Knowing everything about garment care is impossible, and that’s okay. What’s not okay, however, is when you are careful to follow all the laundry care guidelines, yet your favorite knit shirt or that cozy sweater still comes out of the wash stretched, shrunken, or even faded.

Luckily, there’s no need to give up on your favorite pieces just yet. In this post, we walk you through a tried and proven method of rescuing shrunken garments – using a soaking solution.

What Causes Clothes to Shrink in the First Place?

Clothes shrink because of a combination of factors, many of which can be easily overlooked during everyday laundry routines. It’s not always about how often you wash them but rather how you handle them. Now, let’s look at the most common culprits of why clothes shrink in the wash.

1. Heat from Washing or Drying

One of the biggest reasons for shrinkage is heat. When fabrics (especially natural materials like cotton or wool) are exposed to high temperatures, the fibers contract. Washing your clothes in hot water or drying them on high heat can cause this reaction, leaving you with smaller, tighter garments.

2. Agitation in the Washing Machine

The way clothes spin and are cleaned inside the washing machine also plays a role in shrinkage. When clothes are exposed to too much agitation – think of a vigorous wash cycle, especially during the extraction phase when the wheel often spins quite fast. The fibers can be impacted and tighten, causing your clothes to shrink. Overloading the machine makes this worse, as clothes don’t have enough room to move freely, leading to more friction and wear.

3. The Type of Fabric

Various fabrics react to washing differently. Natural fibers like wool, cotton, and linen are more prone to shrinkage than synthetic fabrics. These materials are sensitive to both temperature and agitation, which is why they often come with strict care instructions. Synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon are more resistant to shrinkage but can still be affected by extreme heat.

Care labels are designed to guide you as to the best method or methods to clean the garment but sometimes the stains can’t be fully removed with the recommended care process. But the spotters at Parkway have decades of experience working with every type of stain on every type of garment in order to safely clean and restore the piece, even when we have to use other methods that the care label may not recommend. We know what can and can’t work and what methods won’t produce any shrinkage. That said, we may have to discuss options and potential risks with you, depending on the specific cleaning challenge. When you’re not sure – please let Parkway or a very well trained professional handle your delicate treasures and wardrobe.

4. Incorrect Detergent Use

Using the wrong detergent for certain fabrics also can contribute to shrinkage. Some detergents are too harsh for delicate materials, breaking down the fibers and causing them to shrink. Always check the label to ensure you use an environmentally friendly detergent that’s safe for your clothing type, and the planet too!

5. Improper Drying Techniques

Air drying is often the safest option to avoid shrinkage, but not everyone has time for that. Using a high heat setting on your dryer might speed up the process, but it also puts your clothes at greater risk of shrinkage. Over drying or leaving clothes in the dryer for too long will almost certainly lead to shrinkage, especially for delicate or natural fabrics. And dyes can be impacted along with texture change too.

Step-by-step Guide to Restore a Shrunken Garment

First, we would suggest that you talk to one of the experts at Parkway about your garment and how best to resize it. Parkway has several methods and unique equipment we have invested in over the years, along with steam and presses to re-block and expand fibers, which will often produce the optimal result to restore your garment to its original shape and size.

But here is one technique that might work for you at home – but be careful that your care label will allow for washing or wet-cleaning – otherwise you may do even more damage to your garment.

Step 1 – Create a Soaking Solution

One of the simplest and most effective ways to restore shrunken clothes is with a soaking solution. This method relaxes the fibers, helping them regain their original shape with minimal effort. Here’s how to prepare and use it.

Step 2 – Submerge the Garment

After creating the soaking solution, the next step is to submerge the garment. This part is crucial because it allows the fabric fibers to fully absorb the solution, making them more flexible to stretch back to their original shape. Here’s a guide on how to do it correctly.

Step 3 – Remove the Garment from the Solution

Once your garment has soaked up the solution, it’s time to carefully remove it from the water. This step is all about being gentle and intentional, as wet fabrics can be especially delicate. Here’s how to handle it to make sure you’re set up for a successful stretch.

