Deformation of clothes after washing occurs in violation of the rules for handling fabric. As a rule, natural fabrics are completely susceptible to shrinkage after active washing. And some things cannot be washed at all. Only dry cleaning is suitable for their cleaning.
All important care information is contained on a small label sewn from the inside of the dress. To avoid problems, you just need to carefully study this information. But what if the dress sat down after washing? Is it possible to save him?
Rules for washing things from different fabrics
Each type of fiber has its own ideal washing conditions. Here is some of them:
- Cotton is a popular material. If the product’s label does not indicate that the fabric is specially treated, it is preferable to wash cotton items in hands with cold water.
- Flax is an eco-friendly fabric made from the fiber of the same plant. Linen is less likely to shrink than cotton. But with machine wash, you must observe the gentle mode.
- Viscose is a silky and pleasant to the touch fabric, from which beautiful women's dresses are sewn. It is better to wash things from viscose in warm water (up to 40 degrees) without spin. Ironing is also better when wet.
- Wool is a warm and natural material for cozy and beautiful things. Wool products should be washed and rinsed in warm water without subjecting them to strong pressure. Hot, like cold, water can cause shrinkage and deformation of woolen things.
- Silk is a festive and romantic fabric for feminine outfits. Silk clothes are best washed with hands in cool water. Dry without squeezing.
Causes of dress deformation after washing
The main reasons that the dress sat down after washing are only three:
- Natural fabrics are most susceptible to shrinkage: wool, cotton, linen. For example, flax fibers can be reduced due to the very high temperature of the water, and in woolen products, due to the features of the cut, in addition to shrinkage, individual elements are deformed: sleeves, neck, hem of the dress.
- Incorrect temperature conditions are a common cause of shrinkage. Hot water is good for bedding or towels. But dresses and blouses made of delicate fabrics are best washed in warm or cool water.
- Too active spin can not only reduce the size of the dress, but also deform it greatly. Often, after such a procedure, a thing is already impossible to recover.
Common techniques for restoring shrunken things
What to do if the dress has sat down after washing? The 5 most popular tricks will help return a thing to its original state:
- Soak the dress in cold water, then spread it on a horizontal surface without squeezing. This technique is relevant if the dress has become long after washing. It is necessary to pull out the wet dress, give it the desired shape and fix it.
- After soaking in cold water, the dress can be worn on itself. An unpleasant, but quite effective way. After drying, the outfit will return to its previous shape.
- Soak the stretched thing in water with the addition of hydrogen peroxide for 2 hours or with the addition of table vinegar for 20 minutes. Dry without squeezing.
- After soaking in cold water, wash the dress in the machine in a gentle mode without spinning and powder.
- Soak the dress in cold water, then iron or steam-dry with an iron, stretching and straightening problem areas.
Viscose dress
Things made of viscose have a lot of advantages: they are pleasant to the touch, sit well on the figure, do not wrinkle and are practical to wear. But improper washing can deform a beautiful thing. If the viscose dress has sat down after washing, what should I do?
- Wet the dress heavily and put it on yourself. It is for viscose dress this is the best way. With a high degree of probability, a thing will return to its previous form.
- Steam the wet dress with an iron, gently stretching the fabric in different directions.
- After soaking, hang the dress to dry, stretching it in length and securing with clothespins.
- Iron the dress through gauze soaked in a solution of soda.
- Another interesting way to stretch a shrunken dress after washing. You can hang it to dry by pulling the hem with an elastic band for hair with extra weight. It takes 30 minutes to remove the load.
Dress made of wool
There are several ways to try to save a woolen thing. Did the dress sit down after washing? How to return to its previous form?
- Soak in warm water with hair balm for 15 minutes, then gently squeeze with a terry towel and spread on a horizontal surface until dry. Away from batteries or heaters.
- Add ammonia to water before soaking. Load the dress in water for 1 hour, dry horizontally.
- You can try a rather exotic way. You need to pull a wet woolen dress on a big ball for fitness and let it dry completely.
Cotton dress
What to do if the dress has sat down after washing? To return the original size of the cotton item, you can try the following methods:
- Use a solution of vinegar or hydrogen peroxide. You can soak the product in such a solution, or you can wipe the surface with a damp sponge, stretching the fabric.
- A white cotton dress can be soaked in milk for 30 minutes, then dried in a horizontal position.
- To iron a wet dress with an iron through gauze or other fabric with an emphasis on the settled areas.
Knit dress
If the village knitted dress after washing, what to do? Firstly, it must be remembered that the knitted fabric is substantially deformed in hot water and with a strong extraction. If the dress nevertheless has sat down, the same methods of restoration apply to it as to the dress made of wool.
About knitwear you need to say a little more. Knitted fabric is natural and artificial. And if natural things are rather capricious, then products sewn from artificial knitwear are unpretentious in use. When it comes to shrinkage after washing, we mean a fabric with a natural or mixed composition.
When restoring a shrunken knitted dress, it must be dried in a stretched form on a horizontal surface, giving shape. You need to iron solely in the direction of the loops, setting the temperature of the iron to iron the wool.
Natural knitwear is a very vulnerable fabric for washing. In order to avoid problems, such things are better to be dry cleaned.
Dress shrinkage prevention
To prevent shrinkage and deformation of your favorite things, you need to remember simple rules:
- After buying a dress, you must familiarize yourself with the information on product care on the label. First, you need to study the meaning of the symbols that designate certain procedures: hand or machine wash, water temperature during washing, ironing temperature or a ban on all types of cleaning, dry cleaning coma.
- The mode on the washing machine must strictly correspond to the mode of washing things indicated on the label.
- It is necessary to observe the temperature regime of washing. Dresses from any fabrics are preferable to wash in cool or warm water.
- Beautiful and delicate dresses, as a rule, do not need to twist or wring. Drying is best on a horizontal surface at room temperature. Do not dry things on a battery or in direct sunlight.
What to do if the dress has sat down after washing? It’s better to do everything right at once and not to allow a similar result.
Additional tips
Here are some more tips for washing delicate items:
- It is necessary to carefully choose powders and gels for washing different fabrics. For washing dresses, it is better not to use powders at all.
- You need to properly sort the laundry before washing, without loading things incompatible in composition, color, and functional purpose into the machine.
- To refresh the color, you can add lemon juice to the rinse water.
- Before washing a woolen item with buttons, it is better to notice the loops so that they do not stretch and retain their shape.
- A woolen or knitted thing can be placed in a special net and washed in this form. This form of washing helps to maintain the original shape of the product.
- To rid the woolen dress of excess moisture after washing without twisting, you need to wrap it in a terry towel and gently squeeze it.
- Silk dresses are best dried on the shoulders, spreading all the folds and creases on the fabric.
- In order for the knitted dress to retain not only its shape, but also the texture after washing, you must rinse it first in water with the addition of glycerin, and then with the addition of ammonia.
It must be remembered that a thing from an absolutely natural canvas cannot be saved after shrinkage. But the good news is that most modern fabrics contain artificial fibers in one proportion or another. Therefore, the fascinating process of restoring a shrunken dress can be quite successful.