Is there a reason why your pants feel tighter after you've dried them in the dryer?

They get smaller right? Same with shirts…I think…Not really sure GQ :)

Mine do, but after a couple hours wearing them, they “grow” on me. Then they bag in the butt and hips. I have no butt as it is, so then it looks like I don’t have clothes that fit me.

Believe it or not, shrinkage is a ‘bonding’ experience. The cotton fibers of your jeans are made of lots of small molecules, linked together to form huge chains of molecules called polymers. Weak links called hydrogen bonds connect the polymer chains end-to-end. When the bonds break, the polymers crinkle up. Result: shrinkage.

That is exactly why I don’t dry many of my clothes. Underwear is about it. Everything else I hang dry. I can’t afford to have anything shrink!

To reiterate on what @syz said, a lot of fabrics are cut on a bias, so when pulled, fabric can greatly stretch, which is what happens when worn….it loses it’s elasticity. When you wash then dry the clothes in the dryer, the heat then allows the fibers in the fabric to “bounce” back, causing shrinkage. It’s like curly hair and humidity.

Its the same reason a freshly-cleaned automobile seems to run better. who knows?

“Shrinkage” doesn’t only happen in swimming pools.

I notice that too. And the longer you dry and heat them, the snuggier they get. It has to do with the slight shrinkage of the cotton fibres. Actually, I like the snug-fit feeling when I dry my jeans in the dryer after washing them. It shows off my physique better and feels “nicer”, if you know what I mean. Lol. But after wearing the jeans for a full day, they lose their tight feel and get all saggy and loose again. I hate that. :(

They shrink.

I can’t stand shrinkage. It ruins my clothes :(

Once you wash and dry them they shrink!