# How do I shrink these pants? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 27, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952 "2006-11-27T16:49:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952/1 "2006-11-27T16:49:00Z")
60/40 cotton/ployester. Washed them in hot water and dried on highest setting a couple times. They haven’t shrunk a bit. An older pair of the same pants shrunk nicely, but that was over the course of years. Would dropping them in boiling water help? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952/2 "2006-11-27T17:04:34Z")
You could just gain some weight. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952/3 "2006-11-27T20:32:20Z")
Polyester on it’s own shouldn’t shrink, so it’s the cotton content that allowed the other pair of pants to shrink over time. I wouldn’t recommend boiling them. Polyester can melt at high heat - if the pants are labeled for high-heat ironing, go ahead, but I’d guess they probably say to iron on low if necessary. You may be stuck with just rewashing them over and over again, since you say the other pants took a few years to really shrink. That, or get them tailored. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952/4 "2006-11-28T05:18:50Z")
We just finished Thanksgiving and **Chairman POW** needs to _shrink_ pants. I dunno whether to slap **Chairman POW** or feel sorry for **Chairman POW**. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952/5 "2006-11-28T22:33:10Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] We just finished Thanksgiving and **Chairman POW** needs to _shrink_ pants. I dunno whether to slap **Chairman POW** or feel sorry for **Chairman POW**. [/QUOTE] How about you tell me how to shrink my pants? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952/6 "2006-11-28T22:49:29Z")
You can’t shrink poly. Take them to the tailor. ---
**Author:** ![MrJackboots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MrJackboots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrJackboots)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952/7 "2006-11-29T03:26:24Z")
Urea shrinks polyester, but I suspect that you may not want to wear those pants once they’ve been shrunk that way. A dry heat around 80-85C will shrink polyester as well. Much higher and it starts lengthening again. Unfortunately, my experiments with this tell me that the shrinkage is not always uniform, depending on the fabric involved. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952/8 "2006-11-29T04:13:23Z")
**MrJackboots** : > [@](#): > > Urea shrinks polyester, but I suspect that you may not want to wear those pants once they’ve been shrunk that way. And regarding how you came to this knowledge, the less said the better … ? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952/9 "2006-11-29T04:18:31Z")
**MrJackboots** : > [@](#): > > Urea shrinks polyester, but I suspect that you may not want to wear those pants once they’ve been shrunk that way. And regarding how you came to this knowledge, the less said the better … ? ---
**Author:** ![MrJackboots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MrJackboots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrJackboots)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952/10 "2006-11-29T12:29:49Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] And regarding how you came to this knowledge, the less said the better … ? [/QUOTE] Not really. It was one of those “Weird Chemistry Fact of the Day” things my Intro Chem professor liked to write on the board before lecture. I have no idea why I remembered it. ---
**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2006, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952/11 "2006-12-01T06:26:15Z")
so, I suppose it’s tos them into the dryer and hope for the best… ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-shrink-these-pants/381952/12 "2006-12-02T16:08:45Z")
Use my washer.All my clothes are shrinking at the same time. Must be something wrong with the washer.