Almost all John England fabrics can be supplied washed and preshrink. One problem that can make an amazing garment look terrible is fabric shrinkage. Simple precautions can be taken to very much reduce this, even if it cannot be totally eliminated. Preshrinking is a step that must not be missed at any cost. This why you can purchase almost all John England fabrics washed, preshrunk and softened. This basically involves various types of commercial laundering. John England has its own laundry and has full control of this process. John England also is in a soft water area, which is of great benefit for washed fabrics.. After this process there may be a small amount of residual shrinkage left, but most will be removed. Generally the trade like the residual shrinkage to be 4% or less. The purpose of this process is to shrink fabrics in such a way that garments, or items, made up from them do not, or shrink very little, in subsequent washing by the end user. This process also softens the linen, improves the handle, and removes any impurities picked up during processing. Please note that washed lengths of fabric are usually 20-25 metres at most. This is because this is the optimum amount that can be washed at any one time, and also it produces a roll of fabric that can easily be handled by our staff, and those of the shipping companies. Some fabrics can be Sanforized. This is a trademark used for fabric preshrink by a patented mechanical process. Please ask our sales staff about this.