Knitwear Pilling: Some surprising truths - YouLookFab Forum

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Knitwear Pilling: Some surprising truths

Roxanna

Veteran

I found this article about why knitwear pills so enlightening. Some of the things it asserts:
- longer fibres may actually cause pilling
- Pilling is not actually a sign of bad quality (maybe even good quality?)
- why washing knitwear helps pilling
- why some things manufacturers are doing to reduce pilling actually lead to a lower-quality garment

https://www.permanentstyle.com.....is%20creat

So interesting!

General

15 replies

Latest reply was from SarahD8

merwoman

Veteran

Great read Roxanna, thanks for sharing. I don’t wash my hand knitwear frequently, but absolutely wash and block it when the garment has been completed. It makes a huge difference in the look of the fibres/garment.

LJP

Veteran

Excellent article - thanks for sharing it . I have a Masters’ Degree in Science with a Major in Textile Science and a Minor in Marketing - albeit from 500 years ago - and fine our annual forum discussions re pilling entertaining

Roxanna

Veteran

@LJP I had no idea! would love to hear your thoughts given your expertise (though I'm sure you have shared millions of times before )

Now I basically try to thrift older knits, and if they pill, I just donate them back (but funnily enough, they hardly do!)

cjh

(website)

Veteran

I read the article and am puzzled. In my experience, not having spent tons on knitwear to compare expensive options, pilling is quite unpredictable. And pilling happens to many items no matter how delicately you wash and care for them, and often doesn’t depend on price or fiber content. And to me pilling does indicate lower quality, because it looks bad. So a “high quality” knit that pills isn’t that high, IMO.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Thanks, Roxanna! Interesting read! The chemical coating rings a bell...

In my experience at this point, my thoughts are similar to cjh.

I have amazing knitwear that hasn't pilled at all! Old and new. And knitwear that has. Old and new.

My 100% cotton knitwear is absolutely awesome! No pilling. And most of my cashmere and merino Boden and COS knitwear hasn't pilled either. And then there's the rest. How I wish pilling was more predictable.....

rachylou

Veteran

Fascinating. The one my eye goes to is the closeness of the knit. Also: *erk* re the coating… I find that disturbing. What new to me chemical is this?

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Will read later. Vintage knits show their true colors at first glance!

LJP

Veteran

I have nothing to add . All of this info is readily available online now and I think it’s been discussed in depth on the forum - where it certainly wasn’t , back in the day ( online info , that is ) . Lanolin in different wool types also plays a role . This is a great reminder for me to NOT buy any sweaters this fall and to direct mgt money into cost tops that provide more bang for their buck .

RobinF

Veteran

Interesting read. I prefer thin, soft sweaters so if this is true, they are inherently more likely to pill.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Fascinating and some of this rings true. Certainly I have found that handwashing my knits reduces the pilling (to an extent). Handwashing prevents almost all pilling on my merino sweaters and diminishes the effects on most cashmere but I can tell the quality by the extent to which it works! I have J. Crew Collection cashmere sweaters (bought on sale almost a decade ago) that barely pill at all. Regular J. Crew cashmere that pilled so badly in its first or second season that I hd to let it go.

I've also found that older knits (i.e. the Scottish cashmere t-neck that Mr. Suz bought in the 70s and handed down to me -- yes!) don't pill at all. However, that particular sweater is so dense and warm I really can't wear it except for cross country skiing! It isn't suitable for indoors with central heating. So I understand why contemporary people would be demanding finer knits or thinner ones.

Jules

Veteran

Good point Suz - the beautiful Irish fisherman sweaters I admire at curated vintage stores are quite thick and heavy. As teenagers we used to basically wear them and similar pieces as outerwear here in Toronto - in the classic way of underdressed Canadian teens some of my friends would insist on theirs being as good as coats for the entire winter! And they were both warm and somewhat rain/snow resistant. But these days there are so many technical fabrics, packable down, etc - we maybe don’t have the same tolerance for heavy thick wool (although I know many people here on the forum do swear by wool for that dreaded damp cold).

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Jules, yes!! Those are a completely different kind of wool -- shetland, or aran, maybe -- and the yarn itself is full of oils that withstand getting wet (to a degree) and although some of them do pill eventually (with enough rubbing) it does not show as much on the thick cables. So there is also that....

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Suz, YES! Greg and I have 12 and 18 year old J.Crew merino wool sweaters that have not pilled at all. Mine are below. I have only ever dry cleaned these items.

Jules and Suz, Greg has a 40 year old Aran that his Mum knitted - zero pilling!

Yarn was better quality back then, is my only explanation.

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The Cat

Veteran

Agree with cjh.

SarahD8

Veteran

Fascinating, Roxanna! As an aside I kind of love those hardcore-clothing-care gentlemen's fashion sites, so thanks for pointing me to this one.

I am glad to know that washing is endorsed, I do wash my cashmere sweaters (In the machine even! On delicate. And we do not have a center agitator in our machine.) and have had very good luck with that. I use Eucalan detergent (it's not really a detergent but you know what I mean). I'm a bit more hesitant to wash lambswool (have had bad luck with shrinkage) and Shetland-type wool though.