Why do some clothes shrink when washed in hot water and why can’t they stretch back to their normal size?

Question

Why do some clothes shrink when washed in hot water and why can’t they stretch back to their normal size?

In: 845

Answer 1

This generally happens to clothes made with natural fibers. Those fibers are typically a protein matrix. Think of what happens when meat is cooked, the proteins denature and recombine into shorter strands/matrices.