Deteriorate as a Transitive Verb

The other morning I thought about the word deteriorate and realized that I didn't know whether it was transitive or not. I mean, I know it's intransitive - Through frequent drug use, his brain deteriorated - but saying I deteriorated his couch sounded really weird. 

The answer was so obvious: Duh, it can be used both ways. Hotdog grease deteriorated his pants.