When the weather turns cold, you pull out a favorite custom embroidery sweater and are about to put it on, only to find that the unique sweater is a mess of pilling all over the place. Don't worry, many fabric types will pill over time as tiny fabric fibers on the surface break and rub against each other.
But on the bright side, pilling is far from a death sentence for your favorite handmade sweater. In fact, with a few tools and tricks, we can get rid of those fuzzy pills on sweaters and have them look as good as new in no time.
In this article, you'll learn what causes intarsia-knit cotton sweater pilling, how to get rid of it, and how to prevent sweater pilling.
What is pilling?
Fabric pilling is the result of loose fibers detached or broken from the material and tangled on the surface of the fabric to form a tiny ball of thread. People also call fabric pills bubbles or fluff balls. Pilling doesn't necessarily damage clothing or other fabric surfaces, but not only can it make a 3d knitting sweater look worn, but it can also affect the feel of the garment due to the uneven surface of the fabric.
What causes pilling?
Simply put, the main cause of fashion knitwear pilling is friction, which causes the fibers on the sweater to wear, strain, and pull due to friction and agitation during washing. If this happens for a long time, the tiny fibers on the azure grey sweater will break. Those loose floating fiber ends then rub against other loose fibers, and the constant agitation entangles them. Once enough tiny fibers get tangled together, a little ball will appear on the surface of the fabric! That's why pills are easier to see in high-friction areas, like armpits, where fabrics rub against each other.
Pilling is a problem with most types of clothing, but mustard cardigans are more prone to pilling than woven sweaters because the threads are looser. Fabrics made from long fibers like silk and hemp have less thread than wool, cotton, polyester, and other synthetics.
How to Remove Hairballs
After a brief understanding of how hairballs are formed, we will bring you some methods to remove hairballs, and you can perform corresponding operations according to the tools you have.
1. Sweater comb (lint comb)
A sweater comb is a small, fine-toothed comb with smaller, denser teeth, the perfect secret weapon for pilling.
When using a royal blue jumper comb, lay the garment out on a flat surface.
Then find the area that needs pilling, making sure that part of the garment is wrinkle-free.
Hold the garment in place with one hand while holding the comb at a 90° angle to the surface of the rib jumper with the other hand to comb through.
If you can see the lines of the weave pattern, move in the same direction as these lines.
You will soon see those air bubbles and lint sticking to the comb, and stop when you run your hands over the area and it feels smooth and flat.
Need to pay attention: During the combing process, always keep the same direction and gently scrape the affected area, do not damage the fabric.
2. Velcro hair curler
Velcro is great for grabbing loose pills from stronger off the shoulder grey jumper.
Lay the v neck wool sweater flat first, pull the sweater taut with one hand, and place the roller flat on the area where the pills need to be removed with the other hand. Gently roll up and repeat until the pilling disappears. Hairballs can get stuck in the curling iron, if the garment is pilling in more than one area, pick it up and move to another area.
Be aware that this method can damage very delicate fabrics, so do not use cashmere or wool.
3. Fabric razors
A fabric razor is a lot like a body razor, but for your sweater instead of your body!
The fabric razor has a metal razor on the bottom covered by a plastic guard to trim any hairballs or loose fabric from your brown woolly jumpers without pulling the good stuff. Just press and rub the pilling area and the shaver will trim away those pesky pills in no time.
Fabric razors are more expensive than other tools but are the fastest and most effective.
Start by laying out the sweater on a hard surface and plugging the fabric shaver into the battery or plugging it into a power source.
Pull the sweater tight with one hand and open the fabric shaver with the other, and apply it to the garment in small circular motions. Start with the lightest possible touch and increase as needed. Depending on the state of your personalized sweater, it may take a few minutes to remove all of the pills.
After the surface of the sweater is cleaned and smooth, turn off the power and empty the collection bucket of hairballs.
4. Razor
You can use a disposable razor or safety razor to remove hairballs, but we don't recommend it.
Regular razors can shave hairballs with ease, but they run a higher risk of grabbing and cutting the perfect fabric of your chunky sweater. But if you have no other tools on hand and can control the use of the razor well, then the razor is also a good way.
Get a disposable or safety razor. Avoid razors that have moisture strips or soap bars on both sides. This can cause more pilling when rubbed against the fabric.
Flatten the cowl neck jumper so that the surface of the fabric is completely flat.
Use your non-dominant hand to stretch a small section of the pilling fabric with your hand, keeping the tension tight, this will prevent you from cutting the garment.
Using gentle, smooth motions, sweep the razor lightly upwards over your unwrapped surface. Repeat until you have swept the razor over the entire damaged area.
Once you've built up a pile of pilling, wrap a large loop of packing tape around your palm, sticky side out. Then stick them all on tape. If you don't have tape, you can also use a small vacuum to quickly pick up loose pills.
5. Scissors
If you don't want to buy any special tools and have some time on your hands, all you need is a pair of sharp scissors to deal with pilling on clothes! Of course, if your fabric material is more delicate, it's perfectly fine to use small, sharp embroidery scissors or nail clippers.
Start by spreading the garment out on a flat surface.
Pop up a bubble with your fingers. Gently pull to slightly lift the held ball from the surface of the fabric.
At this point, you may be able to see the fibers that attach the bubble to the long button down cardigan.
With the blades of the scissors flat on the garment, slide the scissors closer so the blades splay around those stretched fibers.
Close the scissors and cut the bubbles!
Repeat this process for each loose thread, making sure you pull gently to avoid snagging the fabric as you hold the pill for slicing.
How to Prevent Sweater Pilling
Of course, it's much easier to prevent pilling before it happens than to deal with it afterward.
Luckily for us, there are many different ways to slow and prevent pilling on your quality knitwear.
1. Wash the sweater in gentle mode or by hand.
When washing a sweater in the washing machine, turn the fabric over and wash on the gentle cycle. Slower agitation and shorter wash cycles will protect your thick v neck sweaters.
2. Classify before washing
Washing delicate items in the same load as jeans will cause more wear and damage to the surface of the fabric. Avoid washing lint-producing fabrics, such as terry cloth, with other clothing. If there are broken fibers on the polyester, the lint from the terry cloth will stick tightly to the surface of the polyester.
3. Avoid harsh cleaners and destructive bleaches
They weaken the fibers, causing them to break and pill.
Choose laundry detergent that contains cellulase instead of powdered laundry detergent. Powdered detergents rub against fabrics as they dissolve, and cellulase will help break down the cotton balls and remove them. But enzymatic detergents are not recommended for delicate fibers like silk and linen, so be sure to wash them separately accordingly.
Add a commercial fabric softener during the rinse cycle. The ingredients in fabric softener coat the fibers of the fabric, reducing fraying.
4. Avoid hair dryer
If possible, hang you are knit to dry instead of using the dryer, this will reduce the fraying of the fabric and prevent pilling. If you do use a dryer, be sure to use a low-heat cycle.
