3 votes

Does the dryer shrink your clothes?

As a follow up to the "do you iron your clothes" question, does anyone else experience significant clothes shrinkage (particularly for t shirts) when they put clothes in the dryer? This never used to be a problem, but no matter what settings I use, it always seems to shrink them now!

Anyone got any advice? I am currently hanging my best clothes to avoid shrinkage, but a better solution would be preferred.

5 comments

  1. [2]
    sparkle
    Link
    DIY appliance repair person here who's fixed a few dryers/washers in the past, it's possible the thermistor is stuck/failing/malfunctioning and causing the control board to always run on high...

    DIY appliance repair person here who's fixed a few dryers/washers in the past, it's possible the thermistor is stuck/failing/malfunctioning and causing the control board to always run on high heat, leading to shrunken clothes.

    What kind of dryer do you have? A thermistor is usually a pretty cheap part to replace and worth starting there since it doesn't sound like it's always been this way, thus most likely an issue with the dryer itself.

    4 votes
    1. Chiasmic
      Link Parent
      Interesting, I will have to have a look into that. We have a condenser dryer, I can't remember the brand and I am not home at the moment, but I will look into this. Very helpful, thank you!

      Interesting, I will have to have a look into that. We have a condenser dryer, I can't remember the brand and I am not home at the moment, but I will look into this. Very helpful, thank you!

  2. [2]
    Minithra
    Link
    Less heat, perhaps? I have a combination washer and dryer and I've not yet had shrinking clothes. But most of my clothes are cotton, no proper wool or synthetics, so I dunno

    Less heat, perhaps? I have a combination washer and dryer and I've not yet had shrinking clothes. But most of my clothes are cotton, no proper wool or synthetics, so I dunno

    1 vote
    1. Chiasmic
      Link Parent
      It's even shrinking the cotton t shirts I have! I don't tumble dry wool as those do shrink very easily.

      It's even shrinking the cotton t shirts I have! I don't tumble dry wool as those do shrink very easily.

  3. sqew
    Link
    I gave up on drying things I care about years ago, after plenty of my favorite things slowly got destroyed. I just got a rack and deal with air drying most things. What we really need is for...

    I gave up on drying things I care about years ago, after plenty of my favorite things slowly got destroyed. I just got a rack and deal with air drying most things.

    What we really need is for Technology Connections to make a video about dryers! His dishwasher video tips took me from “meh” on dishwashers to “whoa”.