Dunnes clothes shrinking

timmythesheep

Hi,

Anyone having issues with Dunnes kids clothes shrinking after the 1st wash? I am washing at 30 or 40 degrees, no tumble drying. Bought my daughter a few age 2-3 long sleeve tops (she is 22 months) - nice and roomy on 1st wear. after first wash very tight and short exposing belly!!

I have contacted Dunnes but I am sue they will accuse me of not following washing instructions. Its not the first time its happened and as I am buying the 2-3 wardrobe I am having second thoughts about Dunnes clothes. Don't have the same problem with H&M or Name It stuff.

LegacyUser

Interesting you say that, I had a similar experience this week with a top recently bought for my just 7 month old. It's 6-9 months. Never had this before, my older girl has plenty Dunnes stuff and it hasn't been an issue. I was a bit surprised. Glad to hear I'm not the only one.

bp

I don't but dunnes or penny's for exactly that reason. Mother care and next sales sell them for the same price and they last a lot longer - you just cannot be picky!

harr

Happens randomly with clothes I get from Dunnes, I don't buy clothes in Dunnes myself for the kids...but both sets of grandparents would get stuff for them the odd time..while some last great others go to rags and shrink...I find pjs and tops the worst..NEXT I find the best and worth paying the bit extra ..no tumble dry and washed at proper temp.. H&M , Marks and spencer, Debenhams and next all ok to tumble dry without shrinking...
Never have any problems returning stuff to Dunnes though.

pwurple

Ahh shrinking. I see this problem as a quilter! If it's any consolation, natural fabrics do it more, so if you never see shrinkage from some items, it might be polyesters or something being used.

Anyway, here's what I've found out over the years. There are two types of shrinking, Progressive and Relaxation.

Progressive is the type of shrinking that wool does, a little bit each time.

Relaxation is the type that cotton does, and I'm guessing it's what you are seeing here. It's due to the manufacturing process, the fibres and fabric is under tension during manufacture, and on its first wash it relaxes. Both cold water and hot water will have the same effect, which is what you are saying. This is why for quilting, I alway prewash my fabrics before assembling the quilts.

Now, as for Dunnes, I find their fabric to be good quality cotton, but as it is a natural product, it can shrink.

With cotton, when it's wet, you can stretch it out a bit, put it under that tension again.
Not much help, but my suggestion is to buy a size bigger.

Francie Barrett

If you're ever up in the North, it's worth picking up stuff in Asda. Prices are cheap and the quality is very good and doesn't shrink.

Moonbeam

I have found Dunnes clothes for kids generally terrible.
They are expensive enough,the stitching comes out,they some times shrinking.
I have 3 girls so a lot of clothes have gone through 3 girls before they get to my youngest.
The clothes that are consistently great are Tesco and Next.
Mothercare, Debenhams and Marks and Spencers are all good too.
We get some stuff in Pennys and it has faired better then most of the Dunnes stuff.

yellow hen

I don't shop in Dunnes but my son does get hand me downs from his cousins and their jeans and trackies are great and wash well. I find their tops fit terribly though..the body might fit but the arms would fit finn mccool. I've become a big fan of boots clothes as their sales are really good and you stack up great points buying them

rainbow kirby

My mum bought my son a pair of jeans there when he was 5 months old in 6-9m - he would have needed 3-6 on the waist and 9-12 lengthwise to fit. The sizing seems to be really odd.

dori_dormer

Can't buy dunnes here either. Baby grows barely fit after first wash and like said above odd sizes on tops etc. Tesco are great and cheap and have never shrunk on us so far! Love boots too. Bit pricier but sales are often enough.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Stopped buying Dunnes stuff last year because I found the fit really weird and they wash terribly. They either shrink or go all bobbly after a few washes and they're not paticularly cheap either so I'd expect more from them.

M+S and Tesco are my go-to shop for kids everyday clothes. The M+S stuff in particular fits well washes well and lasts ages

jlm29

Name it stuff is great too. I picked up a nice few bits last week in the sale. The sale prices were very reasonable!

jlm29

Name it stuff is great too. I picked up a nice few bits last week in the sale. The sale prices were very reasonable!

BeardySi

Dunnes clothes are pure cack-handed, colours run into another (on a 30 wash) and the sizes are ridiculously inconsistent.

I wound up with two of the same dress for herself in the same size (18mo) from different stores - one was too small and the other too big!

mirrorwall14

I've had some really good fleeces and pjs from Dunne's (12 months up to about 24 month sizes). They wore really well and washed perfectly. However the DunneS vests were awful

Millem

Dunnes clothes are just shocking. My favourite brands are ones that need little or no ironing!!!
Name it, m and s, next are great! Gap are having great sale and are/were doing extra 20% off....anyone know what sizing is like? We only had 6-12m hoodies and found them tiny!!!!!

Anne_cordelia

Millem wrote: »

Dunnes clothes are just shocking. My favourite brands are ones that need little or no ironing!!!
Name it, m and s, next are great! Gap are having great sale and are/were doing extra 20% off....anyone know what sizing is like? We only had 6-12m hoodies and found them tiny!!!!!

