Fabric, printing and care
How much does a cotton T-shirt shrink?
Short answer
An untreated 100% cotton tee can lose three to five per cent of its length in a hot wash and tumble dry — roughly an inch on an adult shirt. Pre-shrunk cotton typically loses one to two per cent. Washing cold and drying flat largely avoids the issue altogether.
Shrinkage happens mostly in length rather than width, because that is the direction in which knit fabric is stretched during manufacture. A shirt that has shrunk usually feels short rather than tight.
Heat is the trigger in both washing and drying, and the dryer generally does more damage than the wash. A cold wash followed by air drying produces very little movement even in untreated cotton.
If a shirt has already shrunk, some of it can be recovered. Soaking in lukewarm water with a little hair conditioner relaxes the fibres, after which the garment can be gently stretched back while damp and dried flat. It rarely recovers the full amount, and it will shrink again if washed hot.
Blends behave differently. Polyester does not shrink meaningfully, so a 50/50 blend moves roughly half as much as pure cotton, and tri-blends less again.
More detail: Washing and Caring for Printed T-Shirts covers this subject in full.
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