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The easiest 2 ways I've found to get rid of pilling is using a simple razor blade or an electric depiller. The razor is of course super inexpensive, but takes more time. The fastest way is using an electric depiller/sweater shaver.
Fabric pilling is the result of fuzz balls, or pills, appearing on clothes and the surface of fabrics. This happens when fabrics rub against one another during the laundry process, which causes fibers to break down and become loose. Pills can be seen after the first washing or several washes.
Unfortunately, there's no magic way to fix pilling once it's begun, but there are a couple things you can do to improve the appearance of your clothing: Remove pills: you can physically remove pills by picking or brushing them off with your hand or cutting them with a pill shaver.
While pilling is often seen as a sign of wear and tear, it does not necessarily mean that the fabric is of poor quality. High-quality fabrics can still pill if they are not cared for properly or if they are subjected to excessive friction.
If pilling has already occurred, there are effective solutions to restore the fabric's appearance: Use a battery-operated pill shaver or pilling comb to gently remove the pills from the fabric's surface. Repeat as needed until loose fibers are removed and the fabric's surface is even.
Your first line of defense to prevent pilling on clothes may come from laundry detergent. Some detergents use enzymes to help clean clothes, and one enzyme—cellulase—can help loosen and remove pills in the wash. Combined with a gentle, cold water cycle, switching to this type of detergent may help get rid of pilling.
Removing pilling from clothes can be a challenge, but there are natural solutions that can help. Vinegar and baking soda solution is one of the most popular options for removing pilling.
Fabric Shavers. Pilling and lint make your knits and other textiles look dull and messy. With a lint remover designed to gently shave off the pills from your clothes, you'll get clothes that look and feel like new again. Our fabric shavers also work well on home textiles.
Laundry that is washed inside out is less likely to accumulate thread knots or “pilling” on the outside of your clothing.
Add a commercial fabric softener to the rinse cycle. The ingredients in fabric softener coat the fibers of the fabric so that abrasion is lessened. Avoid the clothes dryer.
Finally, consider using a laundry detergent specific to delicates, such as Studio by Tide, which improves your garments' appearance and texture as well as eliminates discoloration, fading, and pilling. Hang to dry.
For a helping hand keeping bobbles at bay, try a pill-remover such as the Gleener Fuzz Remover from Lakeland. Otherwise, lay the affected garment out flat on a clean surface then use a razor with blades (the sort you shave your legs with works fine) to gently and carefully shave away the pills.
Synthetic pills are almost impossible to remove, while pills on natural fabrics are easily removed. Synthetic pilling often erupts in loose threads when you try to remove them, and that's a problem you won't have with garments made of natural fabrics."
A lint roller or tape is sometimes strong enough to remove light pilling from clothes made of cotton or wool, but the most effective methods are those that gently sever the pills from the surface of the fabric via gentle abrasion or cutting. “Electric fabric shavers work,” says Stemp.
“The Conair Rechargeable Fabric Shaver is the most effective, reliable, and user-friendly pill-buster we've used,” Zoe writes in our article about laundry aids.
What is a fabric shaver and how do they work? Put simply, fabric shavers get rid of pilling (aka bobbles) that forms on clothes –usually in areas like underneath the arms where there's more tension during wear. You can also use them on other textiles such as blankets.
Using vinegar in the wash shouldn't be an everyday thing for every load. Using it daily can damage the washing machine, especially the rubber parts, and repeated use could damage delicate fabrics. Limit use to an as-needed basis, after clothes have dulled or as residue begins to build up.
Work the lint brush over the surface of the fabric, removing the pills from the material as you go. A lint roller also works well for this—simply guide the roller over the surface to get rid of the pills. Trim away the pills with nail scissors.
Downy Fabric Conditioner smoothes fabric fibers to limit the friction garments experience in the washing machine and dryer. Less friction means less pilling.
These items are more prone to pilling and stretching - so a zipped laundry bag is an easy way to prevent this.