So, you just got the Brandy Melville sweatpants, and you’ve been wondering what the shrinking is like.
What happens when I wash or dry them?
Will they shrink or not?
In this article, I’m going to talk about Brandy’s sweatpants and shrinking.
So, let’s dive in quickly!
Do Brandy Sweatpants Shrink?
Yes. Brandy sweat pants do shrink, depending on how you wash or take care of them.
Like other joggers in the market, Brandy sweatpants do come in baggy/free-size, and you can wear them to sleep, exercise, or go through your normal daily activities in super comfort.
However, over time the sweatpants will start to shrink or get bigger – kind of loose – depending on how you wash them.
If you always wash your Brandy sweatpants with hot water and dry them at the dryer’s hottest temperature, they are going to shrink over time. This is because, during construction, tension is applied to the yarn and fabrics of the cotton materials.
Brandy sweatpants are made of 75% cotton fabrics and 25% polyester, with an elastic waistband.
If the heat from hot water or dryer is applied to the sweatpants, the tension releases, which causes the fabrics to shrink down.
And in most cases, people don’t live their joggers shrinking.
How Much Do Brandy Sweatpants Shrink?
Brandy sweatpants can shrink up to 5% or more if it has been pre-shrunk, or 20% if they are in their original size.
Also, other factors like added materials e.g polyester or the degree of temperature applied can determine how much your sweatpants will shrink.
What Does It Mean When Clothes Are Pre-shrunk?
When a cotton dress – in this case, sweatpants – is pre-shrunk, it simply means that the fabrics have undergone some shrinking processes before being sewn together.
Anyway, this does not reduce the quality.
The reason for shrinkage is that most of the shrinking that would happen on your Melville sweatpants in the future as a result of usage has been taken care of.
However, pre-shrunk sweatpants will keep shrinking if it’s not given proper care.
There are various ways that you can use to stop your lovely sweatpants from shrinking.
How Do You Keep Brandy Sweatpants from shrinking?
To keep your Brandy sweatpants from shrinking, reduce your use of hot water for washing them, and don’t always set your dryers to the highest temperature.
These are catalysts of shrinking.
If you want to stop your sweatpants from shrinking overall, stop using hot water altogether.
Heat is a major cause of shrinking.
Sweatpants are made of cotton, and cotton fabrics are very sensitive to heat. The more you expose it to heat, the length of the fiber changes, which also affects the length of the sweatpants.
Also, Brandy sweatpants are made with polyester(25%), which is meant for elasticity and the wearer’s comfort.
Polyester is more like a rubber or plastic material that is also susceptible to shrinking when constantly exposed to heat.
And when drying sweatpants, you should not increase the temperature to a very high degree, except if you are bent on shrinking the fabric.
How Do You Unshrink Brandy Sweatpants?
To unshrink Brandy sweatpants you need to wash them in lukewarm water and do some air drying tricks.
Shrinking our sweatpants is usually common, but there are steps we can take to stretch the fabrics back to their original size.
The following steps can help you unshrink sweatpants.
If you follow them carefully, you would be successful in saving those beautiful Brandy sweatpants of yours.
Step 1: Fill Your Bathtubs with Lukewarm Water
If a bathtub is not available, your bucket or even sink will work fine.
Make sure it’s not cold water because cold water won’t help much when it comes to stretching your sweatpants.
Step 2: Mix the Water with the 15ml (1 US tablespoon) of baby shampoo, conditioner, or gentle detergent
Shampoos or conditioners are better for this use because they are super gentle on cotton fabrics.
If you are going to use detergent, make sure it’s not an abrasive one, just gentle/mild.
You don’t want to ruin your sweatpants while at it.
Step 3: Soak the Sweatpants In The Mixed Water For Up To 30 Minutes
Now make sure your sweatpant is entirely inside the water before you leave it. If the water becomes cold before you reach this stage, it’s better you quickly change it.
You might as well start to stretch the sweatpant while soaking it, but it’s not necessary yet.
Step 4: Time to Squeeze The Sweatpant
After 30 minutes, unsoak and thoroughly squeeze the sweatpants to remove excess water using your hands.
However do not rinse off the shampoo yet, the sweatpants still need to be soapy to relax the cotton fiber.
Step 5: Now Roll Up Your Sweatpant In a Large Towel
Make sure it’s fully wrapped in the towel. This will remove the extra excess water your hand could not.
The sweatpant should no longer drip water, but it should still be wet.
You should leave it in the towel for like 5 – 10 minutes max. Don’t let it dry or cool down, else the fiber will be difficult to stretch.
Step 6: Use your hands to unshrink and reshape it
Unwrap the sweatpant and stretch it.
You will have to stretch it very well to get it into its original size, but be careful not to damage the sweatpant.
