You should never put a sweater in the dryer. If there is no other choice, put it in the dryer only for a few minutes on the lowest setting and take the sweater out while it is still very damp.
How to Dry Sweaters. Don't ever tumble dry your sweaters: they'll shrink, pill and wear down quickly. Even if your dryer has a sweater drying rack, you're always better off air drying if you have the time and patience. Never wring your sweaters.
Be careful when drying the cotton sweater.
Dry the garment on a low heat setting for a maximum of 10 minutes. Then, take out the sweater and lay it flat on a towel or drying rack. Avoid hanging the sweater, as this can cause stretching and shoulder bumps.
Cotton and acrylic sweaters will survive machine washing. Place sweaters in a mesh laundry bag (don't crowd them), and put them in the washer's drum. Use a mild detergent on a cold delicate cycle. Don't even think of running your sweaters in the dryer, unless you want to shrink them.
Light, thin cotton clothes like t-shirts can also benefit from moderate heat to help reduce shrinkage. Medium heat will dry fabrics slower and gentler than high heat, helping prevent wrinkles from setting while protecting synthetic fibers which can ripple under high heat.
If the sweater is holding too much water, you may want to place the towel and sweater on a sleeping bag to help absorb the excess water. Gently unroll the sweater and place it on a new dry towel. You can do the roll up step again if the sweater is still too wet.
Delicate or Gentle Cycle
Your dryer's “delicate cycle” or “gentle cycle” behaves as the name describes. It generates mild heat appropriate for more delicate garments. Activewear, loosely woven garments, silk, and items embellished with beads or embroidery are best dried on the delicate or gentle cycle.
Letting your clothes air dry is one of the best ways to prevent them from shrinking. However, if air drying isn't an option, use the lowest heat settings on the dryer. Try to remove your clothes while they're still slightly damp then air dry them to finish. Excessive heat is damaging to fabrics.
Use a drying rack
A drying rack will allow air to distribute evenly around your clothing. It can really help to place it near a source of heat, such as direct sunlight (though first make sure the fabrics aren't partial to fading in the sun) or a radiator.
Avoiding heavy duty cycles, fast spins and high-heat drying can also prevent shrinkage. Use delicate cycles instead, and place delicate clothes in a mesh laundry bag for added protection. When drying, consider a low-heat or air dry setting.
Set your dryer to a low heat and tumble setting.
Turn the dials to the lowest possible setting to prevent the hoodie from shrinking or being damaged. If the dryer has a no-heat option, set it to that so your hoodie is tumble-dried only. A low tumble setting will help keep your hoodie from getting wrinkled.
Commercial clothes dryers definitely have their time and place, but pros and garment experts agree: One of the best ways to keep your favorite jeans, sweaters, and blouses in tip-top shape is by hanging them to dry, rather than machine drying them.
They are essentially the same as both of them use a lower heat setting to ensure that clothes do not get damaged. That being said, delicate settings may be gentler than other cycles as they are designed for garments with embellishments such as sequins, beads, or iron-on decals.
Tumble dry low (or Delicate/Gentle cycle) is ideal for loosely woven fabrics or anything with embellishment, like beading, sequins and iron-on decals (sports jerseys). It's especially important to dry spandex/exercise clothing on low heat because it helps retain the garment's fit and performance.
Each sweater is different, made of unique fabrics that call for certain drying cycles. Refer to your sweaters' fabric care label to find out which drying cycle is safest for your garments. To prevent shrinkage, many sweaters may need to be dried on a gentle cycle and a low heat setting.
Will Your Cotton Sweatshirts Really Shrink If You Throw Them in the Dryer? The short answer to this question is yes. But that doesn't mean you should be afraid to machine wash or dry your 100% cotton sweaters. They will only shrink if you don't turn the washer and dryer to the right settings.
Always air dry. Don't use the air dry setting on the dryer—too much friction. Just lay the sweater flat (hanging can cause the wet fibers to stretch) and let it air dry. You can speed things along by placing it near an open window, fan, or dehumidifier.
As a rule high heat can be used for heavy cotton items, medium heat suits clothes like T-shirts, and delicates and sportswear needs low heat.
The higher the temperature of the liquid water, the more molecules there are on the high end of the distribution with enough energy to evaporate. Therefore, the hotter an object, the quicker it dries, even if its temperature is below the boiling point of water.
Different materials react in different ways to heat, but most fabric textiles shrink when exposed to high temperatures. As the dryer tosses around a load of clothes in a hot, enclosed area, it forces the fibers to gradually constrict; thus, resulting in shrunken garments.