Easy Way to Remove Pills and Fuzz from Cashmere & Wool Sweaters

Welcome to the 471st Metamorphosis Monday!

Happy Monday! Hope you had an awesome weekend! For this week’s Met Monday, I have a great little tool to share, something I’ve been meaning to share all winter. At the start of fall this past year, I noticed a lot of my sweaters were covered with little pills here and there, especially my light-weight cashmere sweaters. I have a battery-operated pill-remover thingy that works pretty good on big, fluffy sweaters, but I’ve always found it difficult to use on lighter-weight sweaters.

After a bit of research last fall, I came across a little tool that has turned out to be the perfect thing for removing pills and fuzz from my sweaters, and it works great on all types of sweaters from the big, fluffy, fat ones to the more delicate, light-weight sweaters. Plus, it feels much safer to use on my sweaters than the battery-operated pill-remover I was using.

You may remember this snowflake Barbour sweater that I purchased in early fall. I loved it so much, I didn’t even wait for it to go on sale, for fear it would sell out. I noticed tonight that it has finally gone on sale, plus there’s another 30% off the sale price with the code GROUNDHOG. You’ll find it here: Barbour Snowflake Sweater.

I wore this sweater a lot this winter, especially during the time I was in Ohio visiting family. Even though it’s wool and very warm, it’s super light-weight and not at all scratchy.

Barbour Fair Isle Sweater, Harriet Chunky Crew

 

Because I wore it so much this winter, it has finally started getting a few pills here and there. It’s hard to photograph little sweater pills, but hopefully, you can see them scattered about in the photo below.

Barbour Snowflake Wool Alpaca Sweater

 

Earlier in the fall I purchased one of these little sweater combs that’s meant for cashmere sweaters. I liked how it worked so well on my cashmere sweaters, I purchased a set that included a comb for heavier sweaters, too. (This set is available here: Sweater Comb for Pills & Fuzz)

Removes pills, pilling, fuzz from wool & cashmere sweaters

 

For this wool/alpaca Barbour sweater, I used the comb above on the left that’s designed for thicker sweaters. Again, it’s hard to see, but the darker pieces you see in the photo below are the pills it grabbed on a few swipes over the surface. I can’t believe how easy and well this little sweater comb works! Truly amazing!

How to Remove Pills and Fuzz from Sweaters

 

Here’s how my Barbour snowflake sweater looked after just a few swipes across the top–so much better!

Barbour Snowflake Sweater

 

Another sweater I purchased this past fall and have worn a ton is the beautiful sweater below.

Orvis Sweater

 

If you are looking for a cozy sweater, you’ll find this sweater under the “Sale” category at Orvis, HERE.

Beautiful Pink, Cream Sweater

 

After wearing it so much all fall/winter, it was starting to get fuzzies, too. Again, it’s kinda hard to photograph fuzzies/pills, so in the photo below I placed the sweater comb right behind a few fuzzies so you can better see them sticking up in front of the comb.

Great way to remove pills and fuzz from sweaters

 

Here’s what the comb picked up after one or two swipes. You can see the little pills it caught below. I love this comb!

Easy way to remove pills, fuzz from sweaters

 

For more delicate, lighter-weight sweaters, the comb on the right below works best.

Removes pills, pilling, fuzz from wool & cashmere sweaters

 

I have three cashmere sweaters purchased many years ago, two are shown below. I tend to wear the purple/lavender one the most so it’s the one that gets more fuzzies/pills.

 

I de-pilled all my cashmere sweaters this past fall, so I had to look a bit harder to find some pills on my lavender sweater for this post.  I found a few as seen in the center of the photo below.

Pilling on Cashmere Sweater

 

Unfortunately, it’s hard to demonstrate how I hold the sweater when using the comb, and take a photo at the same time, so I’ll just describe it. Since I’m right-handed, I place my left hand on the sweater above the area I’m about to comb. That helps to hold the sweater in place and leaves my right hand free to swipe down the sweater with the comb to remove any pills. Just reverse that technique if you’re left-handed. It goes quickly, only takes a minute or two to remove the pills from a sweater.

How to remove pilling & fuzz from cashmere sweater

 

Here’s how the sweater looked afterward: Yay, no pills!