Step 4 – Block the Garment

Now that your garment is soaked and gently squeezed to dry, it’s time to reshape and block it. This step is all about carefully stretching the fabric back to its original form. Blocking is especially effective for items made of wool or cotton, which can benefit from being molded while damp. Let’s walk through the process.

Step 5 – Allow to Air Dry

The final step in rescuing your shrunken garment is to let it air dry. This is where your efforts pay off, as the fabric sets in its new, reshaped form. Air drying ensures your clothes dry gently and evenly, avoiding further shrinkage. Here’s how to do it properly.

Step 6 – Consider dry cleaning the garment

You may have successfully re-blocked and re-sized your garment, only to find that the texture has changed. It may not feel as soft to the touch. Drycleaning can restore oils and soften the garment. Consider having Parkway provide this last step for delicate and special garments.

Schedule Your Weekly Service with Parkway Custom Drycleaning!

Parkway Custom Drycleaning has served the most discriminating clientele in the Metro Washington DC area since our founding in 1926. Our commitment to excellence and customer service has earned us the Washingtonian magazine’s “Best Area Drycleaner,” and we are one of only a few dry cleaners across the country to receive the America’s Best Cleaners Award.

Consider using the pickup and delivery service at Parkway Custom Drycleaning for all your cleaning needs – not just for shirt laundry and dry cleaning, but for items like bed linens, tablecloths, area rugs, leathers, suedes and furs, along with outdoor and indoor cushion cleaning.

Our home and office pickup and delivery service covers most of the greater Washington DC metro areas, including:  Montgomery County (Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Potomac and Rockville) Northern Virginia (Mclean, Great Falls, Alexandria, Arlington, and parts of Fairfax), and most of the District of Columbia – including Adams Morgan, Capitol Hill, Cleveland Park, Dupont Circle, Foxhall, Friendship Heights, Georgetown, Glover Park, McLean Gardens, Northwest Washington, Palisades, Spring Valley, Wesley Heights, Woodley Park, Parts of Northeast/Southeast/Southwest DC.

Book your service today and Experience the Parkway Difference!

Making a mistake when washing in your home laundry once or twice is inevitable, such as forgetting to check pockets before washing or accidentally mixing whites with darks. But when these mistakes are consistently repeated, they lead to ruined clothes and household linens, wasted time, and costly repairs. In the long run, these errors add up, turning what should be a simple household task into a source of frustration and unnecessary expense.

To ensure your next load of laundry leaves the washing machine with a crisp smell and, most importantly, is thoroughly clean, take note of these common laundry mistakes and our suggestions as to how to avoid them:

1 | Overloading the Washing Machine

Why This Is a Mistake

When you overload your washing machine, you essentially limit the space your clothes have to move around during the wash cycle. Clothes need room to tumble and agitate in the water for the detergent to effectively do its job. Without enough space, the detergent can’t circulate properly, leading to poorly cleaned items and potentially lingering odors. Additionally, the extra weight from an overloaded machine causes wear and tear on a machine’s components (such as the drum and motor), which shortens its lifespan.

Effects on Your Clothes & household linens

• Inadequate Cleaning: Items may come out of the wash still stained or with lingering odors because they weren’t able to move around and get fully cleaned.
• Fabric Wear and Tear: Overloading causes clothes and linens to rub against each other excessively, leading to pilling, fraying, and other signs of wear.
• Uneven Detergent Distribution: Detergent might not dissolve properly, leaving residue on your garments, sheets and tablecloths, which can irritate your skin and cause fabrics to deteriorate faster.

What to Do Instead

To avoid the pitfalls of overloading, follow your machine’s recommended load capacity. This information is usually found in the user manual, and it’s essential to ensure your clothes come out clean and your machine stays in good working order. A good rule of thumb is to fill the drum about three-quarters full – this allows enough room for movement and ensures every item gets the attention it needs.

For larger items, such as bed linens or heavy coats, consider washing them in smaller loads or taking them to a laundromat with larger machines. And if you’re ever unsure, don’t forget Parkway Custom Drycleaning is here for your larger and more delicate pieces.

