Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette. In today's video, we're going to discuss one of the most
insidious issues to which your garments can fall prey - pilling. Seriously though, we'll discuss this
fibrous annoyance, why it happens, and how to prevent and remove it from your clothing.
As we've said numerous times on the channel and on our website, the true menswear aficionado seeks not
only to build a robust wardrobe but also to keep it well-maintained. This means using the proper
laundering techniques, removing stains whenever they first occur, making the most of his closet
space and more topics, which you can all find in our comprehensive garment care playlist
here. Today's video is another installment in this series then covering those pesky little
hangers on that seem to find their way onto all different types of clothing - fabric pills.
But before we discuss our strategies on how to remove and prevent them, let's first cover what
they are and where they come from. A pill sometimes known by other names, including a bobble, fuzz ball,
or lint ball, is a small ball of fibers that forms on a piece of cloth. It's a surface defect
of textiles caused by the washing and wearing of fabrics as loose fibers begin to push out from the
surface of the cloth and over time abrasion causes the fibers to develop into small spherical bundles
anchored to the surface of the fabric by fibers that haven't yet broken fully. By the way, in case
you were curious, the textile industry officially divides the pilling process into four stages:
fuzz formation, entanglement, growth, and wear-off. Pilling normally happens on the parts of clothing
that see the most wear and tear day to day, such as the collar and cuffs of shirts and sweaters,
as well as under the arms, and around the thighs and the rear on trousers. All fabrics do pill to
some extent, but the primary causes of pilling are the physical characteristics of the textile,
how it's processed during manufacturing, the personal habits of the wearer, and the environment
in which the garment is being worn. Overall, natural fabrics are less likely to pill. These include
things like silk, linen, hemp, and cashmere. Meanwhile, man-made fabrics are generally more likely to pill.
These include things like polyester, acrylic, nylon, rayon, and spandex. And depending on the weave, twist
and softness of the fibers, wool and cotton can go either way in terms of pilling. You have to
take garments using those on a case-by-case basis. Note also that wool pilling generally diminishes
over time as more wool fibers work themselves free of the fabric and break away, whereas stronger
synthetic fibers will hold on to pills preventing them from falling off of the garments. In general,
longer fibers are going to pill less than short ones partly because there are fewer loose ends to
the fibers and partly because being longer, it will take more time and effort for those fibers to work
themselves out of the weave. This can sometimes be referred to by the term "twist." In other words, the
higher the twist, the denser the yarns are going to be and the firmer they're going to feel to
the hand. As you might imagine then, fabrics with a large number of loose fibers are going to be more
likely to pill. When a fabric is made of a blend of fibers both weak and strong, think of something,
for example, that blends natural and synthetic fibers, the weaker fibers are going to break, work
their way out and bundle up but the stronger fibers are going to hold those weak ones on.
Therefore, blended fabrics are going to be even more likely to pill overall. Keep in mind, that
pilling doesn't generally interfere with the functionality or wearability of a textile
or garment, unless of course an area of excessive pilling eventually causes a hole in the fabric. But
with that said, pills are definitely a nuisance and they can certainly be quite unattractive. So what
to do about them then? We've broken this answer into two categories: prevention and removal. First,
we'll talk about prevention. Fortunately, there are a number of different strategies that you can use
to prevent your clothing from pilling in the first place. First of all, as we alluded
to before try to find and buy garments that have higher density, more finely twisted yarns
that are going to be more durable. And as we also mentioned, fabrics that are made from
blends of natural and synthetic fibers are going to be more likely to pill. Always remember to check
labels and tags before purchasing and, as a general piece of advice, try to avoid garments that have
three or more different kinds of fibers in the weave. That covers prevention from a buying front.
Next, let's talk about some laundry day strategies you can use to prevent pilling when you're
washing your clothes. First, keep in mind that when you are washing any pills that are present
on a garment can agitate other clothing fibers causing more loose ends and more pilling overall.
It's something of a snowball effect. With that in mind, we've got two main pieces of washing advice.
First, for garments that you suspect are going to pill, consider using your washing machine's gentle
cycle. The lesser degree of agitation and shorter wash cycle should prevent more pills from forming.
You could also consider using mesh garment bags for such garments when they're in the washing
machine. Of course, you could also choose hand washing, which is going to be even more gentle,
and on that note you can find our video on hand washing sweaters here. Next, remember to turn your
garments inside out before washing them, and also to fasten any zippers buttons or hooks
as these hard and, sometimes, sharp surfaces can cause more abrasion and loose fibers. Also, if
your clothing is inside out when it's being washed any pilling that does form is going to be on the
inside of the garment and, thus, won't be seen when you're wearing it. You can also consider sorting
your clothes according to color and fabric type to prevent heavier fabrics from abrading or damaging
lighter ones. As an example of this phenomenon, you could avoid washing lint-producing fabrics like
terry cloth with your other clothes. If there are broken fibers on something like polyester,
the lint from the terry cloth is going to cling tightly to that polyester surface. Next, make sure
that your washing machine isn't overloaded. If your individual garments aren't able to move easily
inside the machine, they're going to be rubbing up against each other causing more friction and more
pilling. Use a gentle liquid detergent, avoiding powder detergents as they cause more abrasion,
and avoid any harsh chemicals or bleaches as they can break down fibers and cause more pilling.
