Cotton Shrinks

Editor’s note (2026): This original experiment used dishcloths knitted in Bernat Handicrafter Cotton and machine-washed and dried. I’ve since revisited all three designs using Lily Sugar’n Cream cotton yarn. The results below are from the original samples and are intended as an illustration of how different stitch patterns can respond to laundering. Actual shrinkage will vary depending on the yarn, stitch pattern, and washing and drying methods.

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After recently knitting my 3 dishcloths, I was suddenly motivated to do a little experiment with them. (I am a teacher, after all, and it is science fair season in my area). I originally wrote each of the patterns to create a cloth that is longer than it is wide. This is to account for shrinkage in the length. Cotton is one fibre that shrinks a lot after washing. However, each of the dishcloths seems to shrink a little differently. I wanted to find out why. I measured each cloth before and after I washed it in hot water in the machine and dried it in the dryer. Here are my results:

Snakes & Ladders Washcloth

The stitch pattern in the Snakes & Ladders Washcloth is a combination of knit and purl stitches. Every second row is a garter stitch row.

This combination stitch cloth shrunk an inch in the length and half an inch in width.

Boxy Dishcloth

The Boxy Dishcloth is mostly stockinette stitch, with every fourth row garter stitch.

The Boxy Dishcloth showed the least amount of shrinkage. It appears that stockinette stitch doesn’t shrink in width, but does shrink a bit in length.

Copycat Dishcloth

The Copycat Dishcloth is mainly garter stitch with two stockinette bands.

This garter stitch cloth shrunk evenly: 1 inch in length and 1 inch in width. It showed the most shrinkage in width of all three cloths.

Conclusions

Based on these three samples, here are my observations.

– All stitch patterns shrunk a certain amount in length, although stockinette stitch shrunk the least in length.

– In width, stockinette stitch didn’t shrink, the combination of stockinette and garter stitch shrunk somewhat, and garter stitch shrunk the most.

Please keep in mind that these results were obtained on small pieces of knitted fabric and these results should not be assumed to be true for knitted cotton garments that will be worn by a person. Cotton garments behave differently after being worn due to the effects of gravity! Dishcloths don’t stretch from gravity. However, dishcloths do have to contend with lots of use. I wonder what the measurements would be of each cloth after lots of use in the kitchen and many washes? Will they stretch? Or will washing and drying return them to their original shape each time? Hmmm. I feel another experiment coming on!

Michelle