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How to Wash Cotton Clothes
Do you ever feel like your clothes are shrinking? Do they feel too tight around the arms or are they squeezed up on your waist? If so, your clothes are probably made up of cotton and you’re washing them wrong. Today, I’ll be teaching you how to wash cotton clothes properly.
Cotton clothes are a different breed. You can’t simply put them in the washer and dryer with the normal settings on. If you want to maintain the integrity of your clothing throughout the years, no matter how expensive they are, then you’re going to need to learn how to wash cotton clothes properly.
How are Cotton Clothes Different From Other Clothes
Cotton is present in about 40% of the world’s clothing, from jeans to t-shirts. Cotton is a popular material for clothing because cotton is very accessible, with one t-shirt taking about 8 oz. of cotton and a pair of jeans taking about 24 oz. of cotton.
Unlike synthetic materials or wool, cotton excels at retaining moisture. However, this also means that cotton does not dry extremely well so if you sweat profusely, the sweat is going to stain your clothes.
But perhaps the biggest thing that separates cotton clothes from other clothes is that cotton shrinks the most when washed. The presence of heat during the washing process will result in the size of an article of clothing being shrunken down with each wash.
Despite the fact that cotton shrinks, cotton still holds a variety of benefits from other clothes. You can wear cotton clothing regardless of the season. You can wear cotton during the hot seasons because of its relatively thin nature and you can also wear it during the cold season because cotton provides insulation thanks to their air-trapping fabrics.
Instructions on Washing Cotton Clothing
Washing your cotton clothes is a step-by-step process.
1. Separate Your Garments
Separate your cotton clothing from your non-cotton clothing. You might also want to separate the lighter colors from the darker dyes to prevent the darker dyes from bleeding into the lighter fabrics.
2. Pretreat Any Stains
Pretreat any stains found on your clothing with a stain remover and cold water. Wash and drying stained clothing can result in the stain becoming permanent.
3. Choose Water Temperature
When choosing your water temperature, go for cold or warm. Never choose the hot option. Hot water will shrink your clothing. The color of the fabric is best maintained when you wash your clothing with colder temperatures.
You can also maintain color by turning your clothes inside-out before washing them.
4. Choose Your Wash Cycle
The wash cycle doesn’t matter as much as the temperature you wash the clothes at. You can choose the Normal cycle or you can choose the Delicate cycle. Try not to go over 45 minutes on the wash time, though.
How to Wash Your Clothes by Hand
If you want to wash cotton clothes by hand, clean the sink or tub to get rid of any bacteria. Then, fill your sink or tub with room temperature water and add detergent according to measure. Once you fill your sink or tub, submerge your clothes in the detergent-water. Then, begin to swirl your clothes around. This will help wash off any impurities on your clothing.
Finish washing after 30 minutes and rinse your clothes one more time with a faucet. Afterward, hang up your clothes to air dry. If your clothing is silk, you should never wash the clothing for more than thirty minutes.
The benefit of washing cotton clothes by hand is that each piece of clothing will be cleaner since you’re washing each piece individually. This also means that your clothes will have a less likely chance of tearing during the washing process. Furthermore, you won’t have to worry about shrinkage because the clothing is air-dried.
Why Do Your Clothes Shrink?
Cotton clothes are made up of cotton fibers, linked end-to-end by hydrogen bonds. When these fibers are strung together to make clothing, these fibers stretch and twist in various directions.
Therefore, a new piece of cotton clothing is at its stretchiest state and the fibers are extremely tense. So when you apply heat–for example, through the dryer or a heated wash–the tension in the fibers release and each fiber returns back to its original state.
Should You Machine Dry Cotton Clothes?
You should be careful when considering machine drying cotton clothes. If you machine dry cotton clothes on a high-heat setting, you can harm the integrity of clothing and shrink the fibers. The best way to machine dry cotton clothes is by washing the clothing on a low-heat setting.
How Much Does a 100% Cotton Shirt Shrink in the Dryer?
Let’s say you end up machine drying your cotton clothes on a high-heat setting. What happens then? Well, it shrinks obviously but by how much? Your clothes can shrink as much as up to 5% of its original size.
This is more than one size down, which is why I’m stressing that you either air-dry your clothing or dry it on an extremely low heat setting. If you dry your cotton clothes on high heat, then you could go from an adult large to an adult small within a day.
Conclusion
So, there you have it. You’ve learned how to properly wash and dry the trickiest type of clothing in the fashion industry: cotton clothes. If you’re interested in other areas of male fashion, such as wearing jewelry or layering clothes, I recommend you check those out.
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