Damn shrunken clothing!

[Triumph]

How come your shirts stretch when you don't want them to, and shrink when you don't want them to, but never vice versa? All of my dress shirts for work have shrunk and now I look like someone from Dumb and Dumber with my too-short long sleaves. Short of buying all new shirts at $15-$20 a pop, is there anything I can do to stretch 'em?

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

If your shirts only cost $15-20, that might be why they seem to have a tendency to shrink/stretch.

 

[CraigRT]

haha *points finger and laughs*

just kidding... same crap happened to me just recently

the loss of a few good shirts

 

[FoBoT]

apply the flesh eating bacteria to the parts that are sticking out of the shrunken clothing

 

[Ogg]

Let a really big fat guy wear all your shirts for a week or two......thatll stretch em.......

:beer:

 

[iamme]

dress shirts might be tough to stretch.

try giving them a good tug while their wet and then let them air dry.

you could try taking a shirt to your local cleaners and ask them if they can stretch it. at my parent's cleaners, the steam machines combined with some tugging would stretching things out pretty good. depends if they're busy and friendly try going around and hour or two before closing when they're not too busy.

 

[Fausto]

Are you washing these yourself or having them dry-cleaned?

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw
If your shirts only cost $15-20, that might be why they seem to have a tendency to shrink/stretch.

$20 is more than enough to spend on a dress shirt. I hate people who go to the mall and spend $120 on pants, shirt, and a tie.

I'll try stretching them when they are wet. I don't get them dry cleaned, that's too much money! If the regular laundry is good enough for my mom, it's good enough for me. I'm going to start washing in cold water, though, and letting them hang dry. That should prevent further shrinkage.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Triumph

Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw
If your shirts only cost $15-20, that might be why they seem to have a tendency to shrink/stretch.

$20 is more than enough to spend on a dress shirt. I hate people who go to the mall and spend $120 on pants, shirt, and a tie.

I'll try stretching them when they are wet. I don't get them dry cleaned, that's too much money! If the regular laundry is good enough for my mom, it's good enough for me. I'm going to start washing in cold water, though, and letting them hang dry. That should prevent further shrinkage.

I usually wash things I don't want to shrink in cold water and then toss in the dryer on low for a few minutes to fluff stuff up and get a little of the moisture out and then hang dry. The quick spin in the dryer will make ironing a LOT easier.

 

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: FeathersMcGraw
If your shirts only cost $15-20, that might be why they seem to have a tendency to shrink/stretch.

Lots of my short sleeve button ups only cost me $5-$7 and they don't shrink.

 

[FeathersMcGraw]

Originally posted by: Triumph

$20 is more than enough to spend on a dress shirt. I hate people who go to the mall and spend $120 on pants, shirt, and a tie.

I'm not a fan of ostentatious dressing, either, but I've found in my experience that you get better results when you pay for quality. The nicer pieces in my wardrobe (mostly Perry Ellis and Bill Blass) don't shrink, fade, or bleed, and they also seem to be more maintenance free with regard to wrinkles as well. If the clothing lasts longer, it's not like you're really paying more for it over the lifetime of the garment, given that you don't need to buy its replacement a year down the line.