2 | Using Too Much Detergent

Why This Is a Mistake

Using too much detergent creates excess suds that make it harder for your washing machine to rinse out all the soap. Those extra suds trap dirt, bacteria, and residue, which get redeposited on your clothes and bedding instead of being washed away. Over time, this buildup not only affects the cleanliness of your items but will lead to problems with your washing machine and dryer, such as mold growth and unpleasant odors.

Effects on Your Clothes & household linens

• Residue Buildup: Excess detergent leaves a soapy film on your clothes and household linens, which attracts dirt and causes fabrics to feel stiff or scratchy.
• Skin Irritation: Detergent residue left on clothes, sheets and pillow cases can irritate sensitive skin, especially for those with allergies or conditions like eczema.
• Fabric Damage: Over time, the buildup of detergent residue weakens fabric fibers, leading to faster wear and tear.

What to Do Instead

The key to cleaner clothes isn’t more detergent – it’s using the correct amount. Always follow the detergent manufacturer’s guidelines for dosage, and consider the size of your load and the level of soil. For most loads, a smaller amount of detergent will do the job just fine, especially if you use a high-efficiency washing machine.

If you’re unsure, it’s better to start with less and add a bit more if needed. This approach not only keeps your clothing items cleaner and softer but also helps extend the life of your washing machine.

3 | Ignoring Care Labels

Why This Is a Mistake

Care labels are provided by the manufacturer and designer to direct the consumer and commercial dry cleaner as to how to properly care for clothing and household linens. Ignoring care labels often leads to restoring clothes and household linens in ways that can damage fibers, colors, texture, and overall structure. Each fabric has specific care instructions – what works for your sturdy jeans might be too harsh for a delicate blouse or a cozy blanket. Care labels provide guidance on everything from water temperature to drying and ironing methods.

Effects on Your Clothes & household linens

• Shrinkage: Washing or drying at the wrong temperature causes clothes to shrink, leaving you with a shirt that’s suddenly too tight or a blanket that no longer covers your bed.
• Color Fading: Ignoring care instructions leads to faded colors, especially in dark garments like jeans or brightly colored shirts.
• Fabric Damage: Using the wrong wash cycle or detergent weakens fabrics, causing them to fray, pill, or lose their softness.

What to Do Instead

Taking a few seconds to read and follow care labels makes a big difference in how long your clothes last and how well they hold up over time. Before tossing anything into the wash, check the label for washing and drying instructions, including recommended water temperatures and drying settings. While it might seem like an extra hassle to separate and handle each item according to its label, doing so dramatically extends the life of your clothing.

And don’t forget Parkway – many care labels recommend against washing and suggest dry cleaning for safe restoration. Parkway’s spotting and pressing professionals have decades of experience cleaning and finishing all types of garments and linens. Also, Parkway has developed an expertise in wet cleaning – which is a method of using water even when the care label suggests otherwise. Parkway has restored countless items using a combination of hand spotting, wet cleaning, and/or dry cleaning. Our team will assess your item and determine the best way to restore it.

4 | Not Separating Clothes by Color and Fabric Type

Why This Is a Mistake

Different fabrics and colors require different washing conditions. Dark clothes like black jeans are notorious for bleeding color, especially when washed with lighter items. Fabrics also react differently in the wash – heavy fabrics like towels can be too rough on delicate items, causing them to wear out faster. Ignoring these differences leads to everything from dull colors to fabrics that just don’t feel the same anymore. Plus, if you’re trying to be environmentally friendly, mixing loads leads to unnecessary rewashes and wasted resources.

Effects on Your Clothes & household linens

• Color Bleeding: Dark or vibrant colors bleed onto lighter clothes and household linens, leaving you with faded jeans or a formerly white shirt or bed sheet that’s now a dull pink.
• Fabric Damage: Mixing heavy items like jeans with delicate fabrics causes the latter to stretch, pill, or tear. Delicate items also might not get as clean when washed with bulkier fabrics.
• Increased Wear and Tear: Rougher fabrics cause friction against softer fabrics, leading to quicker degradation, especially for items like sweaters or fabrics that require more delicate handling.

