What is Fabric Shrinkage
The term shrinkage can simply be defined as a change in the dimensions of a fabric or garment. This dimensional change may be in a positive (growth or elongation) or negative (shrinkage) direction for fabric length, width and thickness. Although the thickness of a fabric also changes with processing and use, it is not usually considered problematic. For a cotton fabric, shrinkage relates to the loss of the length and/or width dimensions. In garment form, the shrinkage characteristics relate not only to a change in fabric dimensions, but they also can relate to other parameters, such as seam puckering, torquing and overall garment fit. Shrinkage is the process in which a fabric becomes smaller than its original size, usually through the process of laundry. Cotton fabric suffers from two main disadvantages of shrinking and creasing during subsequent washing. However, there are fabrics which are more naturally resistant to shrinking. Synthetic fibers such as polyester or nylon are typically less prone to shrinking than others, although they are not 100 % shrink-proof. Any fabric shrinks in different states, from loom state onwards to the stage till it is finished. It can be recalled that width of warp on beam (weavers beam) is different from width in reed, width of fabric on front rest differs from width in reed, width on cloth roller differs from relaxed width and finished width is smaller than grey width. Answer for all these changes is shrinkage, of cloth width wise and length wise. In some cases fabric shrinkage is high and noticeable, e.g. 10s warp sized with 10 %, 34s or 40s reed, 8 or 10 pick wheel using 2s roving as weft to produce chaddars or thick bed sheets. When grey fabric subjected to preparatory process like desizing, scouring, bleaching or mercerizing, fabric undergo shrinkage. Thus, if a cloth is finished, we need to calculate from reverse side to arrive at width of warp on beam.
Many methods exist for measuring the shrinkage of fabrics and garments. The most reliable methods use a system that properly prepares the sample for the test, agitates the goods without tensions or restrictions on the fabric, and measures the results accurately.
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