by Eve Lopez

Created on: August 07, 2009

Pilling is what happens when your clothes or bedding get those tiny, annoying little fuzzy balls stuck to them after they go through the laundry. These tiny little balls, called pilling, usually happen on garments like sweaters and low-thread count bed sheets. They make pretty sweaters look ugly and they make perfectly good bed sheets uncomfortable. Here are a few tips on how to prevent pilling when doing laundry.

For Regular Washing Machines:

1. Identify the clothes that will most likely become victims of pilling. These include sweaters, anything with fuzzy material, anything made of wool, low-thread bed sheets and blankets.

2. Turn the clothes that are likely to suffer from pilling inside out before washing them.

3. Use cold water in the wash cycle. Heat is one of the things that causes pilling.

4. Use the gentlest cycle on your washing machine. If your washer has a delicate cycle, this is the one you want to use.

5. Consider getting lingerie bags to use for each of your clothing items. One of the things that causes pilling is that the clothes rub up against each other, causing the fibers to break down. You can eliminate part of this problem by washing everything separately, but this is not very environmentally friendly. Lingerie bags that are made of nylon mesh can help you separate your clothes to prevent pilling.

6. Never use the clothes dryer to dry items that are prone to pilling. Again, the heat and friction is going to cause you problems.

For Hand Washing:

1. Identify the areas that are likely to suffer from pilling. Pilling most often happens where there is friction. In the underarm area of blouses and the inner-thigh areas of pants are where pilling is most likely to occur.

2. Use cold water and scrub these areas gently.

3. Use a gentle hand washing liquid laundry detergent like Woolite.

4. Again, line dry your items.

If pilling has happened to your clothing or bedding already, you can do a few things to remedy this:

1. Buy a pilling remover. They're also called fabric fuzz removers. Battery-operated, these pilling removers shave the pilling right off your garments.

2. Try the do-it-yourself method, but be careful. This method should be used sparingly. Stretch the item tightly over an ironing board or other flat surface and hold it in place with laundry clips. Get a razor and shave the fuzzy balls right off. This should only be done as a last resort.

The best way to avoid pilling is to stop it before it happens. Avoid wool and poor quality cotton items to ensure you won't have to worry about pilling to begin with.

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