Sweater pilling? You can save it from the donate pile. Cleaning and fiber experts explain why the softest, priciest knits often pill first, and how a comb or a fabric shaver undoes months of it in minutes.
A sweater that’s going to pill will typically do so first at the underarm and the inner elbow, the spots that take the most friction from a moving body. “When the fabric is rubbed against another portion of the garment or another surface, fibers are pulled from within the garment and combine to form a ball on the surface,” Mary Gagliardi, a scientist and cleaning expert at Clorox, told Reader’s Digest. “When arms swing against the body of a shirt, for example, that can result in pills forming on both the body and the sleeves or cuffs,” she added.
Why sweaters pill in the first place
“Abrasion is almost always the cause of pilling,” according to REI. “The abrasion can be from fabric rubbing on itself, such as in the armpit of a jacket, or fabric rubbing on something else, like a backpack waistbelt or hook-and-loop fastener.” REI also notes that tightly woven fabrics, like nylon, resist pilling better than soft, fuzzy ones like fleece, wool, and flannel, and that higher-quality garments tend to pill less than cheaper pieces made the same way.
Knitted fabric is inherently more exposed to this than woven fabric is. “A 100% cotton blouse or jeans that are woven are much less likely to have pilling than a sweater or stretchy cotton tights that are knitted,” Mary Marlowe Leverette, a fabric-care expert, told Reader’s Digest, since “fibers are looser due to the looping action of knitting machines versus the action of weaving looms.” Blends carry a risk of their own with one fiber typically more dominant in a blend. That will cause the weaker fiber to break and knot around the stronger fiber, which can form a pill. Pilling also worsens with every cycle through the washer and dryer.
Cashmere and other luxury fibers aren’t exempt from any of this, either, according to Clara Parkes, the fiber authority who writes for Interweave. She has pointed out that the softest fibers tend to be the shortest ones. “In order to stay anchored in yarn, those fibers will need more twist,” she explained. A looser twist is what protects that softness in the first place, and it’s also what lets cashmere, baby alpaca, and superfine merino shed and pill faster than a coarser wool would. The Woolmark Company’s own guidance to manufacturers confirms it from the design side: longer fibers, a higher twist factor, and a denser knit or weave all cut down on pilling.
How to prevent sweaters from pilling
Turning a sweater inside out before it goes into the wash keeps that friction against the inside of the fabric. Skipping fabric softener helps, too, since it coats fibers in a way that lets them separate more easily, and a gentle, cold hand wash causes far less agitation than a standard machine cycle. Reader’s Digest also recommends sorting laundry by fabric type as well as color, washing jeans, cotton sweaters, and silk blouses in separate loads so a sturdier fabric never gets the chance to abrade a softer one.
Storage also plays a role. Hanging a sweater lets gravity pull at the shoulders and the neckline over time, and “an immediate consequence of hanging sweaters is the appearance of shoulder bumps, especially in thinner, more delicate materials like cashmere,” according to Better Homes & Gardens. Folding keeps a knit’s shape intact between wears.
Woolmark’s advice starts with the least invasive option: picking pills off by hand, usually done right after the dryer or before ironing. A sweater comb handles more of them, and a battery-operated fabric shaver takes care of a heavier layer, which the organization calls “low cost and very effective.” Patric Richardson, host of HGTV’s “The Laundry Guy” and author of “Laundry Love,” told Reader’s Digest that pilling “will increase exponentially if you don’t remove the pills.”
Sweater care: dos and don’ts
Extending a knit’s life comes down to a short list of habits:
Dos:
- Turn a sweater inside out before it goes into the wash, so the friction of the cycle hits the fabric’s interior instead of the side anyone sees.
- Hand wash in cold water, or use a gentle, cold machine cycle, since a standard cycle causes far more agitation than a knit needs.
- Sort laundry by fabric type as well as color. Reader’s Digest recommends washing jeans, cotton sweaters, and silk blouses in separate loads so a sturdier fabric never abrades a softer one.
- Fold sweaters for storage rather than hanging them. Hanging lets gravity pull at the shoulders and neckline for as long as a sweater sits there.
- Remove pills as soon as they appear, with a comb or a fabric shaver, before they can spread.
Don’ts
- Use fabric softener on knits. It coats fibers in a way that lets them separate more easily, which feeds pilling rather than preventing it.
- Hang a sweater on a hanger. Better Homes & Gardens found that “an immediate consequence of hanging sweaters is the appearance of shoulder bumps, especially in thinner, more delicate materials like cashmere.”
- Reach for scissors to speed up pill removal. A comb or shaver used in short, light passes does the job without the risk of a hole.
- Assume a pilled sweater is a lost cause. It has usually just been worn the way a favorite sweater is meant to be worn.
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