Preshrunk
Treatment — one of 37 in the glossary
Fabric that has been mechanically compacted before the garment was cut, so most of its potential shrinkage has already been taken out. The usual method is compressive shrinkage — the cloth is carried on a rubber belt that is stretched, pressed against a heated cylinder, and allowed to contract, pushing the fabric back along its length into the relaxed state it would otherwise reach on the customer's first hot wash.
Compacted, not washed
Preshrinking is mechanical. The fabric runs onto a thick rubber belt that is held stretched around a roller; as the belt straightens it contracts, and the fabric riding on it is compressed lengthwise against a heated cylinder that sets the new state.
The process is often called Sanforizing, after the trademark for one version of it. It does not wash the cloth and adds no chemistry.
Because it is done to the fabric roll rather than to the finished piece, it happens before cutting — which is why a preshrunk garment was never itself shrunk.
What it does not promise
Not zero shrinkage. A preshrunk cotton tee will still move perhaps one to two per cent in a genuinely hot wash and dryer, against three to five for untreated cotton.
Not stability in the collar or the thread, which are often a different fibre and can behave differently — the cause of a wavy hem on a shirt whose body is fine.
And not the softness of a garment wash, which is a different process done for a different reason.
How to use the information
If a spec sheet claims preshrinking, size for the fit you want out of the bag. If it is silent, assume untreated and allow for the first wash.
Do not mix treated and untreated styles in one job where fit has to match; they start the same and finish different.
Garment-dyed and garment-washed styles have effectively been preshrunk by their own processing, which is why they measure shorter than a piece-dyed equivalent.
Common questions
- What does preshrunk mean?
- That the fabric was mechanically compacted before cutting, pushing it into the relaxed state it would otherwise reach on a first hot wash. Most of the potential shrinkage is already out.
- Does preshrunk cotton still shrink?
- A little — roughly one to two per cent in a hot wash, against three to five for untreated cotton. Preshrunk means most of the movement is gone, not all of it.
- Is preshrunk the same as pre-washed?
- No. Preshrinking is a mechanical compacting of the fabric roll with no washing involved. Pre-washing or garment washing is a wet process on the finished garment, done mainly for softness.
Where this comes up
Last reviewed