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3 Best Tricks to Remove and Prevent Pilling on Clothes

Learn what causes pills on clothes and how to reduce and remove pilling safely

Pills or tiny knots of thread or ugly bobbles of fuzz can turn your favorite top into an unsightly mess. Learn how to prevent pilling on clothes and what you need to do to remove the little nubs from your clothing.

pilling on sweatpants

The Spruce / Letícia Almeida

What Causes Pills to Appear on Clothes?

Pills appear on fabric when groups of short or broken fibers become tangled together in a tiny knot or ball. The pills form due to rubbing on areas of clothing or linens that receive the most abrasion during normal wear and use.

You'll often find them on the center of bed sheets, under the arms of clothes, around the collar and cuffs of a shirt, and between the thighs and on the rear of pants; but they can happen anywhere on fabric.

A pill, unfortunately, becomes a magnet for other loose threads in a wash load and entangle. That's why a black fabric ends up with little white knots. That white knot is fuzz from another fabric.

While it is difficult to predict which fabrics will pill, some types of fabrics and fibers are more prone to pilling. Knitted fabrics tend to pill more than woven fabrics because the threads are looser. If choosing a knitted fabric, pick one that is tightly knit over a looser knit.

Fabrics that are woven with long threads like silk and linen pill less than wool, cotton, polyester, and other synthetics. When fabrics contain mixed fibers like a cotton/polyester blend, one fiber is usually much stronger than the other. The weaker fiber will break, knot around to the stronger fiber, and form a pill.

clothes in the washer
​The Spruce / Letícia Almeida

How to Remove Pills on Clothes

  1. Use a fabric shaver. A battery-powder fabric shaver is the most effective way to remove pills from the surface of the garment.
  2. Use scissors or a safety razor. You can also pull the fabric taut over a curved surface and carefully cut off the pills with small, sharp scissors or shave the fabric surface with a safety razor. You must be extremely careful and weigh the value of the garment before tackling the job!
  3. Use a lint roller. If the pills are not too large, a lint roller or sticky tape can be a quick and easy option to remove the pills.
using a razor to remove pilling
​The Spruce / Letícia Almeida 

Tip

If the pill becomes a snag as you try to remove it, follow these tips to fix the snag and save the garment.

How to Prevent Pills on Clothes 

  • Use the washer's gentle cycle or hand wash. The slower agitation and shorter wash cycle will protect your clothes.
  • Before washing any garment, by hand or in a washer, turn the garment inside out. This prevents excessive abrasion to the surface of the fabric from other clothes, large zippers, and buttons.
  • Sort laundry properly before washing. Washing delicate items in the same load as jeans will cause more abrasion and harm to the fabrics. Avoid washing lint-producing fabrics like terry cloth with other clothes. If there are broken fibers on polyester clothes, the lint from the terry cloth is going to cling tightly to the polyester surface.
  • Do not overload the washer tub. Cramming it as full as possible does not leave room for clothes to move easily and causes damage to the surface of clothes.
  • Skip harsh cleaners and damaging bleach which can weaken fibers causing them to break and pill. 
  • Choose a laundry detergent that contains the enzyme cellulase. The enzyme will help break down cotton pills and remove them.
  • Add a commercial fabric softener to the rinse cycle. The ingredients in fabric softener coat the fibers of the fabric so that abrasion is lessened.
  • Avoid the clothes dryer. Line dry woven fabrics and dry knitted garments on a flat surface. If using the dryer, remove delicate items as soon as possible to lessen abrasion from other fabrics.
Illustration of how to prevent pilling on clothing

Illustration: The Spruce / Catherine Song

FAQ
  • Is pilling a sign of bad quality?

    High-quality, expensive fabrics can pill if they are not cleaned or handled correctly. Don't toss the garment. Remove the pills as soon as you notice them and then follow our tips for preventing pills on clothes.

  • What does pilling on leggings mean?

    Pilling occurs on leggings most often in the crotch area where the fabric rubs together with each step. Use a fabric shaver to remove the pills and wash the leggings separately to help prevent more lint and pills. If the pilling continues, the fabric can become weakened and cause holes.

  • Do dryer balls cause pilling?

    Dryer balls do not cause pilling. They help prevent pilling by helping clothes dry more quickly. Always use natural wool dryer balls rather than plastic ones that can snag fabrics.

  • Does fabric eventually stop pilling?

    Once pills appear on fabrics, they are likely to continue appearing unless you change your laundry habits.

The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Study on pilling performance of polyester-cotton blended woven fabrics. Journal of Engineered Fibers and Fabrics, vol. 15, 2020. doi:10.1177/1558925020966665