How to Shrink Scrubs (And When You Should Not Try)

The short answer: you probably cannot shrink modern scrubs meaningfully, and trying will likely ruin them. Most scrub fabric is predominantly polyester, which does not shrink the way cotton does. The high heat required to force any change is exactly what destroys elastane — so you end up with a garment that is the same size but no longer recovers its shape.

If your scrubs are too big, altering them or exchanging them will get you a better result than the dryer will. Here is the detail, so you can judge your own situation.

Why fabric type decides everything here

Cotton shrinks because the fibres are swollen by water and then contract as they dry, pulling the weave tighter. Heat accelerates it. This is the shrinking everyone has experienced.

Polyester does not do this. It is a synthetic filament that does not absorb water the same way, and it is heat-set during manufacture — meaning it has already been dimensionally stabilised at a temperature higher than your dryer reaches. To shrink it you would need to exceed that temperature, which is well past the point where the garment is damaged.

Rayon and viscose blends sit in between and can shrink somewhat, sometimes unevenly.

Elastane is the constraint on all of it. It is the least heat-tolerant fibre in the blend, and it fails long before polyester budges. "Failing" does not mean visible damage — it means the fabric stops springing back, so knees and seat go baggy and stay that way.

So check your composition first. If it reads mostly polyester with a few percent elastane — which describes most modern scrubs including ours — shrinking is not available to you at any acceptable cost.

What people try, and what actually happens

• Hot wash plus high-heat dry. On a cotton-rich garment, some shrinkage. On a polyester blend, minimal size change and measurable loss of stretch recovery.
• Boiling water soak. Ineffective on polyester, and aggressive enough to damage elastane and set in any existing creases.
• Repeated hot cycles. Cumulative damage without cumulative shrinkage. This is the worst option because the harm builds while the result does not.

There is a partial exception worth knowing: a woven scrub fabric may tighten slightly on its first hot wash as the weave settles. That is a one-time change of perhaps a small fraction, not a size, and it will not happen again.

What to do instead

If the length is the problem

Hemming is straightforward on a straight-leg pant and worth doing properly. Hem after the first wash, in case any settling happens. A jogger cannot easily be hemmed because of the cuff — though the cuff is also why a jogger rarely needs it.

If the waist is the problem

Check whether the waistband has a drawstring as well as elastic. A drawstring plus elastic band gives you real adjustment, and many people never actually tighten the drawstring they already have.

If the whole garment is too big

A tailor can take in side seams on a top and inseams on a pant far more predictably than a dryer can. On stretch fabric, ask for a stretch needle and a stretch stitch — a standard straight stitch on stretch fabric will pop when the garment is pulled.

If it is the proportion rather than the size

This is often the real problem. If the shoulder seam sits too far down your arm, or the rise pools, no amount of shrinking fixes it — those are pattern issues. Our guides to petite fit and tall fit go through which problems are size problems and which are proportion problems.

Common questions

Will scrubs shrink in the dryer?

Cotton-rich scrubs will shrink somewhat. Polyester blends — which most modern scrubs are — will barely change size, while the heat measurably degrades the elastane that provides stretch and recovery.

Do scrubs shrink after the first wash?

Woven fabrics may settle very slightly on the first wash as the weave relaxes. Knit polyester blends generally do not. Either way it is a one-time, small change rather than a size.

How do you shrink polyester scrubs?

Realistically, you do not. Polyester is heat-set during manufacture above any temperature your washer or dryer reaches. Anything hot enough to affect it will damage the garment first. Alteration is the reliable route.

Can you shrink just the length of scrub pants?

No — shrinking affects the whole garment, not one dimension. If length is the issue, hem them, or choose a jogger, whose cuff absorbs extra length without any alteration.

About the author
Hedy Nie is COO at Eadflie and Eipnare, where she runs brand, product copy, customer research and the blog. She led the nurse interview programme — 60 nurses, October 2025 to January 2026 — that shapes how these uniforms get designed. Hedy is not a nurse, and neither is anyone on the team: anything that crosses into clinical practice is co-signed by a registered nurse. She answers her own LinkedIn messages.