100% Cotton - Buy size that fits, or buy larger size and shrink? (medium, red)

[guawazi]

I always seem to have this dilemma and haven't really found a suitable solution. Many of the shirts I buy are 100% cotton. Medium size typically fits me the best, but I have a tendency to (eventually) forget to cold wash them and dry on low heat, especially when in a rush. Because of this I will sometimes buy shirts that are a size too big and try to shrink them as much as possible, but they often don't shrink enough and I end up with a shirt that still doesn't fit right. Any ideas?

[lkb0714]

You need to look at the label to see if it preshrunk cotten.

[guawazi]

Most of them are not. The stuff I bought recently isn't.

[Tallysmom]

What I've done is separate them after wearing. Stuff that needs special handling gets put in the special handling laundry bag.

[fleetiebelle]

Hang cotton garments to dry rather than putting them in the dryer.

[niugnep1]

Don't want to sound snarky, but be more careful with your laundry. Be more purposeful and thoughtful. Instead of saying "I just forget" ... work on not forgetting. Don't toss an entire armload in the dryer. Take it out and transfer piece by piece. If you need a reminder, get a red sharpie and make yourself some sort of symbol on the tag to remind yourself that it requires special care (for example, a big red X for something that doesn't go in the dryer). And start washing everything in cold except for towels and sheets. With modern detergents, cold water gets clothes sufficiently clean.

[Ottawa2011]

I heard somewhere that new jeans typically shrink about 5% after being washed and dried.

Mind you, I've had 100% cotton shirts and sweaters that I'm positive shrank quite a bit more than that.

[Flamingo13]

There are no guarantees, I have tried to shrink things deliberately (never happens - and something else that I didn't want to does (of course). Buy what fits you and wash/dry accordingly.

[augiedogie]

I don't put anything cotton in the dryer with heat on. We just tumble it for a little while and hang it up. Its west Texas, and that means its dry. We can hang up our sheets and put them on the bed before we turn in and the sheets are dry. Buy them the right size.

[BirdieBelle]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

Hang cotton garments to dry rather than putting them in the dryer.

This is what I do. They don't shrink, and they last much longer.

I do toss them in the dryer for 5 minutes to get the wrinkles out, but then I hang them in the laundry room.