Ontario, Canada-based Fine Cotton Factory is taking on one of the textile industry’s biggest headaches: fabric shrinkage.
The technical knit mill and apparel manufacturer has introduced a proprietary solution called 333 Jersey, which reduces shrinkage to 3 percent or less after a product is laundered by the end consumer. The exclusive technology uses a high degree of twisting force to give yarns their strength, compactly winding them to create a pre-shrunk effect and cut down on fabric contraction.
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Fine Cotton Factory said the innovation could significantly improve return rates for brands and retailers. “When consumers purchase clothing from a brand, one of the most disappointing things that can happen—and it happens frequently—is that the once perfectly fitting garment has shrunk after washing,” director of special projects Skip Kann said. “Apparel brands don’t want to give out credits or take back returns that they then have to dispose of.”
Instead, to avoid incurring such losses, companies typically wash and dry garments to pre-shrink them before they’re sold in stores—an intensive process that, while effective, gobbles up water and power. To streamline the process, Kann said Fine Cotton Factory turned to washing fabric rolls before garments were cute and sewn in 2018, tumble-drying more than 1,000 fabric rolls per day. The pre-washed textiles were developed to shrink by a maximum of 2 percent after consumer laundering—a feature that helped the company’s customers significantly reduce return rates.
But to further slash resource use, Fine Cotton Factory wanted to change the fabric’s inherent construction. “Eventually, we were washing way too much jersey in order to reduce the shrinkage to two or three percent, and we were using an absurd amount of energy to do it,” Kann said. 333 Jersey is made with new machinery capable of knitting fabric that shrinks three-width by three-length by 3 percent torque without pre-washing of any kind.
According to Kann, the company is working to develop a similar “pre-shrunk” fleece line versus the typical fleeces that shrink by up to 10 percent after washing. The company introduces new fashion collections twice a year, showcasing them at its Toronto showroom and factory space, and plans to expand the 333 concept to accommodate brand needs moving forward.
