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December 5, 2024

How To Shrink a Shirt for a Better Fit

Source: mapo/iStock

There’s nothing worse than buying a new shirt you adore only to find it fits just a little too baggy. Luckily, this doesn’t automatically mean you have to get rid of it. 

Learning how to shrink a shirt empowers you to wear the clothes you love, even if they’re not the right size for you. Read on and discover the best ways to downsize your clothes and find the perfect fit.

How to shrink a shirt on purpose: 3 best methods

Intentionally shrinking garments helps you get the best fit for your body type—and if you’ve recently gone down a size or two, it’s also a sustainable way to prolong the life of your clothes and keep them out of landfills.

Check out the best ways to shrink a shirt and build a wardrobe that fits you.

Pro tip: Be sure to treat any stains before you start—all these methods use high heat, which sets stains in place!

Washing and drying

Let’s start with the most popular method and learn how to shrink a shirt in a dryer. This approach is best for hardier fabrics like cotton and denim—delicate silk blouses can’t take high heat and may come apart. 

Here’s how to shrink clothes with a washing machine and dryer:

  1. If you’re using a graphic tee, turn it inside out to avoid harming the design. 
  2. Wash the garment on the hottest setting on your washing machine. Choose the longest washing cycle available to give the fabric time to relax and shorten.
  3. Remove it from the machine and inspect it. If you’re happy with the results, air-dry it. If it still looks too big, continue to step 4.
  4. Dry the garment on the hottest cycle on your dryer. From this point, shrinking can occur quickly, so it’s best to check the shirt every few minutes until it’s the desired size.
  5. Review your work. If the shirt isn’t small enough, you can put it through another washer/dryer combo. 

Now that you’ve successfully shrunk your shirt, avoid drying it in high heat settings in the future—you don’t want it to get any smaller.

Pro tip: Remember to take care of your clothes! Multiple washer/dryer cycles can wear down clothing, but you can add a cup of vinegar to maintain their color and softness.

Boiling water

Immersing your clothes in boiling water has a similar effect to throwing them in a washing machine but uses far less water—a big win for the environment.

Here’s how to shrink clothes with a pot of boiling water:

  1. Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. Make sure you pick a pot big enough for your garment—a thick, long-sleeved shirt might need something larger than a thin tee.
  2. Once the water boils, cut the heat. Depending on how much shrinkage you want, use strategic timing to optimize the heat level—you can add the garment immediately to dramatically downsize it or put it in after five minutes of cooling to shrink it subtly.
  3. Cover the pot with its lid and let the garment rest for five to twenty minutes. Check it every few minutes with a pair of tongs to ensure it doesn’t overshrink. You can always repeat the process to shrink it further, but stretching it back out is much harder.
  4. Remove the garment from the pot and let it cool before handling it. Then, gently wring out the water and leave the shirt to air-dry on a drying rack. You can use the dryer instead of air drying, but remember that this will shrink it even more.

This method is gentle enough for leather jackets and cashmere sweaters, but you’ll need to use warm water instead of boiling. Submerge the garment in a bowl of warm water, let it soak for a few minutes, and press out the water. Then, let it air-dry.

Garment steamer

A garment steamer is the best option for delicate materials like silk, linen, and wool. It also lets you focus on shrinking specific areas. For example, you might stretch out the belly of a beloved shirt during pregnancy (which is why we advise grabbing affordable pregnancy clothes instead of wearing your favorites). 

Here’s how to shrink clothes with a garment steamer:

  1. Fill your steamer with clean, fresh water and set it to high heat.
  2. Put your garment on a hanger and place it in an open area so you have access to the whole thing.
  3. Pass the steamer over the garment, holding it about one inch away. Pay special attention to the main areas you’d like smaller.
  4. Let the item air-dry.

This method is gentle and requires no direct contact, so it’s a great way to start if you aren’t sure what’s safe for your shirt.

Thrift your ideal size on ThredUp

We encourage you to bring the ultimate thrifted treasure home, even if you need to make a few alterations, like cleaning a pair of white sneakers or replacing a jacket button. Knowing how to shrink a t-shirt is handy, but if it sounds too risky, get the best size from the start on ThredUp.

Browse our massive collection and find any style or color in your size. Use our “Set your size” feature and shop only for items that fit you—from tops to shoes.

To get even more detailed, try our Improved Search feature. Simply type in descriptive phrases like “jeans for curvy bodies,” and then use our size filters to narrow the results and find the perfect item for your body type.

Not flexing—Time Magazine recognized our AI search as one of the best inventions of 2024!

Frequently asked questions

Can you shrink 100% cotton items?

Yes! Learning how to shrink cotton shirts is easier than most other fabrics. Many synthetic materials, such as polyester and nylon, guard against shrinkage, and delicate fabrics like silk require special techniques.

How do you make an oversized shirt smaller?

It may not be a good idea to shrink oversized shirts. Intentional shrinking methods usually downsize an item subtly, and oversized shirts are typically two sizes larger than your usual fit. A slight shrink may not make it small enough, but it will reduce your ability to style it oversized.

Can you make a shirt bigger after shrinking?

Sure you can! It’s a bit trickier than shrinking, but it’s not impossible. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Fill a bowl or sink with warm water and stir in two tablespoons of hair conditioner.
  2. Soak the garment for half an hour.
  3. Squeeze out the water and stretch the garment with your hands to pull the fibers back out.
  4. Let it air-dry.
  5. Put the garment through a normal washer/dryer cycle to wash the hair conditioner out.

Remember that this helps stretch the shirt out, but it isn’t guaranteed to go back to how it was, so try not to over-shrink the item the first time around.