How To Shrink Really Big Clothes: Does Boiling Work?

I am great at shrinking clothes unintentionally, but I’m significantly less good at shrinking clothes that are too big.  I’ve always used the old hot water wash and hot cycle in the dryer.  But what about the times when you need more shrinkage than that?

Urban legend has it that boiling clothes causes further shrinkage beyond what can be achieved in the washer and dryer.

I set out to test this theory with some clothes I had bought at the thrift store that were cool, but just too big to wear with a straight face.  I had the foresight to boil the jeans separately from everything else, which was good because the dye was not colorfast in the boiling water.

My verdict?  I couldn’t tell.  I didn’t notice amazing shrinkage.  The only thing that shrunk significantly were the jeans but they were 1% spandex so they shrink significantly at ever wash.  After wearing those jeans, I determined that the shrinkage was not permanent anyway.

Do you have a different method to successfully shrink large clothes?