If you just bought a favorite polo shirt, you might wonder: do polo shirts shrink?
Most polo shirts tend to shrink when they are washed or dried at high temperatures. They don’t elongate over time in a natural way.
I’ll go over the polo shirt’s ability to stretch and shrink in detail in this article, along with some other information you might find useful.
Do Polo Shirts Shrink?
When polo shirts are washed in hot water, they shrink. They may shrink if you dry them, especially if you use the high heat setting.
The majority of polo shirts are made of cotton or cotton-polyester blends. These shirts’ tendency to shrink over time can be attributed to the cotton content.
Cotton is a natural fabric, as you can see. The fact that natural fabrics tend to shrink relatively easily is another major drawback.
By incorporating a synthetic fiber, such as polyester, into the mix, manufacturers attempt to address this issue, but shrinking still occurs, albeit less frequently.
Because of this, you must wash your polo shirts in cold water to prevent shrinking. You must hang your polos to dry naturally on a clothesline rather than using a dryer.
How Much Do Polo Shirts Shrink?
Depending on the fabric used to make the shirt, a polo shirt can shrink up to 15% of its original size in a single wash.
While pique, which is essentially a special cotton weave, is not far behind with about 10% shrinkage, cotton has the highest shrinkage percentage at 15%.
Because there is no cotton in true polyester shirts, which are typically worn during workouts, there is no shrinkage at all.
Related Reading: How Should a Polo Shirt Fit?
How to Prevent a Polo Shirt from Shrinking?
Firstly, take a look at your polo shirt and check the inside label for any specific washing instructions, or any other kind of advice pertaining to how to treat your shirt.
Make sure to wash all shirts in cold water, though, if you’re a worrier. You can count on your shirts to stay the same size after a cold rinse cycle. But in all honesty, a 20 or even 30-degree wash cycle will usually be secure.
After washing your polo shirts, the most important step is to let them air dry. Though air drying will lessen the likelihood of the shirt fading, the tumble dryer is undoubtedly quicker and easier. Moreover, it will lessen your carbon footprint; nice.
Air drying will stop cotton from shrinking, which is a common problem.
Your polo shirts should remain in excellent condition, retain their original size, and continue to fit you snugly.
In order to prepare for the upcoming spring and summer seasons, you should wear your preferred shirt. This will help you stay cool in the hot weather.
Read More: How to Fold a Polo Shirt?
How to Shrink a Polo Shirt?
In an unfortunate turn of events, you might occasionally need to shrink your polo shirt. In order to do that, you need to go over the following steps:
- Select the hot water setting on the washing machine and add your polo shirt.
- Take it out after the wash cycle is finished and place it right away in the dryer.
- For the dryer, choose the highest heat setting.
- Dry your polo for ten to fifteen minutes. Depending on the fabric of the shirt, it should have shrunk by at least 5 to 10% by the time it is removed.
- If you want to shrink your polo shirt even more, repeat this procedure one more time.
Thus, in order to shrink a polo, you need to do everything that the care label advises you not to do. But keep in mind that you have no control over the actual amount of shrinkage that the shirt experiences.
Therefore, I advise getting your polo shirt tailored rather. This will give you total control over the modifications you want to make to your clothing.
Final Words: Do Polo Shirts Shrink
So do polo shirts shrink? Yes, polo shirts can shrink if they are subjected to high temperatures during the washing and drying process. This typically occurs as a result of the substantial amount of cotton fibers found in most polo shirts.
To the best of my ability, I attempted to cover every aspect of polo shirt shrinkage in this article.
You only ever have one favorite polo shirt, so make sure you remember these instructions to avoid risking shrinking it again in the future.
Read More:
FAQs
Do Cotton T-shirts Shrink?
Yes, cotton can shrink after washing.
How to Wash Polo Shirts Without Shrinking?
A cold rinse cycle is guaranteed to keep your shirts the same size as they went in.
Should I Size Up for Polo Shirts?
If there’s a lot of slack, get a smaller size. Good quality polo shirts are made from light materials like cotton. Therefore, they should drape nicely over your body without showing too much of your body.