If you use soap flakes in your washing machine, as we've advised in other garment care installments,
these should also be soft enough not to cause any additional abrasion. Some online sources will
encourage you to use a detergent that contains the enzyme cellulase. While this enzyme will help to
break down pills on some fabrics like cotton, which is why it's used by the textile industry, it can
also eat into other natural fibers like linen and silk so we'd advise that you steer clear. Another
popular method we would avoid is using commercial fabric softener. While fabric softeners do coat the
fibers of your clothing to lessen pilling. They can also contain petroleum-based compounds that
will make your clothes less breathable over time and can also coat your washing machine leading to
mold or other odors. Returning to more helpful tips then, avoid the clothes dryer. You can dry
your knitted garments on a flat surface and your woven garments on a clothesline drying rack or
hangers, and also if you are using the dryer remove delicate items as soon as possible to lessen
abrasion from other fabrics. You can put everything in the dryer for five to ten minutes just to knock
out a few wrinkles, but we wouldn't advise going any longer than that. Moving on from the laundry
room, our final prevention tips today refer just to general wear and tear of your garments.
First, try to rest your garments in between wears as excessive and repeated wearing can cause more
pilling. When you wear an article of clothing, the fibers tend to stretch a bit which can cause some
of the shorter, looser threads to come loose more and, thus, begin pilling. As a general guideline,
try to give a garment at least 24 hours in between wears to give it time to rest. Next,
don't carry backpacks. Anywhere that a backpack has prolonged contact with your clothes or your body,
such as your shoulders and back, is going to be a site of increased likelihood of pilling. Of course,
backpacks are also an item that we would encourage stylish men to avoid for other reasons as you can
see in this video here. A briefcase or attache case would be a better and more stylish choice. Finally
here, just try to limit the amount of everyday friction and abrasion that your clothes experience
from things like resting your elbows on tables or sitting on rough surfaces. So that's prevention out
of the way, but what to do about clothes that are already suffering from pilling? Our next tips are
going to cover pill removal. Fortunately, there are several tools available for removing pills from
your clothing, and perhaps, the safest bet among these is a sweater comb. To use the sweater comb,
place your garment on a hard flat surface, pull it taut with your free hand and run the comb slowly
but firmly across the fabric at a slight angle. You can increase your speed as you feel comfortable,
but be sure not to abrade the fabric. Also, you should periodically clean off the teeth of the
sweater comb as you work. This same technique can be employed with a cheap disposable razor,
although you should exercise more care and, of course, avoid using razors that have
gel comfort strips or anything like that. On the topic of razors though, do be sure to check out our
shaving and grooming playlist, which you can find here. Other tools with which you can use this same
method include a sweater stone, as well as a more typical pumice stone, although the latter will be
rougher and should be used with more care. Some sources will advocate for the use of things like
sandpaper sponges or Velcro, but we believe that these types of tools are generally going to cause
excess abrasion to your garments. An alternative method involves pulling your garment taut over
a slightly curved surface and using a pair of small sharp scissors to cut off the pills.
This can work but exercise caution as you obviously don't want to cut open a hole. A more
precise option would be to use something like a cuticle clipper, like the ones that are included in
our Fort Belvedere manicure kits. Finally, you could also consider using a battery powered or electric
fuzz and pill remover that shaves the pills off of the fabric. This is generally going to be a
safe option, but we would advise against using them on knits or particularly loose weaves, and if you
do use one, again, exercise caution. And no matter what tool you choose to get the job done, once
you're finished de-pilling your garment, brush it off with a garment brush. Don't use a conventional
lint roller or other adhesives that are advocated for online like tape, as these are going to
pull out more loose fibers, essentially starting the pilling process all over again. So that's the
low down on why pilling happens and how you can prevent it and remove pills from your clothing.
Hopefully when you see these little fuzz balls, it won't be such a hard pill to swallow in the future.
In today's video, I'm wearing a mostly casual outfit - good for doing some garment care around the
house, whose central element is a brown and blue sweater that, as far as I can tell, isn't really
suffering from too much pilling. It's in a cardigan style with dark buttons and I'm wearing it over a
shirt with a micro-grid pattern of light blue and black on a white ground. My trousers are
plain charcoal to harmonize with the black color in my shirt, and my shoes are dark chocolate brown
suede loafers to harmonize with some of the brown tones in my sweater. Rounding out my outfit today
are my two-tone shadow striped socks in gray and light blue which are from fort belvedere
and again they work with various other elements of the outfit. You can find the socks that I'm
wearing, along with a wide variety of other menswear accessories including the manicure
kit I mentioned before, as well as things like ties and pocket squares, in the Fort Belvedere shop here.