Hey there, washed and left out to dry. Trace here rockin' some duds on DNews. You might think

哈囉，各位深受洗衣困擾的民眾們。我是 Trace，在 Dnews 上介紹有關衣服的知識。你可能會

science is something only done in labs, but every week or so chances are you suspend organic

認為科學是在實驗室裡才會發生的，但其實你每個禮拜都會將有機纖維

and synthetic fibers in a solution of water, enzymes, surfactants, and detergents to confine

與人造纖維泡在充滿酵素、介面活性劑、清潔劑水溶液裡，以包覆

particulates and relax molecular bonds. In layman's terms: you do laundry, and when you

微粒與分解分子鍵結。用俗話說：洗衣服。而當你

think about it, you're really doing controlled chemistry! Unfortunately, we don't all do

仔細想想，你會發現你其實是在做可控的化學實驗！不幸的是，我們不會

this at-home science in the same way, which is why when doing laundry, we've all messed

用一樣的方式來做這個家庭式實驗，這也是為什麼我們在洗衣服時，常常毀了

up our favorite sweater or shrunk a pair of pants. But why do all of these things shrink at all?

我們最喜歡的毛衣或讓某件褲子縮水。但為什麼衣服會縮水呢？

What's going on there?

到底發生了什麼事？

So, firstly, there are a couple kinds of fibers used to make clothing: synthetic and natural.

第一，衣服有許多不同的原料，像是人工合成或是天然的原料

In general, synthetics are man-made polymers like polyester, Kevlar, or acrylic.

大致上來說，人工合成原料包括人工聚合物，像是聚脂纖維，防彈纖維，或壓克力

Their fibers are strings of petroleum-based chemical chains. Synthetics made from petroleum

這些原料的纖維是由一串串石油提煉出的化學鍵結所組成。而這些從石油提煉出的人工合成原料

products don't typically shrink in laundry because the washer and dryer do not get hot

通常不會因為洗衣服而縮水，因為洗衣機和烘乾機的溫度不會讓

enough to mess with their molecular structure or anything else. So, let's ignore those.

破壞它們的分子結構，所以我們可以先不討論這些產品

Natural fibers, on the other hand, they come from animals and plants. The fibers of cotton,

反之，天然的纖維是從動物和植物身上取得的。而像是棉花、

wool or silk are naturally curly and tangled. So when you want to weave these threads into

羊毛、蠺絲這些纖維通常是捲曲糾結在一起的。所以如果你想要把這些材料縫製成

fabrics, you have to stretch then, and to pull them out to make them straight. But if given the opportunity

布料，你會需要將它們拉直、伸展，讓纖維變成直的。但如果有機會，

to return to their natural curly state? They will. And scientists have discovered all that heat

這些天然的布料還是會想變成以前的捲曲樣子。而科學家發現洗衣服時的

and mechanical energy in laundry let them do just that, in a process they call, funnily enough,

溫度與化學成分就是使它們變回原狀的主因。而這也被稱之為，蠻好笑的，

Shrinkage.

縮水

There are three kinds of shrinkage: Relaxation, Felting, and Consolidation.

有三種不同的縮水類型：鬆弛類，沾黏類，與結塊類

Relaxing is the immediate release of that stretching and pulling tension left behind

鬆弛類縮水是指壓力突然地被釋放

from the straightening of the natural fibers and manufacturing. That tension exists on a molecular level,

而這壓力是指製造纖維時，那些拉直與伸展過程所殘餘的力量。這些壓力藏在分子與分子之間，

and is leftover from that process. When tepid or warm water is added to the natural fabric,

是製造過程中所剩下來壓力。當微溫或溫水接觸到這些天然布料時，

the warmth will let the fabric swell, reducing the size by about 1 percent.

水的溫度會讓布料膨脹，並讓布料的體積縮小約1%。

Not too shabby.

還算不錯啦

Felting shrinkage is when the fibers themselves actually get shorter. If you magnify wool

沾黏類縮水則是指纖維本身真的縮小了。如果你把羊毛用

in an electron microscope, it's made of tiny scales, just like human hair. According to

電子顯微鏡觀測，會發現其實羊毛是由許多鱗片構成的，就像是人的頭髮一樣。而根據

a paper in the Textile Research Journal, the heat from the washer can expand these scales

Textile Research Journal的一份報告指出，洗衣機的溫度會讓那些鱗片擴張，

letting water get in between them. Water is slippery, so it reduces the coefficient of friction,

並讓水分進入鱗片之間。而水分會降低摩擦力

and those scales then slide together, contracting rootward, like a retracting car or radio antenna! Super cool!

