Pills appear on fabric when groups of short or broken fibers on the surface of the fabric become tangled together in a tiny knot or ball, a pill. The pills form due to rubbing or abrasion during normal wear and use. The pills are usually found on the areas of clothing or linens that receive the most abrasion in day-to-day use, such as center of bed sheets, under the arms of clothes, around the collar and cuffs of a shirt, and between the thighs and on the rear of pants; but can happen anywhere on fabric.
Knitted fabrics tend to pill more than woven fabrics because the threads are looser. Fabrics made of long fibers like silk and linen pill less than wool, cotton, polyester, and other synthetic threads. When fibers are mixed in a fabric like a cotton/polyester blend, one fiber is usually much stronger than the other. The weaker fiber will break, knot around to the stronger fiber, and a pill is formed.
How to do with Fabric Pilling?
A battery-operated pill shaver is the quickest and cheapest way to treat pills. it quickly and evenly shaves unwanted fuzz, lint, and pilling. It’s easy-to-use, runs on two AA batteries, and adjusts to accommodate different fabric types.You can also use a pumice stone pill remover or pill comb to manually brush away fabric pills.Pilling may reappear several times. When it does, simply shave it off again.Your fabric will stop pilling after all of the loose fibers have been removed.
How to Prevent Pills on Clothes ?
For clothes that you suspect will pill, use the washer's gentle cycle. The slower agitation and shorter wash cycle will protect your clothes. Or, choose hand washing which is even more gentle.
Before washing any garment, by hand or in a washer, turn the garment inside out. This prevents excessive abrasion to the surface of the fabric from other clothes, zippers, and buttons.
Do not overload the washer. Cramming it as full as possible does not leave room for clothes to move easily and causes damage to the surface of clothes.
Skip harsh cleaners and damaging bleaches which can weaken fibers causing them to break and pill.
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. Line dry woven fabrics and dry knitted garments on a flat surface. If using the dryer, remove delicate items as soon as possible to lessen abrasion from other fabrics.
