Duette® Duolite™ Honeycomb Shades in the Living Room

We’ve all seen them, and they can be unsightly: fabric pills, the little round tufts of fibers that gather on some fabrics. At Perfect Fit Window Fashions serving Bonita Springs, we know how frustrating these pills can be. So we’ve put together this post, to help you understand what they are and how to handle them.

What Pilling Is

Fabrics are made up of fibers, and some of them can come loose and move to the surface of the fabric, where friction makes them twist into small balls. Any fibers that aren’t loose twist with the balls, anchoring them to the fabric. Although this happens with all fibers, it’s most noticeable with human-made fabrics, because natural fabrics shed the loose fibers more easily. It’s also very noticeable with fabric blends (like cotton-polyester fabric), because the weaker fibers break more easily and the other fibers then hold the pills strongly. Pilling can be caused by human contact, movement of the fabric against itself, or even laundering. Some items, like fleecy tracksuits or blankets, can even transfer pills to other fabrics like furniture through abrasion.

Easily Treatable

You can remove the loose fibers using either a battery-operated pill shaver or a pill comb, both of which should be at your local fabric or sewing store. Removing the pills won’t impact the quality or performance of the fabric. Furthermore, if you see the pilling return, be aware that, the more loose fibers you remove, the less pilling will happen in the future. It’s good that removing the pills is easy, because there’s no real way to “prevent” pilling. However, you can avoid some things to reduce the occurrence of pilling. For one, if you stain the fabric, try not to rub the stain, which can loosen fibers and create pills. Instead, put the stained fabric over an old, clean cloth, treat the stain with your usual stain remover, and blot the area with another clean cloth. This should transfer the stain to the lower cloth. Another way to help reduce pilling is to avoid touching Velcro to the fabric. Velcro will stick to the loose fibers and pull them up, which will start the pills. If you’ve noticed pilling on one of your fabric Hunter Douglas window fashions and are concerned about how to handle it, feel free to contact a Perfect Fit Window Fashions representative. We’ll be more than happy to offer advice.

Resolving Fabric Pilling in the Naples, Bonita Springs FL Area

Visit our showroom in Estero, FL, serving the areas of Estero, Bonita Springs, Naples and Ft. Myers. Contact us today for a design consultation– we’re looking forward to serving you!