In my previous post, “I shrunk this, now what?” I was able to successfully “unshrink” a few items back to size including a dress and top that were supposed to be dry clean only.
This week I shrunk one of my favorite skirts. The label states Machine Wash Cold, but my water was just not cold enough. For future, I know that this skirt needs to be hand washed in cold or sent to the dry cleaners.
Admittedly, I live in a warm climate and the tap water gets warm. So now I can only wash delicate items in the early morning or very light at night, when the ground water is cool enough not to ruin my clothes. Or, I will ignore the machine wash cold, and just add more items to the dry clean only pile (less laundry).
But, can I unshrink this lined business suit skirt using the same unshrinking method that worked before? Let’s give it a try!
The skirt shrunk a full inch above the lining. The skirt hem was 1.5 inches below the lining. Meaning that I have 2.5 inches to recover from my skirt in the “unshrink” process.
I followed the same process of soaking my skirt in warm water (I know, that is what got me into this mess in the first place), and mixed in a generous helping of hair conditioner. After a few trials, I have determined that the longer soak is not as important as sufficient conditioner.
Determined to save my skirt, I let it soak 20 minutes. I started the stretching process immediately and continued gently smoothing the entire time as the conditioner worked its magic to loosen the fibers for maximum recovery. Then I hung the skirt up to dry and hung a hanger at the bottom for extra weight to keep the skirt stretched out.
Fortunately, the skirt is saved! It is only a smidge shorter than when purchased, but quite wearable. Overall the waistband kept the waist size intact, so there is no need for a crash diet to fit into this skirt.
As you can see, there was no change in color to the skirt. While this skirt is a pretty neutral grey, it is important that the unskrink process does not alter the shade when dealing with a bright or bold color item. Any matching jacket or accessories will continue to match the unshrunk skirt! Hooray!
Update: Several people asked about the fabric content for this skirt. This skirt is a 70% Viscose Rayon blend (30% Polymide nylon-spandex blend). If I had followed my own advice, I would have dry cleaned this skirt, since it is over 50% rayon. Here is a handy post for more information of Fabric content and washing advice.
