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Does a little polyester help cotton garments hold shape?

TimelesStyle

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I recently bought a pair of lightweight cotton pants that had 3% polyester in them. Can I assume this is to help them hold their shape and not stretch out the way other lightweight cotton garments can? This was my impression, and given that a 31 was a little too tight from the seat down and a 32 was just a bit large in the waistband I opted for the 32 since, unlike jeans, these won't stretch further in the waist, or stretch to fit in the leg (if I bought the smaller size). However, if I'm wrong about that probably better to know now while I can still exchange.
 

tgt465

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Polyester is typically used to help hold shape, as you suggest. But I doubt 3% is going to do a whole lot.
 

Agatha Crusty

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Polyester does normally help to hold the shape, but 3% is a pretty small amount in any case. A few shirts I have that hold good shape are 25% polyester and the best they achieve is a little less creasing.
 

blahman

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I don't know about holding shape as my 100% cotton pants hold their shape quite well anyway. I think the 3% polyester just helps with comfort - especially if you wear them fairly slim and fitted (read: nut hugging). I have a shirt I wear casually (read: like a douche) that has 3% lycra and the difference in the stretchiness of the fabric is very noticeable.
 

TimelesStyle

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Originally Posted by blahman
I don't know about holding shape as my 100% cotton pants hold their shape quite well anyway. I think the 3% polyester just helps with comfort - especially if you wear them fairly slim and fitted (read: nut hugging). I have a shirt I wear casually (read: like a douche) that has 3% lycra and the difference in the stretchiness of the fabric is very noticeable.

Polyester doesn't add stretch, I thought if anything it added rigidity. I agree about lycra, and I would have much preferred these to have 3% of that.
 

GBR

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No but 2/3% in jeans is just about acceptable at a push.
 

intent

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To save on cotton costs?
 

emmanuel

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Originally Posted by intent
To save on cotton costs?

3%?

I vote to hold shape. They also purposely kept the poly percent low so the product doesnt seem cheap
 

blahman

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Originally Posted by emmanuel
3%?

I vote to hold shape. They also purposely kept the poly percent low so the product doesnt seem cheap


Cost saving is possible. 3% can be a significant cost saving on products made in high volumes and low margins. Items sold at $102 per unit costing $100 to produce - a saving of 2% in cost means a doubling of gross profit there.
 

emmanuel

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Originally Posted by blahman
Items sold at $102 per unit costing $100 to produce

Does something like that even exist? clothing mark up is usually something ridiculously huge. I have never heard of this sort of mark up before
 

TimelesStyle

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Originally Posted by emmanuel
Does something like that even exist? clothing mark up is usually something ridiculously huge. I have never heard of this sort of mark up before
I think the point was that in general, when margins are low, even a little savings on cost can dramatically increase your profits as compared to pre-savings. This doesn't necessarily have to do with clothing. But, even though the markup paid by the customer is huge, there are other steps along the way where that may not be the case.
 

upnorth

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At 25% or more, I would say cost savings. 3% poly is actually more cumbersome to manufacture than even 100% cotton.
 

blahman

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Originally Posted by emmanuel
Does something like that even exist? clothing mark up is usually something ridiculously huge. I have never heard of this sort of mark up before

The numbers are for illustration only, though it should not be beyond belief. And I chose per unit as to keep things more open as it can mean a crate of items etc. The 'ridiculous' mark up occurs between the retailer and the consumer as that markup covers all the marketing costs including placing the product in the correct market position. The markup between the initial manufacturer of the item when unbranded to the next step in the chain can very well be very low.
 

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