How to wet cotton wool without shrinking it?

[kevin_tee]

This is probably not a very intelligent question. When cotton wool gets wet, it shrinks. Is it possible to wet it without shrinking? I know that it shrinks because the water surface tension pull cotton wool together.

These are some technique that I can think of
- Add surfactant? But this will contaminate water with surfactant.
-Deposition, opposite of freeze drying (sublimation)

Thank you.

 

[Hesch]

I know that it shrinks because the water surface tension pull cotton wool together.

If you are speaking of weaved cotton, here is another explanation:

After having been weaved, it is stretched (much) so that having been spooled onto a drum, the sucface becomes hard as stone. In this way it is not creased during transport.
Beeing wet it will simply take up its normal shape/size again.