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Pour in at least 1⁄4 US gal (950 mL) of lukewarm water. Make sure you have enough water to submerge the clothing. The water also has to be close to room temperature in order to stretch out the fabric’s fibers without damaging them. Borax and vinegar are recommended for animal-based fabrics like wool and cashmere. Plant-based fabrics like cotton may also respond to this treatment, but don’t try it on synthetics or tightly-knit natural materials. Leave the towels inside your clothing for up to 30 minutes to help it dry out. Layer some additional towels underneath and over it to speed up the drying process. You can also shake the garment around if you are able to keep the rolled-up towels in place. While you’re waiting for the garment to dry, check its shape. Fine-tune it by gently pulling on the edges of the fabric if needed. Place a hanger inside the garment, but don’t remove the towels. Move the garment to an exposed spot away from direct heat and sunlight. Try using a hanging bar or rod. Once the garment is done drying, you can hand wash it in cold water if it doesn’t feel as soft and smooth as it normally does.  If you’re worried about damaging the sweater, lay it on a towel to let it dry out. Wool and cashmere are delicate, so play it safe when treating a particularly valuable piece of clothing. If the clothing doesn’t change enough, repeat the cleaning process several times until you get the result you desire.

summary: Fill a sink with lukewarm water. Dry the clothing in open air for at least 15 minutes. Hang up the garment to finish drying, then wash it if necessary.


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If you have access to a washing machine, you can use it to easily shrink a cap made from polyester or another synthetic. Load the cap into the washer by itself or with other clothes. Use a small amount of laundry detergent to clean the cap as you shrink it.  If you’re washing the cap by itself, make sure to set the washer to the smallest load setting so that the wash and rinse cycles don’t use too much water. Putting the cap in the washer with other clothes will cause pressure and friction to work on the cap, breaking it in better. Set the washer to a normal wash cycle using regular water heat. Synthetic materials like polyester shrink easily when exposed to heat, meaning a standard washing is often all that it takes to bring a garment down a half-size or so. Allow the hat to go through the complete wash cycle. If you only need to shrink a polyester cap a little bit, you can remove the cap from the washing machine after the initial wash cycle. For caps needing only minor sizing adjustments, a standard wash should do the trick. Put on the cap and let it air dry on your own crown for a customized fit. If the polyester shrunk a little too much due to the heat from the wash, wearing it as it dries can stretch it out to an optimal fit. Assuming the cap is considerably looser than you’d like it, you might follow up the wash with a run through a machine dryer. This will expose the cap to more intense heat to ensure shrinkage while also drying it much faster and more thoroughly. Put the cap through a timed drying cycle on medium heat. The constant heat of machine dryers is notoriously harsh on synthetic fabrics, so if you need to shrink a cap quite a bit, this may be the best way to go.  Washing and drying a synthetic cap regularly will most likely cause it to shrink quite a bit more than a gentle soak or hand wash. If the hat shrinks too much, try putting it on while it’s still somewhat damp. The fibers should stretch out as the cap becomes worn in. Keep an eye on the hat as it dries. Synthetic materials have been known to scorch if exposed to heat for too long.

summary: Place the cap in the washer. Wash on regular heat. Let the hat dry on your head. Throw the cap in the dryer.


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There's no way around it - getting big takes hard work! If you aren't already working out regularly, try to fit at least four workout sessions into your weekly schedule. You can do even more if you like, as long as you give yourself a chance to rest and recuperate. Your path to bigness starts on your calendar — devote plenty of time to your goal, and you'll see results.  There's no single "best" workout — what works for one person may not work for another. Many health resources recommend workouts of about 30 minutes to an hour. As long as you stay on task, this should be plenty of time — however, some people prefer longer, less intense workouts.  The workout schedule above should work for most people. However, it's far from the only workout plan out there. There are a huge variety of workout plans available for free online — all it takes is a simple search engine query to find plenty of good ones. Getting big muscles means spending lots of time doing resistance training. To many people, this basically means "lifting weights." This is a great way to put on muscle, but this isn't actually the only way to do resistance training. For example, bodyweight exercises (like pushups, lunges, and so on) and exercise bands are two other ways to build muscles. Regardless of the exact exercise routine you use, a strong focus on challenging resistance training should lead to muscle growth. Traditional weightlifting wisdom is that performing high weight, low rep exercises tend to increase muscle size, while performing low weight, high rep exercises tend to increase muscle tone. However, recent research seems to suggest that as long as you work to the point of fatigue, you should build muscle with either strategy. Cardio training — activities like running, cycling, jogging, swimming, elliptical training, and so on — isn't bad for you. In fact, it's great for you and is known to have many physical and mental health benefits. However, when you're trying to build muscle, putting a heavy focus on cardio can sometimes be like shooting yourself in the foot. Cardio exercise takes lots of time and energy and won't necessarily give you the sorts of big, bulky muscles you're looking for, so the time you spend doing cardio can often be better spent doing resistance training. Aim to spend no more than a day or two per week on cardio training. One good way to manage the amount of cardio you do is to reserve cardio for your "off" days — that is, the days when you don't have any resistance training scheduled. This way, you don't waste any time that you would have spent building muscle on cardio. Having trouble sticking to your workout routine? Stay motivated by joining a group of people who are also dedicated to their own workouts! Becoming part of a group doesn't just give you people to talk with your struggles, joys, and victories with — it also makes it harder to slack off because your team members will hold you accountable for it!  If you can find people to work out with you in your friends or family, great! If not, consider joining an exercise class at your local gym — it's a great opportunity to meet someone! Alternatively, consider getting in touch with an exercise meetup group. These are groups of people who coordinate online to meet at gyms and exercise together. A simple search for "Fitness meetup (your city name)" should yield decent results. The time you don't spend exercising is just as important as the time you do spend exercising when it comes to building muscle. If you don't give yourself time to rest, your body won't be able to rebuild your muscles as effectively after you break them down through exercise. Remember, building big muscles takes patience, so don't overdo it — give your muscles at least one day a week without exercise. In addition, you'll want to make sure to get a full night's sleep after each exercise session. Human growth hormones (the chemicals that help you build muscle) are at their highest levels when you sleep, so neglecting to get a good night's rest after a workout is essentially robbing yourself of muscle gains.
summary: Aim to work out 4-5 times per week. Use resistance training to build muscle. Be conservative about your cardio training. Join a workout community. Get plenty of rest.