I did not think that stabilizers would shrink however if you have a dense design and not stabilized well enough it would shrink. It pulls the material towards the center. At least that is what I think

I, too, think some shrink. Try ironing the stabilizer with a steam iron
before hooping, and see if that helps.

Yes, stabilizer shrinks. I suspected as much so cut off a length of polymesh, measured it several times, then threw it in the washer and dryer. The shrinkage was a bunch. Later I saw where one lady mists her stabilizer and gives it a shot of steam with her iron to take care of that problem. I do that now too and it does help.

As others have said, a resounding YES. Was so disappointed that a roll I got from Allstitch shrinks - they said the notation was there that really high heat could cause shrinkage. I was on medium heat with a cotton press cloth. They have updated their page "We do not recommend exposing AllStitch Classic or HD stabilizers to direct heat from something like an iron. These stabilizers are 100% polyester, direct heat will cause them to melt." Classic is their cutaway. The iron on soft backing also shrinks in my experience and I'm trying to remember to not use it without pre-shrinking first.

All stabilizers are not created equal..yes, some do shrink...as suggested below...iron with hot steam before you use it...it does help...be careful if you are using a polyester stabilizer...if it gets too hot it may melt.

Yes, I've found almost all of them will shrink. I try to remember to give it a shot of steam before using it. I just hold my iron over the top & hit the burst of steam button. You would think that the polyester would not shrink..but it does.

Best way to preshrink a fusible?

thank you this could answer a lot of things...soozie

Thanks for asking the question and thanks to all who replied. Sigh! Yet another step to try to remember before embroidering. Unfortunately I don't get to do it as often as I'd like in order to get all these steps to be a habit.

Wow, what an interesting discussion. Definitely will preshrink everything just to be on the safe. Thanks for the question and the responses. We have all learned something I'm sure.

Just curious - isn't the tearaway removed after stitching? Was wondering where the shrinking happens.

another cause of "shrinkage" is if you hoop to tightly ie stretch the fabric -when you release the hoop the design pulls- if you dampen it and press it sometimes the wrinkles will iron out

Great discussion. I have had several types of stabilser shrink. some stabilisers may not shrink uniformly or in the case of tear away may be weakened by steam and not hoop very well. Sometimes it is the quality of stabiliser and sometimes it is to do with the design or the grain of the fabric you are embroidering on or even just which direction you are holding your tongue!

A quick fix is to try using 2 layers of stabiliser and place one layer in a perpendicular direction to the other. This was advice given to me when i first started machine embroidery and has helped me many times.