Pilling: the why, the how & the strategies you need to tackle pilling on your clothes.
If you move around in polyester, you’re probably familiar with pilling. But that doesn’t mean you know what it is. Well, obviously it’s annoying little knobs all over your clothes, but what are they really and why do they show up on clothes? And how can you get rid of them?
Pilling is the tangling of the fibers that make up your clothing. Areas of your clothing where there are high amounts of abrasion are where they pop up. For example: pills pop up where your backpack or running vest rests, the shoulders of the baselayer you wear under your ski jacket, and on the seat of your pants. Pilling can be caused from wear, or even from being washed in an abrasive fashion.
The tangling happens most often in garments made of shorter fibers like polyester and other synthetics. Blended fabrics also tend to produce pills because one fiber is always going to be stronger than another and breakage is inevitable.
Once a pill has formed, they are a prime specimen for other loose threads and fuzz to latch onto, which is why the pills are often not the same color of the garment. Below are our tips and tricks to prevent pilling in the first place, and to how to remove pilling if it does form on your clothing and gear.
Pill Prevention Techniques
To some degree, pilling is inevitable. In outdoor apparel, polyesters and synthetic blends are the norm. When owning pill-prone garments, you can just do the best you can to avoid them by removing them, and preventing them in the wash. (Or, you can just ignore them, no judgment here.)
Avoid pilling from laundering:
- Turn items inside-out before popping them in the wash.
- Wash pill-prone garments together.
Keep your delicate outdoor wear away from items like denim and corduroy that can cause abrasion pills in the washer/dryer.
- Utilize front loading washing machines that don’t have agitators.
- Hand wash your synthetics.
This is the most gentle way to wash your clothes.
Pill Removal
There are devices out there for removing pilling, which work great! These devices pull and snip the pills from the fabric. If you don’t have any of these devices, there are a few other hacks to get rid of them quickly!
Grab the item you want to de-pill and pull the section taut. Use small, sharp scissors to cut away the tangles. Similarly, you can use a fresh razor.
By removing the pills, it decreases the chance of them growing and collecting more pieces of fiber. However, if the pills are caused by abrasion from wear, they will likely return once they experience the rubbing again.
Take Care of Your Clothing
Taking care of your outerwear can help lengthen the life of your garments to keep them in use as long as possible, and increase resale value when you move onto a new style. Preventing pilling is one way to take care of your items, but can be somewhat inevitable. So, if you want to rock your pills, go for it! We won’t judge ya!
Kalie Lovell: self proclaimed hiker-trash, fiction and non-fiction writer, video content creator, cheese, ramen, and dog lover. As a regular UnNew-repper, she is constantly sharing gear care, maintenance, and repair tips in order to keep her gear in tip top shape for all of her hiking and backpacking adventures. Kalie dreams of an even more accessible, inclusive, and welcoming outdoor industry and wants to share her love of the outdoors with all who are willing to tag along!
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