Many T-shirts are preshrunk, but that doesn’t mean that they will not shrink further. While it’s fine to toss your tees into the washing machine -- hand-washing them would be far too time consuming, especially for a busy mom -- it’s important to take some precautions during the laundering process to make sure they stay in mint condition.

Sort your clothes before washing. Wash your T-shirts with clothes of like colors and that require the same water temperature.

Set the water temperature on the washer to cold or warm. Either temperature setting will suffice, but if you’re using cold water, use a laundry detergent designed for cold-water laundering.

Add the recommended amount of laundry detergent. Place the T-shirts into the washer. Allow the clothes to run through a complete wash cycle.

Hang your T-shirts to dry rather than placing them in the dryer. You can hang them on hangers or lay them over a drying rack. If you must dry them in the dryer, use a low-heat setting to avoid shrinkage.