Heavy cotton flannel shirts and shrinkage

[Mich486]

I have always washed everything at 30c (86f) and hung dry and never shrunk anything.
IMO dryers are evil, they shrink and wear out everything. What do you think lint is? Your clothes dying!

I do wash my jeans in the tub, but all my wool and cashmere jumpers go in the washing machine and they are fine.

Absolutely agree. Dryers kill the fabric.

I believe in the US using the dryer is seen as kind of the default option after washing whereas in Europe the use of dryers is more of a recent thing.

After being used to just line dry you can really see the damage the dryer does once you start using it. Also, dryers suck a lot of electricity!


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[ButteMT61]

Lucky part of the LA weather is hang-drying things. OTOH, hang drying leaves items "crispy" as opposed to the dryer that leaves them soft - as long as your sizing is OK.
Some items I prefer one way, others not. But at this time of year, the hang dryer isn't as good. We were actually 35ºf last night here...as "winter" as we get.

 

[Guppy]

Lucky part of the LA weather is hang-drying things. OTOH, hang drying leaves items "crispy" as opposed to the dryer that leaves them soft - as long as your sizing is OK.
Some items I prefer one way, others not. But at this time of year, the hang dryer isn't as good. We were actually 35ºf last night here...as "winter" as we get.

That's just it. During the season when you want to wear the heavy flannel, it's not easy to hang dry.

I do it in my basement, and it's ok for a small number of shirts, but I can't do my whole laundry that way.

 

[super17]

Usually the quality of the cotton influences a lot the outcome of the wash/dry. True that tumble dryer often ruin clothes. I tent to use it only for basic stuff and hang dry my best stuff!

 

[Dav]

Not owning a drier I've never experienced arm shrinkage, think I'll keep it that way, thanks for the heads up.

 

[Desperandum]

Although we never use a drier, in the past my wife has kindly resized downwards a few of my Viyella and other flannel shirts (some plain cotton, some the traditional wool and cotton mix).
This is easily achieved by not following the washing instructions, and putting them in a machine at too high a temperature setting.
I've "rounded out" a bit as I've got older, but not excessively so. However, I do find that nowadays flannel shirts ( brands of which I used to buy have disappeared) are very skimpily cut for the stated size,so I buy bigger. I do not like my shirts to fit like a vest or undershirt anyway, and I have a margin for error, in case my stuff goes into the wash with the wife's smalls, tea towels and other washables.

 

[ButteMT61]

Funny, even tho I am NOT fit right now, I like that many brands have added a new, slimmer cut to flannel/wool shirts.
Filson has "Seattle", Woolrich has "Modern" and neither of them are too slim and in fact, are much better for me.
But there should remain choices - not everyone is 25 and 140 pounds!

 

[El Marro]

Funny, even tho I am NOT fit right now, I like that many brands have added a new, slimmer cut to flannel/wool shirts.
Filson has "Seattle", Woolrich has "Modern" and neither of them are too slim and in fact, are much better for me.
But there should remain choices - not everyone is 25 and 140 pounds!

Pendleton also has started making a "fitted" version of their board shirt. I ordered one by accident and was surprised to find I like the fit better than the classic board shirt. Probably a side effect of spending too much time here...

 

[Dumpster Diver]

To Avoid Shrinkage...Do what I do...*avoid Washing*...ever, Just don't be super OCD about your clothes, wear undershirts and wash those if you get the sweat.

a light hand wash is good if you have to, air dry. but may I remind you we are men, and real men don't do laundry!

honestly, I've never had to wash my vintage flannels or red woolen shirts and jackets, you're right though because they will shrink up and takes Just as long to break em back in as it does to get them dirty again, so Just stop washing them, problem solved.

I don't wash my Jeans either, unless I'm going commando for a couple weeks or months sometimes in the summer, even then...I play drums and those one or two pairs of Jeans can get pretty filthy over a summer of fun on the road.