A linen item has shrunk too much after washing: what can I do?
Quality linen is the only material whose characteristics improve after each wash – linen items become softer and nicer to touch. Indeed, linen items can shrink if they were washed or dried wrong, especially if you have a 100 % linen fabric. However it is possible to turn the shrunk item back to its original size – all you need to do is wash it again and iron it well, using the tips below.
If your linen item has shrunk too much after washing, try the following steps to salvage it:
- First, rinse the item in warm water.
- Do not squeeze the water out, just let it drip.
- After that hang the item to dry in a well-ventilated space.
- While the item is still wet, you need to start ironing it. And while doing that, move the iron from the center to the edges of the item, as if stretching it.
Shrinkage Calculation: checking the recommendations
1. We have washed linen a placemat at 60 С. After that we have placed it over another placemat. We can see that the item became smaller. Let's measure them and compare. Dimensions before washing: 45 x 32 cm, dimensions after washing: 42 x 30 cm.
2. Let's try to get the item back to what it was. We start ironing the placemat while it's still wet, moving from the center to the edges, as if stretching it. Your item will dry out during this process.
3. Let's check after ironing dimensions: 43.5 cm x 31.5 cm. We managed to get 1.5 cm back to the width and lenght of the item.
Linen Placemat Lesna Light Natural
Your placemat is ready to be used.
We hope you would find these tips to be helpful!
There are no reviews for this article.