does tumble drying clothes make them shrink? I have a pair of jeans that are a very snug fit, however once they are washed and dried it takes a while for the snug fit to become as comfotable as it was before. Also I am loosing weight, but these jeans are still snug - they are as snug as what they were at 11.5 stone!?

confusion

My clothes always seem to "shrink" when I wash them, but I think that they actually "grow" when I wear them from me stretching them out, and when I wash them they go back to their original state.

Yes, tumble drying will cause clothes to shrink, or at least to tighten up. That's been my experience.

As for why they fit the same even with your loss--different parts of the body sometimes shrink more slowly or more quickly during weight loss. My belly is the last to go, for example.

Jay

Even if you hang dry they will shrink a little bit, but certainly not as much as tumble dry. Drying on the lowest heat or no heat at all will help too. It's mostly the getting wet in the washer part that makes them shrink.

Jeans are the worst. Anything all-cotton will shrink like a fiend in the wash. I wear a XL from old navy in most of their shirts, but the 100% cotton tees I have to by an XXL, because they shrink so much. I try it on in the store and swim in it, then wash it and it's super fitting.

My grandma swears by washing 100% cotton and jeans in super cold water and then drying on a rack. I guess the heat makes the fibers bind.

its only ever my jeans that shrink and they go seriously uncomfortable so i try not to wear my jeans as much coz if i do then they will want washed again and thats wen the misery starts! xxxxxx

My jeans go tight once they've been washed but after a few hours of wearing them they go loose and end up hanging off my backside lol

Just hanging clothes up in my closet cause them to shrink. Just last Sunday I put on a shirt for church that fit last year...nope...not this year. Closet shrinkage hit my side of the closet again!. DANG!

Do not wash them in hot water and if you must put them in a dryer use the lowest setting,I wash mine in cold water and dry them by hanging them over the shower rod.

I only wash my clothes in cold water. Pants and jeans tend to shrink length-wise for me, so I air dry them and then throw them in the dryer on the 'fluff' setting for 10 minutes to loosen them up. They don't shrink nearly as much.

Also, if you can buy the more expensive designer jeans (ebay!) many of them have a tiny bit of spandex in them so that they don't stretch out and get nasty after wearing them for a few hours or days. I always hated that about jeans--too small out of the dryer, hanging off me after a few hours of wearing. Citizen jeans don't do that. They're expensive, but worth it

I wash on cold, and dry on the coolest setting, and my jeans are the only things that ever shrink. Even they pop right back once I wear them for 20-30minutes. Washing on cold is better for the environment too - bonus!

Yep, I have been doing this with all of my 18's.. intentionally putting them in the dryer to shrink them bc they are too big. I am finally going to give in and get some 16 bottoms this week.

I have a pair of jeans that are lose on me and I have to wear my belt tight to keep them up. After drying, they're always tight. But within an hour, they're loose again.

yep sounds common then.

My jeans fit perfectly when just freshly washed and dried -- then they are falling off by the end of the day. But I hate when they are tight at any time -- because of my unsightly bulges when they are the least bit snug. And when they ARE tight after w/d -- then I know I better get my butt back into gear!