If you are not sure of the accurate size, you can use another sweatpant to gauge the size while stretching.
If you are finding it difficult to stretch, you might have to use a steam iron to soften the fabrics. It helps a lot too in shrinking damp cotton clothes.
Step 7: Stretch Different Parts of the Sweatpants.
You’ll still have to leave the sweatpants on the towel.
Now slowly stretch out the part that is yet to unshrink – or just randomly stretch out various parts of the Brandy sweatpant.
You should keep doing this until the sweatpant dries – you might have to put it in the sweatpant using objects like a book, mug, power bank, etc( anything heavy enough to pin it down).
Step 8: Now Rinse/Dry Your Sweatpants
You can now re-wash and rinse your sweatpant now.
Dry them in the open air or anywhere with sunlight rays. The best practice is to dry the sweatpants on a rod.
This is because when you dry sweatpants on a rod, gravity pulls it down while it’s still wet. This helps a lot in the unshrinking process too.
Nevertheless, depending on how much your sweatpants have shrunk, you might have to repeat this whole process over and over, until you’re satisfied with the result.
How To Care For Your Brandy Sweatpants?
Tips for caring for your Brandy sweatpants
The following are some quick actionable tips to start caring for your Brandy sweatpants;
- Wash your Sweatpants When you Need To
- Treat Stains On Your Sweatpants
- Dry Your Sweatpants in Open Air
- Be careful with Ironing
- Use Cold or Warm Water to Wash Your Sweatpants
- Do not Bleach Your Brandy Sweatpants
Brandy sweatpants when not taken care of, are prone to pilling, shrinking, creasing, and even wearing out.
Cotton fabrics are natural and healthy on the skin no matter how sensitive your skin is.
Since they take care of you, wouldn’t it make sense to take care of them too?
Before we dive into the above tips, I would like to tell you that if you follow them, you can guarantee that your sweatpants will last long and you’ll enjoy wearing them.
Wash your Sweatpants When you Need To
Like every other clothes you have, you need to wash your sweatpants when it becomes dirty.
You don’t want to leave stains, odor, dirt, or oils on your sweatpants, as it could damage them.
However, keep in mind that frequently washing cotton fabrics reduces the quality’s life span.
Also, be careful of the detergent or stain remover you use. Some detergents agitate the sweatpant’s fabric and cause them to fall away from the weave.
Using shampoo instead is the safest and most recommended practice.
Treat Stains On Your Sweatpants
Do not hesitate to use stain removers in your Brandy sweatpants.
Although most stain removers are highly concentrated, removing stubborn marks from your sweatpants is a must.
You just have to be careful not to do it often and make sure not to always leave stains on your sweatpants.
Dry Your Sweatpants in Open Air
It is advisable to dry your sweatpants in the open air.
This is because the drying of cotton fabrics in the sun occurs more slowly than using drying machines.
That’s not logical you might say, you want your sweatpants to dry faster.
Well, since the cotton fabric is better with less stress, you would want a method that will make your sweatpants last longer.
Secondly, drying with a machine might seem faster, but it causes your Brandy sweatpants to crease and shrink over time.
Although creasing can be straightened out by ironing, sun-drying will save you the stress.
Be Careful With Ironing
First thing first, don’t use pressing iron 5o to dry your sweatpants.
Although creasing might be inevitable in sweatpants, ironing turns out to be the best option.
Nevertheless, always make sure to set the temperature to the lowest degree possible.
Do not exceed 110C (230 Fahrenheit), unless you are fine with damaging your sweatpants.
Since Brandy sweatpants are also made of polyester, exposing them to too much heat would melt the polyester fabric over time.
Use Cold or Warm Water to Wash Your Sweatpants
If you want your sweatpants to last long, and not shrink, you should use cold or warm water for your sweatpant’s laundry.
Warm water helps you unshrink shrunken sweatpants while cold water prevents them from shrinking in the first place.
Avoid hot water, because it does more harm than good. Except your actual aim is to shrink your sweatpants – maybe it stretched to be bigger or longer – hot water should be avoided totally.
Do not Bleach Your Brandy Sweatpants
Bleaching kills the fabric of your sweatpants. It contains Sodium Hydrochloric, which is a very powerful chemical capable of weakening cotton fabrics.
Applying bleach weakens the fabric quality and makes it fade over time.
And finally, do not over-wash your sweatpants. Only wash it when it is dirty or stained, not because you wore it.
Check out more tips on how to care for your sweatpants.
In Conclusion
Brandy sweatpants are one of the highest quality pants in the world right now.
Quality does not shield it from some inevitable effects of mal-handling, which cause it to shrink or fade quickly.
So I hope this article will help you unshrink your shrunken sweatpants, as well as help you take care of them even better.
Enjoy your Brandy Sweatpants!
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