Club Obi Wan

Got some adventure pants and they turned out a little bigger than I planned in the waist. If I machine wash these and stick them in the dryer how significantly will they shrink? I got them a little long too (on purpose) so I'm not worried about that, but I wasn't planning on the waist being so loose, the pants barely stay on with a belt, really not sure how this happened because I measured pants that fit. Anyways if I send them through the washer and dryer will they shrink down to Barbie Doll size or just a few inches? :

I would take them to a tailor and have them altered. There is no way to gauge how much wool pants will shrink by washing and drying wool pants. It would be a shame to ruin a pair when altering would work better and could be cheaper in the long run.

The argument made for washing and drying would be: add character, show signs of wear. Unless you WANT all your gear to look like it was made yesterday, it makes some sense to distress. I fear they just won't shrink enough, but then you can have them altered and not worry about any future shrinkage.

Where the wool shrinks, and how much, can vary in a garment. You can end up with some odd bunching along seams, texture changes, stuff like that. Just take it in to a tailor. The results will be much better, and will cost less than you would think.

I have a similar problem with my shirt. I have a Wested shirt, size is M, but is big. How can I shrink it? Thanks for any help!

When the answer is unclear always ask: "What would Indy do?"

If they're wool, I would NOT recommend that you machine wash and dry them. They'll shrink, but will probably come out looking really fuzzy.

I agree with ij1936 - take them to a tailor and have the waist taken in.

Scott

You could also try eating a few tubs of butter with a spoon. Eating a lot of deep fried bacon wrapped weiners and such oughta help that waistline fit real snug.

Think outside the box, people!

How would you clean work clothes in the 1930's? Never clean? Dry-Clean only? Hand-wash/line-dry? Wasn't it common to size-up to accomodate shrinkage?

Snakewhip_Sable wrote:You could also try eating a few tubs of butter with a spoon. Eating a lot of deep fried bacon wrapped weiners and such oughta help that waistline fit real snug.

Think outside the box, people!

Mmm...bacon...

BTW, I did have a pair of L.L. Bean wool pants about 25 years ago (they don't sell the particular style anymore). I wore those pants everywhere as a teenager and only washed them in Woolite and cold water, because I was too cheap to pay for the dry cleaning.

One night, I really wanted to wear the pants but they were still wet from washing. I usually air-dried them, but I decided (stupidly) to throw them in the dryer. Well, in the matter of 20 minutes, they shrunk by a couple of sizes and became really frizzy. I made the same mistake years later with a very nice Scottish sweater to similar results.

Bottom line: they'll shrink for sure!

Regards,
LJS

There's an interesting thread around here about having Crystal Skull screen-accurate pants made -- at over $400./pair.

But the relevant point is that Bernie washed the pants to make them look worn and rumpled. So the question remains: Are these pants brand new or have they been on some adventures?