# Poly-Cotton Blend Shrinkage?



## kneghx

I got a good deal on a nice pinpoint oxford cotton-poly (60/40) blend shirt that I really liked the look of and was amazed to find it fit me almost perfectly right off the rack. I've washed it three times now, all three times I've followed the instructions on the tag carefully except that instead of putting it in the dryer I hang it to dry (as i do with all my shirts).

After the first 2 washings everything was fine, but now after its third washing, I tried it on today to find that the sleeves are suddenly over an inch too short. While I'm a bit mad about losing the shirt I'm mostly frustrated from confusion. First, I didn't think a cotton-poly blend _could_ shrink and second, even assuming that it can, how _could_ _it have_?? I don't understand. How do I make sure this doesn't happen again?



> *ASK ANDY UPDATE: *Check out our article about why clothes shrink. Includes information about *60/40 poly/cotton blends*, and ways to minimize shrinkage.


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## Searching_Best_Fit

From my personal experience, all shirts shrink, no matter whether it is cotton-poly blend or 100% cotton. If the shirt has spandex or *stretchy*, it shrinks more.

Some says the shirts shrinks with warm water washes. Some says it shrink due to temperature difference from cold to warm or vise versa. So even if I keep cold wash, line dry, the shirt still shrinks, especially on the sleeve.

You can try to stretch it by pulling the sleeve with moderate pressure to see if it can stretch back after wash. Hold the sleeve from head and cuff, pull it with moderate pressure as if you are pulling the chest springs from exercise for about some time. Repeat this several times to see if there is improvement.

Or lastly as lesson learned: Never buy shirt with perfect fit right off the rack! When you buy shirts, you should get it larger and anticipate the possible shrinkage for the perfect fit.


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## kneghx

Searching_Best_Fit said:


> From my personal experience, all shirts shrink, no matter whether it is cotton-poly blend or 100% cotton. If the shirt has spandex or *stretchy*, it shrinks more.
> 
> Some says the shirts shrinks with warm water washes. Some says it shrink due to temperature difference from cold to warm or vise versa. So even if I keep cold wash, line dry, the shirt still shrinks, especially on the sleeve.
> 
> You can try to stretch it by pulling the sleeve with moderate pressure to see if it can stretch back after wash. Hold the sleeve from head and cuff, pull it with moderate pressure as if you are pulling the chest springs from exercise for about some time. Repeat this several times to see if there is improvement.
> 
> Or lastly as lesson learned: Never buy shirt with perfect fit right off the rack! When you buy shirts, you should get it larger and anticipate the possible shrinkage for the perfect fit.


So are you saying that I should buy my shirts overlarge and wear them that way? Wouldn't it make more sense to intentionally shrink it and then that's done with. How much shrinkage should I anticipate? Why aren't shirts just pre-shrunk? I have a lot of questions apparently...


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## Duvel

Your laundering methods are going to have a lot to do with shrinkage, obviously. I hand-wash and hang dry any shirt I care about--and that's almost all of them. With this I probably get less than, as a guess, 5 percent shrinkage. Very little, in other words. If I machine-dried, there'd be considerably more. 

This is something that you really shouldn't be over thinking. Buy the size that you are comfortable in, then take care of the shirt. There are far more important things to worry about, like whether the dye in your madras shirt is givng you cancer or whether your hat might be making you insane.


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## Searching_Best_Fit

kneghx said:


> So are you saying that I should buy my shirts overlarge and wear them that way? Wouldn't it make more sense to intentionally shrink it and then that's done with. How much shrinkage should I anticipate? Why aren't shirts just pre-shrunk? I have a lot of questions apparently...


If the shirt is alpha sizes (S/M/L/XL..), you have no choice because the sizes vary greatly between one size to another. If you go with collar/sleeve length size, you should try upping the collar by 1/2" with longer sleeve. 1/2" of collar is not that significant while longer sleeve (1" longer) is not that a big deal. So unless you want to do the hand wash, line dry method, you have to anticipate the shrinkage and wash it carefully.

Be aware that different manufacturers makes their clothes differently. From brand new unwashed OTR one's dress shirt marks at 34/35 sleeve length is measured as 35.25" whereas another dress shirt marked as 34/35 is measured at 36.5". They may shrink at different rates and have different sizes eventually.

You have to control the way you wash the shirts so that these shirts shrink based on the same condition. Then you can find a particular manufacturer that makes the shirt the size to your liking, and stick with that size until one of the variable changes: whether you grow or shrink or they change their sizing.

This is where the fun is: finding the perfect fit after the dress shirt is shrunk. I do not know why manufacturer pre-shrink their clothes for dress shirt. But hopefully I can anticipate and control the shrinkage so that the shirt is still wearable after 5 washes, and last more than that afterward. I can only concentrate on what I can control, rather than asking things that I have no way to change.


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