surefire way to shrink

[bostonsmama]

ok, so i bought ds this linen chambray shirt from baby gap today to wear in his pics tomorrow, and the smallest size they had was 12-18 months. but, he wears size 6-12 months, so i need to shrink it! i was hoping it would work, and thought maybe he had grown, but apparently not. so? any ideas on how i can shrink this besides washing it on hot, and drying it on hot? its *perfect* for the pants i got, soooooo cute, i cant even begin to explain :) haha! so.........any ideas? ive heard that linen washes funny, but im willing to risk it.

[flowermama]

I'm afraid the only way I know to shrink a shirt is to wash it on hot and dry it on hot. :O I read that you could shrink a new cotton shirt by putting it in the dryer on a high setting, but I don't know how it would work with linen. One page I read that pre-shrunk linen shouldn't be washed in water hoter than 90 degrees, but I don't know why. Well, I guess it wouldn't be good for the fabric, but I don't know what would happen.

I found this info about shrinking...

http://www.fabriclink.com/Carefaq.html#Shrink

Is there any way to determine how much a garment will shrink?

Any fabric can be expected to shrink about 1 to 3 percent, even dry clean only garments. Manufactured fibers will shrink the least, and natural fibers the most. The shrinkage of natural fibers is often controlled during the manufacturing process, by washing and preshrinking the fabric before it is made into a garment.

Natural fibers which are not preshrunk, and some manufactured fibers such as rayon and acetate (both of which are made using natural plant matter as part of their ingredients) can shrink significantly...even several sizes.

I'm sorry I'm not really much help. I hope you figure something out and it goes well tomorrow. I know your little guy will look adorable. :heart