What is Pilling on Sweaters and How Do You Get Rid of It?

Now that it’s sweater season, we really have to talk about pilling on sweaters. The annoying fuzz balls that collect where parts of the sweater rub against other parts of the sweater–on the front, under the arms, on the sides–are pills. Pilling is never too bad on the back of a sweater, unless you are an octopus and have arms all around.

Moderate pilling is not a reason to leave vintage sweaters behind at your favorite thrift, consignment or vintage store, although most consignment and vintage shops will have already removed them. Those fuzz balls can be gotten rid of or at least minimized. But first..

What Causes Pilling?

Friction is the main culprit. Anytime your sweater rubs against things, the friction that causes fibers to break down. Those stray fibers band together into little balls. Like I said, that’s why you find pills on the sides and along the seams on sleeves in particular, as well as on the front.

Lower quality materials is another cause. Less expensive sweaters are made from less expensive fibers. These fibers might not be as tightly woven or spun as the fibers in better made sweaters. This applies to cotton, wool, acrylic and cashmere. There are expensive wool fibers and less expensive ones used to make sweaters at different price points, for example.

Washing and drying also makes pills. Jiggling and tumbling the around in laundry machines let things rub against other garments. It’s like sending your sweaters to a pill factory.

How Can You Minimize Pilling?

Invest in higher quality pieces. Thrifts and vintage stores are a great place to find high quality garments at fast fashion prices. You can get great deals on vintage pieces by good makers who were popular in the 1980s and 1990s but are less known now. Look for Jaeger, Sonia Rykiel, Benetton, Mondi, Susan Bristol, Rodier, Adele, and Kitty Hawk among others. If the knit and seaming of a sweater feel luxe, it probably is a good quality sweater.

Take care while laundering. Hand washing, using the gentle cycle, turning your sweater inside out and washing using a laundry bag will all reduce pilling on sweaters. Drying them flat instead of tossing them in the dryer also helps.

How Do You Get Rid of Pilling on Sweaters?

While you might not be able to remove pills completely, you can get rid of most of the pilling on sweaters and you don’t have to be a laundry wizard to do it.

My favorite tool for chunkier knits is a sweater shaver. It’s a battery operated gizmo with blades hidden behind a screen that you run over your garment like a mower over a lawn. You’ll be amazed at the amount of fuzz in the fuzz catcher when you are done.

For finer knits, I use a sweater comb. There are two kinds of combs. One is a plastic handle with a textured mesh fabric that catches pills as you drag it gently along the grain of the knit. The other is a wooden handle with pumice covered screens on either side that you use the same way. The plastic one is much gentler, use caution with the pumice screen. It’s effective, but the corners can be sharp enough to pull threads. Use it with a light hand.

To be successful with any method, put your sweater on a hard flat surface, like a table or ironing board. Whichever tool you use, use it gently. Don’t press to hard. Pressing too hard with the shaver can push the fibers up to the whirling blades. For the love of all that’s holy, don’t do it while you’re wearing the sweater. Do not ask how I know this, I just do.

A couple of other methods that some people swear by aren’t faves of mine. Some folks lightly groom sweaters with an actual shaving razor. I’d done that with fair success, but that one tragic oops on a sweater I loved that turned me away from the disposable razor method forever. And some people swear by a sweater stone, which is pumice like the pedicure stone you keep in the shower. I’ve never tried a sweater stone because online reviews convinced me it was messy and I have other methods that work. If you’ve had success with a sweater stone, please leave a comment.

If you love taking care of your vintage clothes, you might enjoy our post on how to hand wash the dreaded “dry clean only” pieces.