Cashmere Sweater After Remove Pills, Fuzz

 

I noticed another little pill under the arm, that’s a common spot to find them on sweaters due to the movement of our arms.

Remove pilling from cashmere sweaters

 

The cashmere comb easily removed it.

How to remove fuzz and pilling from sweaters

 

I can’t recommend these two little combs highly enough. I find them much easier to use than the larger, heavier, battery-operated device I was using. It tended to just push down on the sweater, pushing it away and making it harder to pick up the pills. These little combs do not do that, and I’ve never had one pick my sweater. They work great and I love how small they are which makes them easy to pack when traveling. I purchased the two I use in a set here: Sweater Combs.

Removes pills, pilling, fuzz from wool & cashmere sweaters

 

Sweater Sale

Speaking of sweaters, as I was creating this post last night, I got an e-mail from Talbots about a big end-of-winter sale they have going on. Many of their sweaters are now 70% off.

Here are a few that I’m eyeing in the sale–click on the title to access that sweater.

Merino Sweater with Velvet Tie

I loved this sweater because it feels elegant enough to wear out for an evening or just to the office.

Sweater with Velvet Tie

 

It’s available in several colors. The red one would be so cute to wear out on Valentine’s Day or for Christmas next year. It was originally $129, now it’s only $29.99! Love these end of season sales! This sweater is available here: Merino Sweater with Velvet Tie

Merino Sweater with Velvet Tie

 

Tweed Turtleneck

This cute tweed turtleneck is also drastically reduced and available in several colors. I love this lavender color especially–looks so good with jeans. It’s available here: Tweed Turtleneck.

Tweed Sweater

 

This sweater below is the same as the one above but in another color. I love it with this wonderful plaid vest! You’ll find the plaid vest here: Plaid Puffer Vest

Plaid Puffer Vest

 

Flower Sweater

I thought this adorable flower sweater would be great for spring…great transition piece. It’s down from $99 to $23.99 and is available here: Flower Sweater. The little flowers remind me of Johnny Jump Ups or Pansies. Oh, I can’t wait for spring to get here!

Flower Sweater

 

Watermelon Sweater

Another sweater that would be great for spring is the cute “watermelon” sweater pictured below. It was originally $79.50 and is only 17.99 now! It’s available here: Watermelon Sweater.

Watermelon Shirt

 

Looking forward to all the wonderful Before and Afters for this week’s Metamorphosis Monday!

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Comments

  1. Great gadgets, Susan. Thanks for sharing them. I love that velvet bow sweater. I clicked over and ordered it. Thank you.

  2. I actually have one of those things, but now if I can just remember where I put it. The weather here was 75°, but it does cool off in the evenings.

  3. Regality (aka The Quing) says

    Umm…I use a hairbrush. Works fine.

  4. Miss Susan I always enjoy your posts and learn about all kinds of things. Did not know about these little helpful combs. Just ordered the Puffer Plaid Vest with the ruffles from Talbots …. so adorable! What a wonderful sale too. Thanks so much!

    • That vest is so cute! I purchased a solid, cream-colored vest from Talbots a few weeks and love it. I’m super tempted to get this one, too!

  5. Gees…you’re killing me here with those C U T E sweaters…complete with pill pullers!!! franki

  6. Thank for the info on the sweater gadgets, I have several I need to de pill. Talbots is one of my favorite stores!

  7. I am pretty embarrassed by the lack of care I’ve not given to my family’s sweaters. Going to get this set pronto. Thanks for your tried and tested review.

  8. Selma C. Kessler says

    I just noticed today that I’m wearing two items I saw in your blog: the cute Teva suede boots and the fluffy Orvis sweater you used to demonstrate your pill combs! I’ll definitely be ordering some of the combs, we have one of those sweater shavers, and it works great on the smaller pills, but it’s the thicker sweaters that I need help with. Thanks for the tip, Susan! Have a lovely day!

