Club Obi Wan

...it's too big for me!

I ordered and got size 'small', but upon wearing the shirt, I found that the size is too big.

Granted, since some of you guys saw me at the UK summit last year, I've lost about a stone in weight (due to some stress a while back). It may be that once I put a bit more weight on, it will fit better.

So the question is, is there any way I can shrink it?

A while back, I tried to shrink my medium LL Bean shirt by leaving it in a huge pot of water on the stove, but I don't think I left it in for long enough.

Any help or advice would be appreiciated.

BTW, if any of you have been successful in shrinking a shirt, I will gladly send it to you and pay postage. Sorry if that sounds desperate, but I don't know what else to do.

I always thought the reason cotton t-shirts and stuff shrink in the wash was if you wash them in hot water and dry them in a dryer. Doesnt washing them in cold water help prevent shrinking?

Adventure Lad

Canyon,

The one successful way of shrinking a shirt that I have found is to go to a tailor. They will take it in at the seams and get you the perfect fit. In Boston, that would set you back around $40 or so, and I think it is worth it.

I have found when garments of mine shrink, they don't necessarily do so uniformly.

Good luck!

I would try washing it in warm water first and drying it on the lowest heat setting and see if that has any effect. If it has some (but not enough to suit you), then I would try a mixture of hot and warm water wash. You would do this by first setting the water temperature on your washing machine to hot and let it fill partially and then switch to the warm water setting. I think all washing machines are able to do this-at least mine does! I would then dry it at a medium heat. The idea is to do it slowly so that the shirt does not shrink too much. I realize that it may take a while to achieve, and that paying a tailor to fit the shirt to your shape would be a lot quicker (well maybe not if he or she is backed up with work!), it is a little less expensive!

Well, if you're needing to shrink it a lot, I wonder if boiling it in a big pot might work...but then the buttons might melt, but if you left it in there to not quite boiling point, maybe it'd be okay. I wouldn't leave it unattended though. On second thought, maybe a washing machine on hot is best.

Oh, I was gunna finish your subject sentence for you by adding ...it's not accurate.

Adventure Lad wrote:I always thought the reason cotton t-shirts and stuff shrink in the wash was if you wash them in hot water and dry them in a dryer. Doesnt washing them in cold water help prevent shrinking?

Adventure Lad

Exactly what AL said & yes on the cold water issue

The best way to get a shirt to shrink is to buy one that fits perfectly. These always shrink. With that in mind:

1) Shirts that fit perfectly will shrink until they no longer fit.
2) Shirts that are only slightly large and you wish they will shrink, never shrink at all;
3) Shirts that are very large, shrink only until they are slightly large and then they stop shrinking. They will never look quite right.
4) If by chance you get a shirt to shrink to the size you want it, it will not do so uniformly and one sleeve will be noticable longer by at least two inches.



Hot water and rapid drying may work. Some fabric is preshrunk and very tough like the LL Bean shirts. At least the older ones. They are very difficult to shrink or remove color from.

Shop around if you use a tailor. I found one a few miles away that took in my shirt for $15. I am not sure I would want to pay $40 to fix an $80 shirt. Be extra careful that you communicate HOW you wnat the shirt taken in. This guy did not speak English well as was about to taper my shirt by cutting a seam right up the middle of the back.

Skippy wrote:

Adventure Lad wrote:I always thought the reason cotton t-shirts and stuff shrink in the wash was if you wash them in hot water and dry them in a dryer. Doesnt washing them in cold water help prevent shrinking?

Adventure Lad

Exactly what AL said & yes on the cold water issue

Prooving that I am finally domesticated. My mum would be proud

Adventure Lad

I think the key issue is how much it needs to shrink.

If it's only a little bit too big, and you feel you might put on some pounds, if I was in your shoes, I'd be inclined to leave it as it is.

If it's so big it's like a circus tent on you, why not wash it and chuck it in a hot dryer? The results are a little unpredictable, but if it's huge, you're not going to lose enough for it to no longer fit.

If it's in between, I think the tailor could be an option or, again, just leaving it. Leaving it is always going to be the safest, default option.

I'm going to give it a go with the hot/cold wash, and let you guys know the outcome.