讓鱗片滑進另一鱗片裡面，往底部收縮，就像是把汽車或收音機天線收起來一樣！超酷的！

The third type is Consolidation shrinkage, and it happens in the laundry process itself.

第三種縮水類型是結塊類縮水，而這與洗衣服的過程有關

The mechanical bouncing action of your washer and drier beats up the fibers, causing them

洗衣機與烘乾機的機械式洗滌方法會擠壓纖維，讓纖維

to curl back up again.

捲成像之前一樣的程度

A 2002 study in The Research Journal of Association of Universities for Textiles. found the structure

一份2002年來自The Research Journal of Association of Universities for Textiles的研究發現纖維的

of the fabric can affect shrinkage too. Denim jeans are tightly-woven cotton so they

結構也會影響縮水程度。像是牛仔褲就是由結構縝密的棉質布料織成，所以它們只會

shrink a little, but sweaters, they're mostly air! So they can shrink by as much as 30 percent according

縮水一點點，但是像毛衣纖維之間根本是空氣！所以他們最多可以縮小30%，根據

to Popular Science.

Popular Science的研究顯示

Even the natural moisture content of the fibers themselves can affect the shrinkage: cotton has

而纖維本身的溼氣多寡也能讓衣服縮水：正常來說，棉的溼氣

about 5 percent, and wool has about 17 percent, so over-drying can will inevitably cause clothing

約佔5%，羊毛的溼氣則占約17%，所以過度的烘乾會無可避免地讓衣服

to change shape.

的形狀改變

In World War II, Nazi scientists added plastics to wool to fill in the spaces and solidify

在二次世界大戰時，納粹科學家把塑膠加入羊毛裡，以填補空隙與鞏固

the fibers. Today this continues with manufacturers weaving in non-shrinking

羊毛纖維結構，而現今仍沿用此觀念，紡織廠會在衣物縫入不會縮水的

synthetics, and chemists inventing new anti-shrinking agents to cover natural fibers and keep them

人工合成物，而科學家則發明了許多抗縮水的清潔劑，覆蓋住天然纖維，讓它們不要

from curling up. More researches obviously needed.

又捲起來。這方面仍需更多研究

Look, scientists who did write these papers on shrinkage were quick to point out: everyone does laundry

事實是，那些做了許多有關縮水研究的科學家都有個共識：大家洗衣服的方法

differently. Water temperature, amount of time, detergent, clothing fibers, and even

都不一樣。而水溫，洗滌時間長短，洗衣粉，衣物纖維種類，甚至是

machine manufacturer can all add variables to to this at-home science project

洗衣機的製造商都能為這個居家實驗添增許多變數

The best way to love your clothes is to remember that, one, the instructions on the tag is there for a reason

最好能愛惜你的衣物的方法就是：第一，遵守標籤上的指示

the people who made the clothes know how to clean it. And when in doubt don't

製作這件衣服的人知道如何清洗它，但如果還是不確定如何清洗，

add heat and mechanical energy. Use cold water and avoid the dryer. And two: remember that

記得不要用熱水洗衣服，並改用手洗。盡量用冷水洗滌，並不要用烘乾機。第二點：記得

natural fiber clothing is made from the parts of living things! Living things aren't supposed

由天然纖維製成的衣物是從活生生的動植物身上取下來的！這些生物並不會

to last forever. And that's actually kind of okay.

永遠存在在世上。這是可以理解的

Skinny jeans, sweaters, tiny t-shirts… why am I reminded of hipsters?

窄版褲，毛衣，緊身T恤... 為什麼這讓我想起文青啊？

Oh, because they're all the same! At least, that's what this mathematician discovered! So I did a whole video about it.

喔，因為這些衣服根本就是文青的代名詞！至少，是一位數學家研究發現的！所以我做了一整集有關於這個的影片

Grab your fancy coffee and give it a click.

拿好你貴鬆鬆的咖啡，點擊這個連結吧

Hipsters are difficult to describe as a group.

文青很難被區分成一個特定的族群

But we know one when we see one, right?

但當我們總能知道誰是個文青，對吧？

And a new mathematical neural science paper explains why that is:

而有篇神經科學研究在數學上特別解釋了這個現象：

The Hipster Effect. When anti-conformists all look the same

當反保守派的人們穿著打扮都很相似時，被稱為文青效應

Do you love laundry? Do you hate it? Are you super meticulous about how things get folded?

你喜歡洗衣服嗎？或著對洗衣服恨之入骨？還是你折衣服都要折成豆干一樣？

Let us know down in the comments! Make sure you subscribe, so you get all of the Dnews that we got up in here.

在底下分享你的想法吧！也記得要訂閱我們的頻道，才能準時收看頻道上所有Dnews的影片

And thanks for watching!

謝謝觀賞！