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What is fabric shrinkage?

Release Time:

2025-04-27

The shrinkage rate of a fabric refers to the percentage by which the fabric shrinks after washing or soaking. Generally speaking, fabrics with high shrinkage rates are synthetic fibers and their blended fabrics.

　　1. Fabric Shrinkage Rate

　　Fabric shrinkage rate refers to the percentage of shrinkage of a fabric after washing or soaking. Generally speaking, fabrics with high shrinkage rates are synthetic fibers and their blended fabrics, followed by woolen fabrics and linen fabrics, with cotton fabrics in the middle, having moderate shrinkage, while those with the highest shrinkage are viscose fiber, artificial cotton, and artificial wool fabrics.

　　2. Factors Affecting Fabric Shrinkage

　　(1) Different raw materials of fabrics result in different shrinkage rates. Generally speaking, fibers with high hygroscopicity expand after soaking, increasing in diameter and decreasing in length, resulting in a higher shrinkage rate. For example, some viscose fibers have a water absorption rate as high as 13%, while synthetic fiber fabrics have poor hygroscopicity, resulting in a lower shrinkage rate.

　　(2) Different fabric densities result in different shrinkage rates. For example, if the warp and weft densities are similar, their warp and weft shrinkage rates are also close. Fabrics with high warp density have high warp shrinkage, and vice versa, fabrics with weft density greater than warp density have high weft shrinkage.

　　(3) Different yarn counts result in different shrinkage rates. Fabrics with thicker yarn have higher shrinkage rates, while fabrics with finer yarn have lower shrinkage rates.

　　(4) Different fabric production processes result in different shrinkage rates. Generally speaking, fabrics that undergo multiple stretching during weaving and dyeing, have longer processing times, and are subjected to greater tension have higher shrinkage rates, and vice versa.