Every fall it is the same scene. I open the storage bin, pull out my favorite navy sweater, and it looks like it went through a washing machine with a bag of sand. Little fuzz balls everywhere, especially under the arms and along the cuffs.

Pilling happens because wool and cotton blends rub against each other and against your coat. The loose fibers ball up. It is not a sign the sweater is cheap. It is a sign the sweater is being worn. But you can fix it in one evening.

The tool that changed everything

A fabric shaver, also called a sweater shaver or defuzzer, is a little electric device with a spinning blade behind a mesh guard. You run it over the sweater and it shaves the pills off without cutting the fabric. They cost about fifteen dollars and last for years.

I was skeptical, so I tested mine on the worst sweater I own, the one I had written off as permanently fuzzy. Ten minutes later it looked like the day I bought it. I actually said “no way” out loud, alone, in my living room.

How to do it right

1. Lay the sweater flat on a table or bed. Never shave a sweater you are wearing.
2. Stretch the fabric gently with one hand to keep it smooth.
3. Run the shaver in light passes, letting the blades do the work. Do not press down hard.
4. Empty the lint chamber often. It fills fast.

Work in good light and check your progress. On dark sweaters you will see the pills vanish instantly, which is very satisfying.

Keep them from pilling again

Wash sweaters inside out on the gentle cycle in cold water, or by hand. The spin cycle and hot water are what tear up the surface fibers. Lay sweaters flat to dry. A dryer will re-pill the whole thing in one session.

Fold sweaters instead of hanging them. Hangers stretch the shoulders and create friction points where pills love to form.

Once a month, I spend ten minutes with the shaver on whatever I wore that week. Fall sweaters now last me several seasons instead of one fuzzy one.