Shrink Rayon

Rayon is a sensitive material that is prone to stretching and shrinking. Most advise that you only dry clean rayon fabrics to keep them from shrinking, but what if you want them to shrink? You can wash and dry your garment to shrink your rayon fabric to a size that you prefer.

10 Second Summary

1. Hand wash gently and soak your rayon to shrink it and protect it.
2. Wash your fabric in the washing machine for excessive shrinkage.
3. Roll the garment in a damp towel to subtly shrink.
4. Dry cautiously by laying it out flat on a counter.
5. Press out the water and hang it on a clothes line.
6. Dry rayon in the dryer for maximum reduction.

Steps

Washing Rayon

  1. Hand wash the fabric and soak it in water. Rayon can be easily manipulated and permanently changed when exposed to water. Gently hand wash the garment and let it soak in the water for several minutes to significantly shrink your fabric but also protect the material.[1]
  2. Wash your fabric in the washing machine. If your rayon garment is much too big, throw it in the washing machine with some regular detergent and wash on a warm or hot cycle.[2]
  3. Roll the fabric into a damp towel. If you don’t want to make any drastic changes to your rayon garment, shrink it in a more subtle way. Soak a bath towel in water, lay the rayon flat on the towel, and then roll the towel up and let it sit so that the moisture can soak into the fabric.[3]
    • Try this method first if you’re worried about shrinking your garment too much. If you want it shrunken more, you can always resort to one of the other methods for your second attempt.

Drying Rayon

  1. Lay it flat on a counter. After you’ve washed your rayon fabric, you can simply lay it down flat on a counter for a while and wait for it to dry naturally.[3] This may be your best option if you’re trying to only shrink the garment a little bit, or if you want to be extra cautious about making sure the shrinking occurs uniformly.
  2. Press out the water and hang dry. You can dry your wet rayon by gently pressing out excess water and then hanging it on a clothes line to let the outdoor air dry it.
    • Avoid squeezing the water out because this could potentially create wrinkles and stretch the fabric out unevenly.
    • This method may make the fabric stretch the most lengthwise.
  3. Dry rayon fabric in the dryer. Put your wet rayon garment in the dryer on the gentle setting until it’s completely dry. Drying your fabric in this way will most likely allow for the greatest possible amount of shrinkage.[4]

Tips

  • Before choosing a method, Identify the blend of the fabric that you’re trying to shrink. You might opt for a more aggressive method to shrink a garment only made 30% of Rayon and a less aggressive method to shrink a garment made 100% of Rayon.
  • Don’t dry clean your rayon fabric unless you change your mind about shrinking it. This will clean the garment well, but it won’t change the size at all.
  • When in doubt, don’t use a washing machine or a dryer.

Warnings

  • Don’t wring water out of rayon fabric; this with cause damage to to fabric and change its shape in an undesirable way.

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.apparelsearch.com/education/ohio_state_clothing_education/rayon_multi-faceted_fiber.htm
  2. ↑ https://indiesew.com/blog/fabric-files-rayon-challis
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.sew4home.com/tips-resources/sewing-tips-tricks/happy-holidays-freespirit-rowan-working-rayon-and-linen
  4. ↑ http://www.sophisticatededge.com/does-rayon-shrink-in-the-dryer.html

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