shrunken featherbed

I think that once a featherbed is shrunk, it's shrunk forever. So sorry!

Is there a reputable source I can cite? (potentially stand up in court) It's not that I don't believe you, I just want to prove they were lying to me.

Thanks! Cliff Edwards

Cliff,

There may not be a happy answer here. I suspect that the cotton fabric of the featherbed was not preshrunk and it did the shrinking as they washed it.

I've washed my feather pillows in the regular washer and dryer and have not noticed a problem with shrinking--but, the pillows have cotton ticking which is a more densly woven fabric and is preshrunk.

I'm sorry you have this problem.

Best of luck!

Lenore

I've never seen cotton shrink that much. I washed and dried some very vintage cotton drapery fabric and it shrank six inches over five yards. Acetate is the only fiber that I can think of that might shrink that much.

The fact that it went from Queen size, 60x80, to roughly full size,

54x72, (full is 54x75) is a big red flag to me. I'd venture to guess that they substituted someone else's full-size featherbed of the same brand and fabric for yours. Stranger things have happened. They should replace it for you, not say, "Too bad."

Maria in NE PA

Do you know the manufacturer of your featherbed? I've had mine cleaned 3 times over the years and very satisfactorily BUT I took it the place they recommended. Most good quality featherbeds come with a pamphlet that will tell you how and how not to have it cleaned. Of course you need to read the pamphlet, actually mine was just a piece of glossy paper with the information and an 800 number to call. I did call and they gave me the names of reputable cleaners in my area.

If you really feel that litigation is your only recourse you should probably talk to an attorney instead of a quilter.....unless it's maybe an attorney that also happens to quilt. But then again, what you'd have to pay for an attorney would pay for a new featherbed. Why don't you lodge a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, you'd probably get as much action from that without the legal fees.

Val

It seems that from 60x80 to 54x72 is 10% in both directions. I always thought that cotton shrinks mostly lengthwise, and for that was always told to expect 5-10%. However, I now don't bother checking - I buy plenty of fabric and for clothing I'm usually only happy for it to shrink lengthwise (but not in the width!).

Hanne in London

Maria O wrote:

Blocking-as-stretching is a process used for stretchable fabrics, for the most part: think knits, most specifically think sweaters.

Blocking as it's used on woven stuff, even very loosely woven stuff (think needlepoint) isn't for stretching, it's for squaring it back up when it's gotten pulled out of square.

I cannot imagine any way in which blocking woven fabric would stretch it in any way to a larger size than it now is: once fabric shrinks, it's shrunk.

--pig

In addition to the local Better Business Bureau, which takes complaints and tells others who call but seldom gets satisfaction for the person originally harmed, you might contact your State Attorney General's office. Many of them have a "consumer fraud division" which acts as an intermediary in problems between customers and businesses. They often get some sort of recompense since they are generally empowered by state statute to prosecute businesses that defraud their customers, and that threat is often the push needed to convince a business to make the problem right. Another choice is to file in your county's "small claims court", which only costs the filing fee and fee to serve the papers on the business. If you win the loser is usually ordered not only to pay the damages (cost of replacing the feather bed) but also the filing and service fees. A visit to the local court house will get you a packet of the papers you need and set of instructions. Good luck!

Woven cotton, once shrunk, stays shrunk AFAIK. But I hardly qualify as an industrial expert. Did you tell them to dry clean it? In which case it should not have shrunk. But if they can prove they followed manufacturer's instructions, then you're mad at the wrong people. Did the label say anything about pre-shrunk? The shrinkage has nothing to do with the feather/down content, only the cotton ticking. I wash my feather stuff in a home machine and toss in the dryer, never had trouble. Roberta in D

"ward376" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@l1g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...

Litigation is very expensive. Mary's idea of filing in the small claims court is the best so far. Have you asked the dry cleaners to reimburse you the cost of the damage to your featherbed? Have they offered anything? Do speak to them about this option before going ahead in court... negotiation is always cheaper and might save you a lot of time and effort.

-- Jo in Scotland (postgraduate law student)

But are we sure it has even shrunk at all? Down here we get all those ads for "cleaning your quilt/doona/ whatever to get rid of the nasties lurking inside". I found out from someone who got i done that they slice off "x" amount of the bottom to get all the innards out. They clean and fluff all those (mind you, I can't see them doing each one individually so who knows whose innards you are getting back!) clean the cover (which could account for shrinkage) and then sew it back together.

So to end with - it very well may have "shrunk" that much!!!

Gosh....when i first read this topic I saw " shrunken feather- HEAD"...i need a drink... =))

amy in CNY

To all: Thank You for the information. The question I wanted to find an answer for in this forum was whether it was possible for this item to be "blocked" back to its original size and possibly be referred to reputable sources to cite in the case of legal action.

Some responses...

1. Yes, I'm sure it's my item. The tag even says: Size: 60"x80".
2. The tag also says "Professional Dry Clean Only"
3. 60"x80" is 4800 square inches, 54"x72" is 3888 square inches. 3888 is 81% of 4800 (rounded). 19% less area covered.
4. My concern at this point is not whether or how they did this, but that they lied to me repeatedly in the hopes I would forget about it or just go away. After contacting senior management and officers of the company, they've readily admitted that they ruined it and gave me a form with a table to prorate replacement. My goal now is to recover full replacement cost and fee refund in light of my treatment and multiple delays.

Thanks! Cliff Edwards

I hope you get a replacement. And save those feathers for other projects. :^)

Dry Cleaning wouldn't have shrunk it, so my guess is that they washed it.

Glad they have admitted liability.

Sally at the Seaside ~~~~~~~~~~ (uk)

ward376 wrote: