Shrinking tops

[hiddenhome]

I like cotton and buy lots of cotton tops.

I always wash at 40 degrees and find that these tops shrink in the length, but never the width. I end up not being able to wear them as they're too short

Will washing at 30 degrees prevent this? What else can I do?

Please don't be offended by this question, but are they cheap tops? Are you also tumble drying when they aren't meant to go in the dryer?

I find things from, say, H&M are much more likely to shrink than things from M&S. Have you tried ironing to perhaps get them back into shape?

No tumble drying and they vary from where I buy them from. Some cheaper, but some more expensive.

I've decided that I'm only going to wash them on 30 degree quick washes now with minimal spin and only a warmish iron if they need it.

I hear you! Same happens to me.
A while back I lost 2 lovely and expensive Boden hotchpotch tops to length shrinkage. Washed at 40 and line dried. I think they should have been washed at 30 but I accidently put them in with the main wash.
Same has happened with M&S and Matalan but those labels def said 40 was OK, and the shrinkage happened over a period of time, not with one wash.

Oh dear, I've just treated myself to two Boden tops.

I have successfully managed to lengthen a couple of tops out again by washing them on 30, not spinning them, hanging them up wet on a hanger and stretching them out by pulling evenly across the bottom. It is a bit of a faff though.

There's a woman on YouTube who does that Mangos she adds a bit of baby bath to the water and doesn't rinse it out, she just keeps gently pulling the length to make it longer. I don't know whether it stays longer, or returns back to being small again in the next wash.

They have, i have just tried them on today. But I do wonder if it is because I am washing them in the machine but not spinning them and then drip drying them.