How to Remove Pilling from Clothes
When everyday wear and tear takes a toll on well-loved garments, fabric pilling can happen. Learn how to remove pilling from clothes so you can keep them in play.
Introduction
Everyday wear, washing and drying can leave your clothes susceptible to pilling. This process causes loose fibers to form small balls of fuzz called “pills” on the surface of clothing. Garment pilling doesn’t usually affect functionality, but it can lead to additional fraying on some fabrics if not removed. Don’t give up on gear that looks well-loved. By removing pilling from clothes, you can extend the life of your favorite sweaters, fleece and other garments, keeping good gear in service and out of the landfill. Every time you choose to fix a garment instead of retiring it early, you help reduce clothing waste.
Removing pilling is simpler than you think. Let’s cover how to remove pills from clothes: the tools to use, the steps to follow and how to prevent future pilling issues with proper garment care.
What You’ll Need: De-Pilling Tools
How do you remove lint balls from clothing? Here are a few of our favorite clothing de-piller tools to try.
- Lint roller: Using a sticky tape roller can be a quick and easy way to remove loose pills from fabric, if they aren’t too big or persistent. It’s a gentle option to start with, especially when you’re working with fabrics like cashmere.
- Fabric comb: Consider a fabric comb as a sweater pill remover for soft knits like merino wool or cashmere. Combing your garment takes a little more time and effort than other methods—but you’re less likely to nick or damage fabrics using this tool.
- Sweater stone: These lightweight, pumice-like stones contain natural micropores that help pull and remove even the most stubborn sweater pills. Gently brushing off the excess fibers renews the look of knit garments.
- Fabric razor: A handheld electric fabric razor (also called a fabric shaver) removes lint, fuzz, pills and loose threads from many types of fabric.
Step-by-Step Guide to De-Pilling Your Clothes
Pilling happens on many kinds of clothing, but sweaters, fleece and knitted garments are especially prone to it. If you want to get rid of sweater pilling and lengthen the life of your knit, follow our step-by-step guide to better your sweater. Here’s how to remove pilling from sweaters and other garments in a matter of minutes.
How to Prevent Pilling on Clothing
There’s no surefire way to prevent pilling on clothes—it happens when you wear them. Regularly removing pilling before washing garments helps to avoid further fraying of fibers on the surface. If you want to reduce fabric pilling on your most-worn garments, take care of them when machine washing and drying. Before tossing things in the laundry, check the instructions printed on the white tag inside each garment.
We don’t make anything that requires dry cleaning. Our clothes are made to be worn and machine washed—but following proper garment care instructions helps to ensure your clothes have a long and interesting life.
Pilling shows up differently on certain garments. Fabrics made from synthetic fibers like polyester and acrylic are often more prone to pilling than those made from natural fibers like cotton and wool—and synthetic fibers are stronger, so stubborn pills tend to stick around. To avoid clothes pilling in the laundry, we recommend washing synthetics separately from lint-attracting fabrics like terry cloth and abrasive fabrics like denim. Before washing fleece garments, turn them inside out. This reduces the friction between the soft, fuzzy fabric and the washing machine drum, protecting the outer surface of your fleece and minimizing pilling.
With natural fabrics, minimize abrasion (and therefore, pilling) by stretching out the wear time and only washing them when necessary. Merino wool garments can be worn multiple times before washing thanks to their natural odor-resistant properties. Different types of wool and cotton require different care, with some calling for handwashing and drying flat and others allowing machine laundering at certain temperatures. When in doubt, read the clothing care label on your garment.
We’d also avoid washing or drying at higher temperatures, which tends to worsen pilling on clothes. Harsh cleaners can weaken fibers, causing them to break and pill. Consider maintaining your garments with high-performance gear care that’s made for specific fabrics like merino wool.
Fabric Pilling Happens
Pilling is a natural process resulting from everyday wear and tear, and it can happen to any kind of fabric—no matter how well-made. These little fuzz balls are the result of fibers fraying on the surface of a fabric and clumping together into small lint balls. Pilling tends to show up on areas that experience the most friction or wear, like under the arms, on shirt cuffs and along the inseam of pants.
Agitation from machine washing and drying can also cause fabric pilling. During a wash cycle, the existing lint balls on your clothes can attract loose micro-threads, speeding up the pilling process. Luckily, this fabric pile-up caused by regular wear and washing doesn’t usually make your garments any less functional.
If the time comes for a replacement, we make functional garments that last. Whether you need a new men’s fleece or women’s fleece or a gently used one, our gear is crafted to see you through the years.
Learning how to remove pilling from clothes extends the look and life of your stuff. The more you know, the less you need—and with the right care, your things will stay in play for longer.
