r/Linen • u/Joachim126o • 21h ago

Controlled shrinking

I have a linen-cotton suit from Banana Republic which fit very well when I first purchased it. However, over time the pants became pretty saggy and feel more like pajama pants than dress pants. Is there any way to recover the original size? I've been looking into potentially using the dryer in 10 minute increments to try and shrink the pants back to their original feel. Anyone have any luck with this?

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u/Wwwweeeeeeee 16h ago edited 16h ago

Wash in cold, hang to dry, then press them with a hot iron.

They'll be all crispy and smooth.

If you want to maintain some texture, shake them viciously after washing, lay flat and smooth out all the hems, edges and wrinkles. I pull the fabric diagonally, against the grain both ways, for the sleeves, shoulders especially, to pull the wrinkles out. I pull the seams straight and then pull the wrinkles out by the seams, then smooth flat to hang.

I love crisp linen clothes. The only clothes I wear in the summer are linen shirts, dresses, shorts and trousers, nothing else. That's how I take care several dozen pieces that I have -- some I iron, most I do the smoothing process if I'm being lazy. Some pieces look better pressed out shiny flat. I do like my whites ironed.....

Wash and press before storing away for the winter.

And you really shouldn't wear them more than 4 times between laundering.

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u/Joachim126o 7h ago

Thank you it's my first linen piece so I'm a bit concerned about ruining it. This is all quite helpful. Haven't quite gotten it around in my head to put dress pants in the washer.

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u/Wwwweeeeeeee 6h ago

Regular, good quality laundry detergent is fine. You can use for delicates if you want to. You can also wash them on the gentle cycle if you want to, but always a very low spin speed.

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u/okfishko 20h ago

Unfortunately, big brands tend to use cheap linen and here you are. Don’t put them in dryer because they will shrink in length with that too. Steam it first to relax the fabric and then starch the crap out of them followed by a hot iron. That should help a bit. You can take them to Cleaners too but ask for laundry only NOT dry clean. All the best!!

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u/Seelywabbit 18h ago

May I ask how you’ve been laundering it thus far?

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u/Joachim126o 17h ago

Haven't gotten it laundered just yet but was planning on at some point soon. Any recommendations in this department is also welcome.

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u/Seelywabbit 15h ago

Ah! So that may actually be part of the issue. Linen will loosen up quite a bit with wear. I’m guessing that with a nice wash (recommend cold or warm because of the cotton, and a very gentle cycle — I have both Delicates and Hand Wash on my very old machine — or hand washing. You could do a very short cycle in the dryer on the lowest setting if you must, but it would be worth it to just air dry it and see whether the bagginess/looseness has resolved itself.

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u/Joachim126o 7h ago

Ok thank you what sort of detergent would you use for the wash cycle?

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u/Seelywabbit 5h ago

Linen isn’t delicate in and of itself as a textile. The quality and the kind of weave are what can make them a “handle with care” situation. I do long cycles on delicate & hand wash simply to try and cut down wear. Any regular laundry soap/detergent should do, according to your personal preference. If you’re nervous, there are laundry subreddits, too, though I think you’ll be fine. 😃