We found them true to size for my petite child. So I would say small fitting for other kids.

Millem

Anne_cordelia wrote: »

We found them true to size for my petite child. So I would say small fitting for other kids.

Thanks Anne. I had a feeling they would be small I was afraid the track suit bottoms would be too slim.

rainbow kirby

Put it this way: a Gap 6-12m hoody is too small on my tall but slim 7 month old.

Pickpocket

It's not just children's items. I find that my own shrink, especially around December/January. It's hard to get good clothes.

mohawk

I stopped buying Dunnes clothes. Sizing is weird and they do not wash well.
I buy most of my sons clothes in the sales. Who wants to spend a fortune on clothes they grow out of so quickly.

lazygal

I was just saying how rubbish most Dunnes clothes are to someone. I never liked even the babygros and vests. They never fit properly and never washed well. I usually try to buy in Mothercare and JoJoMamanBebe (can get great value in the sale there for the next size) and occasionally Next. All of their clothes we just put away after the summer from these places are almost as good as new after many days out and hot washes and could easily do another child or two. I find Zara sizes absolutely tiny and H&M looks a bit cheap after a wear or two.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

lazygal wrote: »

H&M looks a bit cheap after a wear or two.

Recently bought a load of kids stuff from h&m and I thought the very same. A few washes and they've gone all sh1tey and shrunk.

lazygal

I think it's because a lot of their clothes are 100% synthetic fabrics, whereas the a lot of JoJo and Mothercare clothes are a mix of cotton and the sturdier blends. Actually my daughter has some Marks and Spencer cardigans over a year now and they're still perfect-I remember thinking at the time they were expensive but the cost per wear is tiny compared to some of the H&M stuff that was binned after only a couple of wears.

Millem

I hate dunnes clothes, the sizing is just bizarre. I never buy clothes from there and I wouldn't mind they are the same price or similar to next and m&s!! I have to say I bought undies for my little boy 7 pairs for €2 the sale last year. I have to say they are grand
I love Boden and mamas & papas but I find I have to iron them ;(

meeeeh

I don't like Dunes or Tesco, Dunes use awful synthetic mixes and half of the stuff in Tesco poped stitches after a wear or two.

Next seem good although their cotton stuff does shrink (as most of the cotton) but their sizing is waaaay to big for younger one. I tend to buy stuff in the same shops for both so H&M, Zara, Au Pareil du Meme and Name It sometimes. Zara quality sometimes isn't that great but they do nice stuff and fit the younger one the best. I think all brands shrink a bit (I wash on 40 and tumble dry) but Au Pareil du Meme seem the best. I like to get Benetton and S.Oliver when out of the country.

pwurple

I love some of the dunnes clothes for children. I find them wearing really well, and good quality fabric, buttons, stitching. The cheaper stuff is polyester crap alright, but the rest of it is grand. You've to be a bit picky in there and read the labels. I got a mustard pinny in there about a month ago withbig cosy pockets for my 5 year old than I am weak for, I want it in my size. Everywhere we go people are admiring it. http://www.dunnesstores.com/younger-girls-zip-front-pinny/younger-girls-3-9-years/dunnesstores/fcp-product/5223865?colour=gold

Some of the Leigh Tucker willow stuff is going through my 2 and my friend's 2 and still looking good. And the details in that stuff, little shaped buttons etc.

I find the cut suits my kids too... name-it is very wide-fitting on them, dunnes fits better for them generally. Next clothes are bananas on sizing for ours. You'd fit two five year olds in a jumper aged 5 in there.

Zara then would be small/short, we normally size up there. But yeah, for quality I'd be a benneton / du pareil au meme fan, but some things in dunnes compete there too for me.

Sunny Dayz

I don't recall having a problem with Dunnes clothes for himself growing up. In fact I preferred Dunnes kids clothes as they were a bit more generous in sizing. Unless the quality has change in recent years, he's awkwardly between kids and adults sizing in Dunnes atm. But I got his school jumper and bottoms in Dunnes this year as they've increased the sizing and no problems with them, the quality of the jumper is actually better than his official school jumper!
I found Penneys clothes poor quality and tops would shrink. Next and H&M were my choice for quality although sizing in H&M was on the smaller scale so we usually had to size up. But I found M&S disappointing. I remember one or two tops given to him as gifts shrinking. And also I had to buy his school polo shirts in there for a while because they were the only place nearby that did yellow and they faded and went out of shape in no time.

meeeeh

Tbh I don't think there is that much of a difference in shrinking. I think sometimes material in Dunes clothing is very thin. And their jeans has some synthetic material in it that bobbles and it drives me mad.

Sizing does differ from shop to shop so much it's not even funny. I used to buy baby groves in Tesco first then later on I would buy a set in M&S of the same size when Tesco stuff would be getting too small. And when M&S stuff would get tight I would go a size up in Tesco and so on. It was seamless transition between the sizes.