Fabric Shrinkage Calculator

Fabric Shrinkage Formula

Worked Example

A 50 × 50 cm mark that measures 48.5 × 49 cm after washing:

1. Shrinkage = (original − final) ÷ original × 100
2. Length: (50 − 48.5) ÷ 50 = 3 %; width: 2 %
3. Area: 1 − 0.97 × 0.98 = 4.94 %

Area shrinkage 1 − (1 − sₗ)(1 − s_w): 4.94 %

Measuring dimensional change

Mark a square of known size (often 50 cm or 500 mm) on the fabric, wash and dry it under the standard procedure, then re-measure the marks in both directions. A negative result means the fabric grew. Knitted fabrics usually shrink more in length than width, and the area shrinkage is slightly less than the sum of the two. Garment makers allow for the expected shrinkage when cutting patterns.

More Textile Testing Calculators

• Moisture Regain Calculator

  R = (W − D)/D, M = (W − D)/W

  W conditioned weight, D oven-dry weight; R = M/(1 − M)

  Example: A sample weighing 110 g conditioned and 100 g oven-dry: Moisture regain R = 10 %.

  Open the moisture regain calculator →

• Yarn Evenness Calculator

  CV = s/x̄ × 100, CVlim = 100/√n, I = CV/CVlim

  n fibres in the cross-section = yarn tex ÷ fibre tex

  Example: Eight cut-length masses of a 20 tex yarn spun from 1.5 dtex fibre: Coefficient of variation CV = 3.62531 %.

  Open the yarn evenness calculator →

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Last reviewed: 2026-10-15. Factors are stored exactly and computed with 50-digit decimal arithmetic. See how we verify conversion factors.