# Dammit! -Shrunk my sweater

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dammit-shrunk-my-sweater/297747>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 5, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dammit-shrunk-my-sweater/297747 "2005-04-05T00:19:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dammit-shrunk-my-sweater/297747/1 "2005-04-05T00:19:36Z")

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I"ve had a sweater for some time now, only wore it like 3 times. So I figure I never washed it most of my stuff has never been wool, so I’m guessing this one was, haha.  
I immediately felt a difference with the texture, then I folded it over to face me and it’s child size now or in my case “wife sized” ☹

I’ve done my searching and found a few prospective ways to remedy this. One involves liquid hair conditioner (liquid??) and the other sodium borate or something in the ballpark to it.

I was hoping this has happened to someone else and they might have a few ideas to add to my list of options. Thanks in adavance.

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**Author:** ![Thinktank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Thinktank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thinktank)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dammit-shrunk-my-sweater/297747/2 "2005-04-05T19:29:01Z")

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hmm. Nobody’s shrunk their sweater before and lived to tell about it?

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**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dammit-shrunk-my-sweater/297747/3 "2005-04-05T22:25:02Z")

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Give it to your wife. It’s not your size any more.  
Conditioner can make it stretchy and you might get it a little bigger, but not a lot.

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**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dammit-shrunk-my-sweater/297747/4 "2005-04-05T23:06:08Z")

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I guess losing weight ain’t an option? 😛

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**Author:** ![Zahava424](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/76d3ee/32.png) [@Zahava424](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zahava424)\
**Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dammit-shrunk-my-sweater/297747/5 "2005-04-05T23:13:14Z")

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Soak it through, preferably with hot water, and stretch it over a big form like the bottom of a hard laundry hamper or big bucket. Let it dry around the can. You might get some extra room out of that. Not too much, though; I’ve done the same thing and it never quite rebounds.