How to Stop Pilling on Your Favorite Fall Sweaters

We’ve all been there. Reaching out for your favourite sweater in the wardrobe just to see it covered in lint and fabric pilling. While it can be utterly disappointing – and even heartbreaking in some instances – there is no need to worry too much about it.

In this clothing care guide, we will explain how to stop and prevent pilling on your favourite fallsweaterswithout any extra hassle. Let’s get started!

What causes pilling in clothing?

Before digging into solutions, let’s discuss why fabric pilling appears on your clothing in the first place. Typically, clothing faces a lot of friction in our daily life during wearing, washing, and drying processes. As a result, the textile fibres break down and get tangled in the shape of tiny knots, also known as "fabric pills" or "bobbles".

Pilling can be much more significant in areas of high wear like center of bed sheets, under the arms of clothes, and around the collar or cuffs of a shirt etc. But they can happen pretty much anywhere on the fabric, no matter how much you take care of it.

While these pills look unsightly for sure, that’s not really the worst part. Unfortunately, a pill becomes a magnet for other loose or broken threads in a wash or drying load which leads to even more pilling on the garment. This is why, properly doing fabric care of your clothing is essential if you want to preserve your wardrobe for years to come.

How to remove pills from fabric?

To remove bobbles from fabric, you can use a couple of tools and clothing care products. These include fabric shavers, lint remover rollers, and lint remover powderslike BIORESTORE cotton.

Depending on the type of fabric, and the intensity of fabric pilling that you are dealing with, its essential to pick the right solution for the best results.

OPTION 1: FABRIC SHAVER

Fabric shavers are battery-operated tools to remove bobbles from your clothing in a hassle-free manner. You can use these on almost all kinds of fabrics, but make sure to be careful at all times and increase the pressure gradually.

Gently slide the shaver on a small part of the fabric and if you think that the garment is too delicate, adjust the settings a bit so the razor speed is at its lowest.

OPTION 2: SCISSORS OR RAZOR

While scissors and razors are not like your conventional pilling removers, with some common sense and a dose of precaution, they can turn out to be just as useful.

Take a pair of scissors or a worn-out razor- one that’s been sitting in your drawer for a long time - and carefully cut off the pills in small strokes. An even better way is to pull the fabric over a curved surface and then remove the bobbles, step by step, for better results.

Before you go ahead, weigh the value of the garment so you don’t end up doing more harm than good.

OPTION 3: BIORESTORE cotton

For clothing made of at least 70% cotton, BIORESTORE Re-Tergent is the best way to remove bobbles and pills. This laundry powder works in a 2-hour wash cycle set at a temperature of 40ºC. It is not only convenient, but also ecofriendly, making it a great choice for advocates of sustainable fashion.

Simply pick your cotton clothing with lint or pilling on it and sort it according to colour. Then, add the clothes in the washer and using the instructions mentioned on the packaging, add the right amount of BIORESTORE cotton. Set the temperature and run the cycle for 2 hours. After that, give your garments a quick spin in the tumble drier to complete the process.

If a fabric cannot be machine-dried, you can rinse it off with a little amount of your regular detergent and then lay it flat to dry. However, if the fabric is not machine washable at all, unfortunately, BIORESTORE won’t be able to help!

OPTION 4: LINT REMOVER ROLLER

For pills that are not too large or too stubborn, a lint roller or sticky tape can be a quick and easy solution. Just like using a fabric shaver, slide the roller on small parts of the garment till all the pilling comes off. You can also pull the garment over a curved surface for better access and increased feasibility.

While it’s an effective solution to revive your clothing when nothing else is available, I won’t recommend using a roller as a part of your laundry care regime, mainly because it’s highly unsustainable. You need to replace the adhesive sheet or paper after every use, which adds to the ever-mounting piles of plastic waste.

How to prevent pills on fabric?

When it comes to fabric care, "prevention is always better than cure". By adopting simple laundry care tips and techniques, you can prevent pills on fabric for longer.

CHOOSE THE "GENTLE" CYCLE

Always opt for the "gentle cycle" or "hand wash" mode on your washing machine to avoid excessive wear and abrasion on your clothing. The slower agitation will keep your garments looking and feeling their best while perfectly cleaning them in the laundry cycle.

TURN CLOTHING INSIDE OUT

Before tossing your clothing in the washer, turn them inside out. This way, you can prevent lint and fabric pilling from appearing on the visible areas of your clothing. Plus, you get to ditch the extra wear caused by rubbing against other clothing, zippers, or buttons etc.

DON’T OVERLOAD THE WASHER No matter how busy or occupied you are, overloading the washer is never the solution to your laundry problems. Adding more than recommended weight or pieces of clothing in your laundry machine can not only result in uneven cleaning but also cause additional wear, resulting in fabric pilling.

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