    • I was wearing my Teva’s all day today, too. 🙂 They have to be most comfortable boots I own. Selma, recently I had to go to a podiatrist about arch pain. He asked me what shoes I wear, in a very accusatory tone. I could tell he was getting ready to fuss at me, thinking I must be wearing shoes that aren’t supportive. I pointed to my Teva boots that were on the chair beside him. He picked one up, looked it over and said, “Ummm, I didn’t know Teva made boots!” He didn’t say another word about my footwear after that. lol I guess he knows they make good supportive shoes.

  9. Love these sweaters you highlighted, but, alas, have to wait til next year. Early next fall, I intend to review your fall/winter posts to chart who, what, and when sales info and know when to expect great sales and when.

  10. kddomingue says

    Have you come across anything that works really de-pill non- sweater knits? Knit fabrics used in tshirts and polo shirts….those types of knits? If so, PLEASE share!

    • When I used to have kitties, which is pretty much my entire life, I used to get picks/pulls in my knit polo shirts from their claws all the time. They didn’t snag them intentionally, but occasionally a claw would get caught. What I did with those was use a “knit picker” to pull the snag through to the other side of the shirt so it was no longer visible. I also used to do that on my coverlet on my bed when one of the cats would accidentally snag it with a claw. Here’s the type knit picker I have always used: http://amzn.to/2nIxPrg
      It has a little hook with a latch like thing. You poke the end of the knit picker through your shirt from the underside of the shirt, getting as close as possible to the spot where the snag is located. Then you catch the snag on the tiny hook on the end of the knit picker, then slowly pull the knit picker with the snag back through the shirt to the underside of the shirt. If it works as its intended to work, the little latch on the knit picker closes holding the snag in place so you can pull it through to the underside of the shirt. Sometimes you have to do it 2-3 times if the latch doesn’t close at just right the moment to hold the snag, but overall, knit pickers work really well for those type snags and pulls.

  11. Thanks so much for the party!!
    Hugs,
    Debbie

  12. Oh, those sweater combs will be a lifesaver for me. I have a ton of cashmere I have collected over the years off-season and on sale and now I have to order these combs ASAP. Thanks so much!

  13. Marlene Stephenson says

    Thanks i needed that, i didn’t even know they made something for those pills on sweaters, you are a genius. Have a nice evening.

  14. Susan, I purchased the black sweater with the velvet tie and I have loved it! Thanks to you, I just ordered the Red one for Valentines day as you mentioned. Thank you!

  15. You find the handiest things! That sweater is adorable too! Thanks for the party and info

  16. Just ordered the sweater combs, now heading over to the Talbots site to check out some of the sweaters! Thanks for a great post!

  17. Pretty sweaters!

    Neat gadget!

    Thanks for hosting.

  18. Love the comb and that plaid puffer vest. Cute!!

  19. Cyndi Raines says

    The sweater with the velvet tie is very tempting, especially in red which is my favorite color…Thanks Susan.

  20. I was surprised no one mentioned a sweater stone, I have had one for years that does a fantastic job of removing pills. I like it better than the sweater comb. I know that Amazon sells them, I am going to have to see how their reviews compare to the comb. Love all your sweaters and sale tips!!

  21. Funny story! Two weeks ago I ordered the Pottery Barn Kids Carolina Large Table with 4 matching Chairs (as well as the Table Mat) after reading your post titled “A Playful Dinner for Two”. I have 5 grandchildren and a sixth on the way. I decided I needed another kids table (bigger and sturdier than what I currently have) for when the grandkiddos come to visit to use for mealtime, craft-time and playtime. This week I was decorating for the Valentine’s holiday and decided to use a small red blanket/throw as a tablecloth on the kiddos table. Then I realized this “tablecloth” had a lot of pills and fuzz (even for a kids’ table) . . . then your post about the Pill Comb!!! You must be a fly on my wall. LOL! Thanks so much for all your great posts and recommendations!

    • Cindy, that is too funny!Love it! I’m so glad the table is working out so well. My dil has been sending photos of my grandsons using there table to do puzzles and such. She said the youngest who will turn 2 in June, feels like such a big boy sitting at a table in a chair his own size. 🙂

  22. Annamay Adams says

    Hi Susan- I’m about to pull the trigger on the Fair Isle sweater from Orivs…could you tell me what size you ordered and it it pretty much true to size? I’m between a small and medium. Thanks! I also need to order one of those gadgets!

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