A study has been made of the effect of an imposed tensile stress on the rate of hydrolysis of geotextile grade polyester in aqueous sodium hydroxide solution at room temperature. Weight losses of samples stressed with loads up to the yield point were virtually the same as for relaxed samples. For stresses which exceeded the yield point, significantly larger weight losses were obtained, particularly at longer reaction times. The mechanical properties of the filaments, particularly tenacity, breaking strain and work of rupture, were reduced as the imposed stress increased, and very severe losses in properties were observed when the stress exceeded the yield stress. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that, at the highest stresses studied, surface cracking occurred, which became progressively more severe as the time of treatment increased. An empirical equation was obtained which showed that the breaking load of the filaments decreased proportionally with time and with the square of the imposed stress.