Dear Readers: Ever wonder what causes a shirt to shrink? Well, we here at Heloise Central went right to the Drycleaning and Laundry Institute for an answer: Manufact-urers allow for a normal 2 percent and progressive shrinkage tolerance, which usually is not noticeable enough to cause complaint. Anything greater than 2 percent shrinkage is due to poorly stabilized material at the time of manufacture. There is little a professional can do to cause a shirt to shrink excessively.

Just a quick reminder: When picking up laundry from the cleaners, be sure to lift up the plastic cover a...

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