Shrinkage refers to a phenomenon in which the length or width of textiles changes during washing, dehydration, and drying. In daily life, the shrinkage of the clothes we buy can be said to be familiar, but have you ever heard of shrinking hotel linen?

        Different fibers and fabrics will have different degrees of shrinkage. The fabrics of hotel linen products are mostly pure cotton, polyester-cotton and silk. The linen made of these three materials will shrink to a certain extent. According to relevant national standards, the shrinkage rate of hotel linen should be 3%-4%, but some products of poor quality may reach 8%-10%.

        1. Reasons for shrinkage of linen
        The fiber in the linen will be deformed by external force during manufacture, showing static dry relaxation, static dry relaxation, dynamic wet relaxation, full relaxation, etc., so that the length of the linen will become longer. During the washing process, the linen is subjected to external force again, breaking the above state and returning to its original length.
        When the textile fiber is heated, the shape and size of the fiber will change and shrink, and it will not return to the initial state after cooling, which is called fiber thermal shrinkage. The percentage of length before heat shrinkage and after heat shrinkage is called heat shrinkage. Generally, it is measured by boiling water shrinkage test. In 100℃ boiling water, the percentage of fiber length shrinkage is expressed; hot air is also used. Hot air at over 100℃ The percentage of shrinkage can be measured in the steam method, and the percentage of shrinkage can be measured in steam above 100°C. Fibers perform differently under different conditions such as internal structure, heating temperature and time. For example, the boiling water shrinkage rate of processed polyester staple fiber is 1%, the boiling water shrinkage rate of vinylon is 5%, and the hot air shrinkage rate of vinylon is 50%. Fiber is closely related to the textile processing and the dimensional stability of the fabric, which provides some basis for the design of subsequent processes.
        2. Factors affecting shrinkage rate
        Different linen fabrics have different shrinkage rates. For the fiber with high moisture absorption, the fiber expands after being immersed in water, the diameter increases, the length decreases, and the shrinkage rate is large. If some viscose fibers have a water absorption rate as high as 13%, while synthetic fiber fabrics have poor hygroscopicity, their shrinkage rate is small.
        The thickness of the linen yarn is different, and the shrinkage rate is also different. The thickness of the yarn count will affect the size of the fiber in the water, thereby affecting the shrinkage of the linen. Generally speaking, the shrinkage rate of fabrics with thick yarn counts is large, and the shrinkage rate of fabrics with fine yarn counts is small.
        The density of the fabric is different, the shrinkage rate is also different. If the density in the warp and weft directions is similar, the shrinkage rate in the warp and weft directions is also close. Fabrics with a high warp density will shrink in the warp direction. Conversely, fabrics with a weft density greater than the warp density will shrink in the weft direction. In general, the dimensional stability of high-density fabrics is better than that of low-density fabrics.
        Different fabric production processes have different shrinkage rates. Generally speaking, in the process of weaving and dyeing and finishing the fabric, the fiber has to be stretched many times, and the processing time is long. The shrinkage rate of the fabric with greater applied tension is greater, and vice versa. In order to control the width of the fabric, in the actual process, we generally use pre-shrinking to solve this problem.
        The washing method will affect the shrinkage of the linen. The temperature, detergent and process of the linen washing will affect the shrinkage rate of the linen. Take temperature as an example. The higher the temperature, the worse the stability of the linen and the easier it is to shrink.
 

        Hotel linen shrinkage is a normal phenomenon, but we should avoid buying products with high shrinkage rate, so as not to affect the normal use of linen.