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I have a very tight knot between two nylon straps which I would like to untie. It's too tight to undo by hand, and I would prefer not to use tweezers or similar sharp metal objects to loosen it, because I don't want to damage the integrity of the fabric.

Is there a way to loosen the knot by applying heat, moisture, or something similar to the nylon?

Nylon expands with both heat and moisture, but it's not clear to me whether expansion would loosen the knot (because the strands expand along their length) or tighten (because the strands are expanding into each other, thus pushing together tighter).

Qmechanic
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Yly
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  • What kind of knot, how big, what is the reason for treating the knot so gingerly, etc.? – David White Mar 19 '20 at 04:54
  • I was trying to edit your title to help your question be a little more on topic for this site. Do you want to keep my suggestion, or stay with yours? – BioPhysicist Mar 19 '20 at 12:05
  • @DavidWhite There are several kinds of knots, but for the sake of argument you could consider an overhand on a bite. The nylon strap is about 1.5 inches in width, and a few mm thick. Why I would want to treat it gently is totally irrelevant to this question (but if you insist, it's because I don't want it to fray and later snap and take someone's eye out--it holds people's weight in normal function). – Yly Mar 21 '20 at 21:20

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