BEFORE YOU CUT
Fabric Shrinkage
Calculator.
Keep the before and after together. Compare the same marked spans after the care method you actually used.
Your paired readings
Enter your own measurements. All four fields start blank.
Try 20 × 20 cm before and 19 × 19.5 cm after. These are hypothetical readings, not a tested fabric sample.
What changed?
Positive means contraction. Negative means expansion.
Awaiting your paired readings.
Length
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No calculation yet
Width
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No calculation yet
Rectangular area
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No calculation yet
The calculation, in view
Axis change (%) =
(before − after) ÷ before × 100
Rectangular area change (%) =
(before area − after area) ÷ before area × 100
After a calculation, displayed results are rounded. More decimal places do not establish measurement precision.
A result describes these readings. It does not identify why they changed or predict fit, every later wash or fabric performance.
KEEP THE METHOD BESIDE THE NUMBER
A useful care note starts before washing.
Identify the pair
Give the fabric sample an ID and record its starting condition, project and pattern revision. Mark a length span and a width span on the same swatch. Measure between those marks before and after care, keeping each direction separate. Record the unit, dates and the measuring tool. Do not replace a marked-span reading with the cut-edge size or stretch the fabric to reach an expected number. The before-cutting record guide shows how to keep these details together.
Describe the care actually used
Follow the fabric manufacturer's appropriate care guidance. Note the washing and drying method, relevant settings, any pressing and the sample's condition when measured. Compare readings in comparable conditions; do not substitute a wet reading for a dry one without explaining the difference. Record observations such as curling, skew or surface changes. Review the fabric and elastic preparation guide alongside the material requirements. This is a practical record, not a standard laboratory test, and no fabric has been physically tested for this tool.
Read the sign and the assumption
Use a positive starting length and the same unit within a pair. A smaller after reading gives positive contraction; a larger one gives negative expansion. Neither result is clamped to zero. The optional area result multiplies length by width only when both before and after measurements describe rectangles. It cannot account for an angled grid or an irregular shape. Stretch and released-length recovery answer a separate question: use the stretch recording method for that check. These percentages do not certify body-measurement precision or garment fit.
Keep the record and the next action
Copy your readings, care method and result into your own notes; this page does not save them. The blank preparation library offers recording sheets and a project planner, not measured fabric results or calibrated rulers. Its physical printer testing is still pending. For an actual PDF pattern, follow the printing and assembly guide and check its supplied print reference. Keep uncertain readings and preparation tasks visible before cutting. One swatch and one care cycle cannot promise what every later wash will do.