So sick of tops changing shape after a couple of washes!

[StephenKatz]

Does anyone else experience this? I don't have a lot of money so tend to buy my basics in H&M, Primark, Matalan etc. I'm pretty fussy anyway because I'm very hourglass, I want something that really goes in at the waist, but every time I find something after a couple of washes they just become awful! Like they stretch horizontally, get massively wide and much shorter.

I'm careful with how I wash things, 40°c and no tumble drying, so it can't be that. Does anyone have any decent recommendations? Preferably basic tops that have a defined waist and wash well? Or is it something I'm doing?

The basic Petit Bateau tops (the solid colour ones,not their fashion ones) are usually fairly good quality and do not shrink.

DH used to do a lot of work for one of the major textile manufacturers, who then made shirt materials for all the high street chains. The guy he worked with explained that stretching and shrinking is all to do with the post=manufacturing treatments applied. The cheaper the garment, the more likely it was to have been stretched beyond the yarn's tolerances, so when washed, it returned to it's "proper" dimensions.

Wash on zero degrees.
Put on gentle hand wash cycle on machine.
Use a silk/wool liquid wash. (Persil do a lovely one).
Never over spin. 600 spin is enough.
Dont tumble dry or put on radiator.
Hang on clothes horse
Im very fanatical about my clothes and fussy about washing them

The quality has definitely gone downhill. Yesterday I fished out a White Stuff top I bought 4 years ago. This is proper thick cotton.

The one's they make now are of that thin weave and recently I had to send a really pretty shirt back as it developed a hole in the sleeve.

I think they would be better to concentrate on the quality rather than compromising on the cotton. It is hard to buy cotton tops in the first place and I like WS pretty touches so I keep on buying like a sucker.