3 tips to prevent pilling, and how fabric pilling resistance grades are tested.

Ever find that little fuzz balls on your favourite piece of clothes annoying and tired of battling pills? Ever wonder why pilling even occurs in the first place?
The fibres on the surface of the clothes clump together over time, forming the characteristic lint ball that sticks to your clothing. During a wash and dry cycle, they can attract loose micro-threads, speeding up the fabric pilling process. The good thing is, that there are ways to prevent your favourite piece from pilling.

TIP #1 Turn items inside out before washing.

The swishing motion inside a washing machine causes garments and fabrics to rub against each other, which leads to pilling. Pills may still form if the garments are inside out, but they will be on the inside of the garment, so they won't be visible.

TIP #2 Hang laundry to dry.

Hang clothes, bedsheets, and other laundry items to air dry. As we all know, the dryer is another place where clothes and fabrics tumble around, rubbing against each other, so drying clothes in the dryer can also cause pilling.

TIP #3 Choose fabrics that simply won't pill easily.

Any fabric can pill, but some are more prone to developing pills than others. Avoiding the ones that pill the most by choosing carefully is a simple strategy to keep yourself away from all that fuzz. Testing methods are applied to determine the fabric pilling grading and make sure you check the pilling resistance grade before your next purchase.

Textile Testing: Pilling Test of Fabric

ASTM D3512 is a standard test method for pilling resistance and other related surface changes of textile fabrics. In general, this test method is suitable for all types of woven and knitted apparel fabrics, it covers the determination of the propensity of a fabric to form pills and other related surface changes on textiles using the random tumble pilling tester. The degree of fabric pilling is evaluated by comparing the tested specimens with visual standards, which may be actual fabrics or photographs of fabrics, showing a range of pilling resistance.

The observed resistance to pilling is reported on a scale as the following:

GRADE 5—no pilling

GRADE 4—slight pilling

GRADE 3—moderate pilling

GRADE 2—severe pilling

GRADE 1—very severe pilling

Take Ultra Hoodie for example

Ultra Hoodie has a pilling resistance grade at 4.5, which holds very strong against pilling to keep you away from all that fuzz. Get worry free and enjoy the easy care of Ultra Hoodie. Now available on Kickstarter.

Check it out >> here.