ask stylebook: preventing pilling?

Hallee: It seems that even my nicer sweaters start pilling as soon as I wear them. Is it something I’m doing? How can I prevent or fix this? Are there fabrics I should avoid?

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Alicia, The TulleBox: This is a great question and sent me to do some research.

Evidently, there is really no way to know whether a sweater will have the potential to pill. It’s called a latent defect and can only be determined by wearing the item. Some fibers are more inclined to break and build a pill through the friction of where the garment rubs (interior forearm and on the hip). This is less likely to happen with a Merino wool where the fibers are inherently stronger than some of the finer gauge cashmeres but every woven garment will pill. The image below gives you an idea of which fibers are more prone to “catch” and pill due to their scales.

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There is a direct correlation to the length of the fibre and how long it will take to pill. When price comes into play, the shorter fibers will be less expensive than the longer fibers; shorter fibers mean less yarn strength. The hand of the sweater is also a determining factor. There was a time when sweaters required a “bloom” period meaning that the softness would occur over time and hand washings. Now due to our need for immediate gratification, manufacturers create this bloom effect by washing and using shorter fibers – and a high likelihood of pilling.

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I am a huge fan of The Laundress, a fabric-care company in NYC. They sell a sweater stone that takes care of all of my sweaters. A stone will not damage your sweaters like a shaver will. The shaver may solve the problem but it’s going to happen again because now you are cutting those pilling areas and creating more shorter fibers.

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One other suggestion I found from my research is to deep condition your sweaters as you would your hair once a year. If you are interested how to care for your sweaters based on my research, I’m providing the exact processes to follow on my site.

About the author
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Alicia McCaslin

Stylist | The Tulle Box

http://www.thetullebox.net/

aliciamccaslin@me.com

Alicia was born and raised in Alexandria, and married a local boy. She is happily married and the mother of two amazing children and one adorable and terribly smart border terrier named Dixie. Alicia has always known she was a creative. She collected editions of Vogue from junior high on and has always loved clothing and design. She studied interior design at VCU and parlayed that degree into commercial interior design, the web design, and ultimately found herself managing a local boutique and serving as a stylist to many Alexandrian women. She now has a successful full-time styling business, The Tulle Box, and makes it her business to make her clients feel great about themselves and the way they look.