What to Do Instead

Wash whites, darks, and colors separately to prevent color bleeding, and group together similar fabrics to ensure they get the right level of care. For instance, delicate fabrics should be washed on a gentle cycle or even hand washed, while more durable fabrics such as towels and denim can handle a more rigorous wash. If you have items that require special care, such as those labeled for dry cleaning only, it’s worth using a professional cleaning service – Parkway Custom Drycleaning is here for these reasons!

5 | Using the Wrong Water Temperature

Why This Is a Mistake

Different fabrics respond differently to heat. Hot water is great for sanitizing and removing tough stains, but it also can shrink or damage delicate fabrics. On the other hand, cold water is gentle and great for preserving colors, but it might not be enough to remove heavy soils or kill bacteria.

Effects on Your Clothes & household linens

• Shrinkage and Damage: Washing delicate fabrics in hot water causes them to shrink or lose their shape, which is especially common with materials like wool or certain synthetics.
• Color Fading: Hot water causes colors to fade faster, especially in dark or bright clothes, leaving your garments looking dull and worn.
• Stubborn Stains: Cold water might not be effective at removing certain types of stains, such as oil or grease, which set into the fabric if not properly treated.

What to Do Instead

Shrinkage and Damage: Washing delicate fabrics in hot water causes them to shrink or lose their shape, which is especially common with materials like wool or certain synthetics.
Color Fading: Hot water causes colors to fade faster, especially in dark or bright clothes, leaving your garments looking dull and worn.
Stubborn Stains: Cold water might not be effective at removing certain types of stains, such as oil or grease, which set into the fabric if not properly treated.

Preserve the Quality of Your Clothes – Schedule a Pickup with Parkway Custom Drycleaning for your more delicate and cherished items!

Whether you’re in Northern Virginia, Washington, DC, or the Maryland suburbs, Parkway Custom Drycleaning is here to restore your cherished garments and all your household linens and fabrics.

Not only do we handle shirt laundry and dry cleaning, we also care for your table linens, bedding, wedding gowns, leathers, suedes, furs, and more. We even offer specialized services such as cleaning fine oriental carpets and area rugs, as well as drapes and blinds including taking down and rehanging your curtains and shades.

The best part – we offer pickup and delivery to our customers in Washington, DC, Montgomery County, Maryland, and Northern Virginia. Simply send us an email or give us a call at 301-768-7658.

We’re all guilty at some point of cramming just one more shirt, or maybe a pair of jeans, into an already full washing machine, and for a very understandable reason – more clothes get washed in a shorter amount of time! But as convenient as this may sound, it’s a shortcut that might cost you more than you realize.

It might seem like a time saver now, but this practice is anything but efficient and sustainable in the long run, not only for the appliance itself but also for your garments.

How Do Washers and Dryers Work?

Understanding how washers and dryers work can help you see why overloading them is a bad idea. These machines are designed with specific mechanisms to efficiently clean and dry your clothes. When overloaded, these mechanisms can’t function properly, leading to subpar performance and potential damage.

How Washing Machines Work

Washing machines have one main job: to clean your clothes by agitating them in soapy water. When you start a wash cycle, the machine fills with water and mixes in the detergent. The drum then rotates to move around the clothes. This movement helps loosen and remove dirt and stains from the fabric. The spin cycle that follows extracts excess water from the clothes by spinning the drum at high speeds.

Now, here’s where overloading becomes a problem. When the drum is too full, clothes don’t have enough space to move around freely. This means they can’t rub against each other as needed to get clean. The detergent and water can’t circulate properly either, and this can result in compromised cleaning. Plus, the motor and other components of your washing machine will have to work extra hard, which can wear out the components prematurely.

How Dryers Work

Dryers remove moisture from your clothes after they’ve been washed. Dryers work by tumbling the clothes in a drum while blowing hot air through your garments. The hot air evaporates the moisture, and the vent expels it to the outside.

