the posters have stated.

the temperature of the water depends on the color of the fabric.

if it's a darker color, i use a mix of warm and cold water (mostly cold) so that the color wont bleed as much.

if it's a light color, i use hot water since i wont have to worry about the color bleeding as much.

it's the drying heat that i focus more on..

for maximum shrinkage,

have the dryer on the hottest setting.

BUT if there's a print on the shirt,

i probably wouldn't try to shrink it in the wash myself.

i've only shrunk plain shirts without prints.

i found that cotton shirts and shirts with a blend of cotton shrink proportionately..

it's the synthetic fabrics that you'd want to worry about twisting and dramatic shrinkage.

but the seams on cotton shirts probably will not shrink as much as you'd like them too.

if you really care about the shirt,

i'd recommend that you take the shirt to a seamstress/dry cleaners for a professional opinion

like some of the posters have stated.

This is great. I'm almost finished learning about it.

I might do a little bit of shrinking depending on how large the shirt is (since different companies have different ways of determining sizes) but it depends on the print right now. If it has a print, I definitely will take it to a professional.

I just noticed that it says "Heavy Cotton" in the description. Doesn't that reduce shrinking? Please tell me more about it.

i don't know much about heavy cotton shirts except that they weigh more than usual shirts.

sorry!

i'm guessing they weigh more because more cotton was used to make the fabric.

and i think you're right..

i don't think they'll shrink as much as regular cotton shirts.

but this is just my opinion..

It might be a better investment to take the shirt to a seamstress and see if they can make it smaller. If it's a t-shirt it will probably be a cheap and easy fix. Shrinking the shirt is unpredictable; the seams might twist, the shirt might just get shorter but not narrower, etc.

seamstress cant make it any smaller because you can't alter the armholes smaller.. they can make the body area smaller but the arm/shoulder areas aren't alterable.

i don't know much about heavy cotton shirts except that they weigh more than usual shirts.

sorry!

i'm guessing they weigh more because more cotton was used to make the fabric.

and i think you're right..

i don't think they'll shrink as much as regular cotton shirts.

but this is just my opinion..

I keep thinking it's more compressed so it needs more material to have the same size as another shirt. I searched it and I read that heavy cotton is thicker and it's used for weatherproof clothing, so it would make sense for it to have almost no room to shrink.

seamstress cant make it any smaller because you can't alter the armholes smaller.. they can make the body area smaller but the arm/shoulder areas aren't alterable.

Now that you mention it, that makes sense. It could work, but the armpit parts would look like Frankenstein's monster.

When I had an L that I needed to shrink to an S, I took it to get altered. Like cut up and sewn together smaller.