shrinking wool

[robnewf]

#6427

just acquired a king of the mountain trapper shirt. its a little large and would like to shrink it a little. I know it will shrink but don’t want to shrink it too much either. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding how to best go about shrinking it without going to far or will it only shrink so much. I got a large and I am more in the medium size range. will it shrink in one run through the washing machine or will it continue to shrink a little bit at a time through repeated washing?

[Anonymous]

#51108

robnewf wrote: just acquired a king of the mountain trapper shirt. its a little large and would like to shrink it a little. I know it will shrink but don’t want to shrink it too much either. Does anyone have any suggestions regarding how to best go about shrinking it without going to far or will it only shrink so much. I got a large and I am more in the medium size range. will it shrink in one run through the washing machine or will it continue to shrink a little bit at a time through repeated washing?

I assume that you acquired this second-hand and not new. If new, why not return it for a proper size? If second hand, why not try to trade it for a proper size?

[Doc Nock]

#51157

Good input from Forager…

If you’re going to clean it, I’d follow T. Asbell’s directions…no washing machine…the agitation or tumbling causes fibers to shrink big time (if I read all her stuff right).

Wash by hand..slosh method… don’t block it much or hand stretch it “much”… and a few such events would seemingly allow more “controlled” tightening of the weave.

Good luck. BTW, I have wool that I didn’t know about this method from being much younger, and it kept shrinking and shrinking… till I had to give it to some kid!

[Ralph]

#51193

Funny Doc. I’ve had a shrinking problem with clothing over the years but the clothes are still the same size and to big for a kid. 😆

[Doc Nock]

#51199

LOL… Good one, R2! When cotton gets too tight over the next year toward fall..it’s a “growing” problem! Not a shrinking one!

I kept having this Buddha belly growing… and cutting back on food didn’t help. Read a book called “FAT CHANCE” about the crap in food…then another called “WHEAT BELLY”. Both had hard science… sold me…tough to do without wheat and processed food stuff like cereal and that… but I got into pants in the back of my closet and my hunting duds fit so much more nicely this year…

So I was comfortably bored seeing NO DEER anywhere I went!

[grumpy]

#52145

I have 3 brothers, and whenever a sister in law runs wool through the washer/dryer I get the result. Sometimes that is good, but I just got a cashmere sweaer that is too small for a 9 year old.

Think that how much it shrinks depends on how much it was processed. Rag wool, the kind that stinks, shrinks the most. Marino wool dosn’t seem to shrink at all. I buy 100% wool socks, in mens medium, and run them thru the washer/dryer to get them to fit. The shrinking makes them a LOT thicker. Seems that once they have shrunk that’s it, as I continue to wash them with everything else. btw use vinegar in the wash to get the stink out, along with the jeans the kid pizzed in. I use vinegar in every wash, with no problems.

[Mark Turton]

#52177

Just hand it to my wife! she just shrunk my best wooly from large down to small kids, she says if I wear it it will stretch but it restricts my breathing. The arms are going to get cut off so as the dogs can wear it when wet, cold and tired, better than the fleece things.

Before that it was my one and only best Orvis woolen thing, strangely though the body shrunk but the arms are still the same length.

Mark.

[sinawalli]

#52264

pothunter wrote: Just hand it to my wife! she just shrunk my best wooly from large down to small kids, she says if I wear it it will stretch but it restricts my breathing. The arms are going to get cut off so as the dogs can wear it when wet, cold and tired, better than the fleece things.

Before that it was my one and only best Orvis woolen thing, strangely though the body shrunk but the arms are still the same length.

Mark.

The image of Olivia Newton John in Grease has come to my mind….

[wahoo]

#56736

I would call King and ask ?? I thought they always advertised that it would not shrink – could be wrong I don’t know

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