Summary:
- Hot water and high-heat tumble drying cause fabric fibers to expand and then contract, leading to shrinkage.
- Cotton hoodies are prone to shrinking in high heat, while polyester hoodies are more stable. Blends and fleece fall in between, requiring careful attention to care instructions.
- To maintain size and shape, wash hoodies in cold water, air-dry them, or use low-heat dryer settings. Purchasing pre-shrunk hoodies is also an effective preventative measure.
If you’re adding some warm and comfy hoodies to your inventory, you’ll want to know if a blank hoodie can shrink in the wash. Well, the short answer is yes, blank hoodies can shrink in the dryer. However, it's not as simple as that. It depends on the fabric makeup, cleaning processes, and how it's treated. If you treat a hoodie like an old gym sock, instead of the warm and cozy masterpiece it is, it could lose its size and comfort.
If you're in markets where size and style matter, like Chicago, LA, or New York, shrinking hoodies could be a bigger mess than you want to deal with. Think of unhappy customers, riots in the streets, hot dogs thrown to the ground in protest - you get the picture.
But there's good news—you don't have to put up with a slowly disappearing hoodie with a few simple steps. We'll break down why hoodies shrink and provide tips on how to prevent it. Here's what you need to know before purchasing your next wholesale hoodie haul.
What Causes Hoodies to Shrink?
In short, heat. If you think back to your high school physics days, you may recall that heat causes molecules to expand with energy. The same is true for fabrics. When you wash your blank hoodie in hot water and then dry it in a high-heat tumble dryer, that's a lot of energy that expands the fibers. When that occurs, and the energy dissipates as it cools, it shrinks back down to a tighter weave, causing shrinkage.
The majority of wholesale blank hoodies are made from fabrics such as cotton, cotton-polyester blends, or fleece, all of which behave uniquely when laundered. This can definitely weigh into your decision as to which blank hoodie to buy, so let's talk about it!
First to testify is cotton. Despite being one of the most popular options for blank hoodies for screen printing and customization, cotton hoodies are a tad dramatic when it comes to the laundry room. Cotton hoodies love to shrink when dried on high heat settings. This can be problematic with custom hoodies, to put it mildly. Shrinking can make hoodies uncomfortable, as well as distort or destroy any custom logos or artwork. Big time bummer for customers.
Next up is polyester. Now, polyester hoodies are a little more stable when it comes to shrinking. In fact, most of the time, polyester keeps its cool (and its shape and size when tumble dried). Point in polyester's favor!
Polyester/cotton blends and fleece are a third option that land somewhere in the middle. Depending on the treatment and quality, these could experience some shrinkage in the dryer. You'll want to read the care instructions label before throwing these in the wash.
How to Prevent a Hoodie Shrinking
Nobody wants to experience hoodie regret because it's shrunk in the dryer! So if you want your blank hoodies to keep their shape and stay true to size, here are a few simple hacks to follow:
- Wash with cold water: Heat expands, remember? Avoid using hot water that could expand and subsequently shrink your material.
- Use air-dry or low-heat settings: It may take longer, but air-drying or using a low-heat setting could be a hoodie-saver!
- Buy a pre-shrunk hoodie: Shrinking hoodies are nothing new, so pre-shrunk blank hoodie options are abundant!
These simple steps could save you and your customers a big hassle over a small hoodie, or at least one that's smaller than it should be.
So, can a blank hoodie shrink? Yes. Can you prevent a blank hoodie from shrinking? Also yes!
If you need to know where to buy wholesale blank hoodies for your next big event, be sure to explore all the options available here at Blank Shirts!
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