Tips to Avoid Clothing Shrinkage from Aplus Laundry Service
When it comes to handling bulk laundry service jobs, the team at Aplus Laundry Service has had nearly 30 years of first hand experience – providing clients with a the highest quality service across NYC and Long Island. And over these 3 decades of work, the team at Aplus has learned countless tips and techniques to avoid most of the common laundry service pitfalls and risks. From issues like stain removal, odor issues, and more, there are quite a few different risks that can damage your fabric items and cause major issues with the consistency and quality of your clothing. However, while the issues above are definitely difficult to combat, one of the most common problems known to affect our clothing is shrinkage.
Probably one of the worst realizations is taking your clothing our of the washer or dryer, getting ready to fold your clothes, only to discover that your favorite shirt, pants and even undergarments have shrunk down to a size not even the elementary school version of you could fit into! Short of losing a quick 100 lbs or finding a way to shrink a few feet in height, there is pretty much nothing you can do to get your favorite pair of pants back. We’ve pretty much all been there at some point in time, and while there truly isn’t any way to go back from laundry shrinkage, the team at Aplus Laundry Service can help you to ensure that nothing like this happens ever again!
First and foremost, we have to understand that when it comes to our clothes, especially our favorite and most delicate fabrics, that are much mores susceptible to shrinkage, heat is not our friend! Fabric items made of certain natural fibers such as cotton, wool and cashmere are especially susceptible to heat, and thus shrinkage. And while most people think that the dryer is the only source of clothing shrinkage, that is simply not the case. True, it is most common in the dryer, so by lowering the temperature on the dryer or opting for a clothesline for your delicate items can definitely help and is a step that you should definitely be taking. However, we must also understand that the washing machine can also shrink our clothing and its simply unavoidable, its an appliance that is the main aspect of the washing process – unless of course you are willing to start hand washing your clothes, which most people simply aren’t willing to take the step and forego the convenience provided by their washing machine.
The first step to avoiding shrinking, aside from the clothesline, is to read the labels on your clothing. Certain fabrics that use animal fibers, like wool, mohair and cashmere, are often higher end items and that are most susceptible to shrinkage. Most often, these items will indicate that it is best to have them dry cleaned, as that is the most ideal means of having them cleaned. The main reason why these fabrics shrink in the washing machine is because of the agitation process, that center piece that agitates the clothes and moves them around – essentially the equivalent of having them power scrubbed. It reacts with the fibers and causes them to shrink.
Another common fabric that often shrinks is cotton. As it isn’t an animal fiber, cotton is still natural and present certain challenges when trying to prevent shrinkage. Cotton shrinks because of the tension that is applied to its yarn and fabrics during the construction of the clothing. The tension is released by heat from the washer, dryer, steam and even sunlight, which causes the fabric to be reduced to its natural size. This is why most cotton clothing will shrink during its first washing. The best way to avoid shrinkage is to wash them by hand or to use cold water and the delicate cycle of your washing machine. This is commonly why certain jeans and cotton t-shirts will indicate that they are pre-shrunk, as they will always shrink during the first wash, but not during the ones to follow. In an ideal situation, any clothing that is made of non-synthetic, natural fibers, should not be put inside the dryer, and would be dried on a clothesline. Or you can even have them dry out themselves on a folding table, of course this is mainly for your most favorite clothing items that are most delicate and most susceptible to shrinking. For more information on all your laundry care tips or bulk laundry service needs, contact APLUS LAUNDRY Service today.
