Polyester fabric is one of mankind's great inventions -- it's stain resistant, wrinkle resistant and water resistant. On the downside, it's super durability also makes it shrink resistant, which can be a major headache if you're trying to resize clothes such as a cotton/polyester-blend sweatshirt. Cotton is natural cellulose material, which is susceptible to shrinkage when exposed to heat. Although polyester is not a cellulose, water temperatures exceeding 176 degrees Fahrenheit can alter the chemistry of this man-made material and force it to shrink.
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Machine Wash on Shrink
Load the sweatshirt into a washing machine. Read the garment care labels of any other garments you plan to wash with the sweatshirt to ensure that they can be safely washed with hot water.
Adjust the washing machine's temperature setting to hot -- the heat will naturally shrink the cotton fibers in the sweatshirt but will have little effect on the polyester. Run the washing machine through a full cycle.
Transfer the garment to the dryer and add your preferred fabric softener. Adjust the dryer to it's highest temperature setting and dry the sweatshirt for no less than 15 minutes. The heat in the dryer will further shrink both the cotton and polyester fibers in the sweatshirt.
Remove the sweatshirt from the dryer and inspect it for shrinkage. Return the garment to the dryer for an additional 15 to 20 minutes if it has not adequately shrunk. Let the garment air-dry if it shrank to an acceptable size.
Bought myself a nice new black shirt ages ago. I really like it, but made the mistake of not trying it on before I bought it, so it's a couple of sizes too big. It's 55% cotton and 45% polyester, according to the label. Any tips on how to shrink it a bit? Open to all suggestions, and no, I can't take it back :)
Shirt too big... can I shrink it by doing some washing machine black magic?