If you overload the dryer, the clothes don’t have enough space to tumble freely. This can lead to uneven drying, with some clothes coming out still damp while others are overdried. This will result in excessive wrinkling and potentially impact the texture of your garments too. The dryer’s heating element and motor have to work harder, which can lead to overheating and potential breakdowns. Over time, this not only shortens the lifespan of your dryer but also increases the risk of fire hazards.

What Happens When You Overload Your Washing Machine During the Wash Cycle

While it’s important to optimize your laundry routines, understanding the limits of your appliances is equally crucial. Expect the following to happen when you pack your washer too full during the wash cycle:

Increased Wear and Tear on Clothes

Stuffing too many items into the washer can cause excessive friction among clothes. This can lead to pilling, fading, and even tearing of fabrics. A heavy load of laundry, especially if you mix it with bulky comforters and blankets, can cause the fibers to rub against each other more aggressively. As a result, all items will wear out faster than normal. Delicate fabrics suffer the most, and the time will come when they’ll lose their shape and softness.

Build up of Residue

An overloaded washer won’t rinse clothes properly, which means detergent and fabric softener might not be fully washed out. This residue can build up on your clothes, making them feel stiff and irritate sensitive skin. Over time, detergent residue can also accumulate inside the machine, promoting mold and mildew growth that cause unpleasant odors and potential health risks.

Increased Water and Energy Consumption

An overloaded washing machine will struggle to clean your clothes effectively in a single cycle. This often means running additional cycles, which wastes water and energy. Not only does this impact your utility bills, it also is bad for the environment. A single, properly loaded wash cycle is much more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Potential for Unbalanced Loads

A heavy, overloaded drum can easily become unbalanced, especially during the spin cycle. This can cause the machine to stop mid-cycle or fail to spin properly, leaving your clothes sopping wet. An unbalanced load puts extra strain on the machine’s suspension system, leading to more wear and tear and potentially damaging your laundry room floor from excessive vibrations.

How to Tell If You’re Overloading Your Washing Machine

Overloading your washing machine is a common mistake, but it’s one that can be easily avoided if you recognize the following signs:

• Bulging Door: If you struggle to close the washer door or have to push clothes down to get it to shut, your machine is overloaded.
• Clothes Poking Out: Items sticking out of the drum when you try to close the door is a clear sign of overloading.
• Dirty Spots: If your clothes come out with visible dirt or stains that should have been removed, there’s a good chance the load was too full.
• Soap Residue: Finding detergent spots on your clothes means the detergent wasn’t able to circulate properly.
• Loud Banging: Unusually loud banging or clanking noises during the spin cycle indicate the load is unbalanced, often due to overloading.
• Shaking Washer: If your washing machine shakes or moves across the floor, it’s struggling to handle the load inside.
• Sopping Wet Clothes: Clothes that are still very wet after the spin cycle ends didn’t spin properly, often because there was too much weight in the drum.
• Incomplete Spins: If your machine stops mid-cycle or has trouble completing the spin cycle, it could be due to an overloaded drum.
• Tangled Laundry: If your clothes come out in a tangled mess, it’s a sign they didn’t have enough room to move freely in the drum.

By keeping an eye out for these signs, you can adjust your laundry habits to avoid overloading your washing machine. This ensures your clothes are cleaned properly and your appliance remains in good working condition.

Worried About Overloading? Let Parkway Custom Drycleaning Handle Your Bed Linens and other Specialty items!

No matter how rushed you are, overloading your washing machine will produce a headache of a different sort (and might even cost you more money). Why not let Parkway Custom Drycleaning take the stress out of your laundry routine? Our professional cleaning services and pick-up and delivery will ensure that your favorite clothes and household linens are cleaned thoroughly and gently, extending the life of your garments and your machines.

While you can always visit our 10,000 square foot plant and retail store to bring us your garments and household linens, we can also pickup and deliver as needed and even set up weekly service if you want regular visits. Why not consider using Parkway to professionally clean and press your sets of sheets, pillow cases, comforters, shams and duvets? There is nothing like sleeping on pressed linens!

Have questions or want to schedule a service? Call our customer service team at 708-848-7720.

We look forward to taking some of the load off your weekly laundry routines soon!