Updated at: 17-08-2022 - By: Sienna Lewis

Lint strewn across your bed and floor is a nuisance. After all, if it’s a blanket that’s making the mess, you’re probably asking how to stop it from happening.

While machine washing is a great technique to decrease pilling, it’s essential that you know how to do it correctly if you want fewer bothersome fibers around. Don’t panic! If you haven’t already, keep reading to learn how to wash your blanket.

Things You Will Need

  • Laundry detergent with a low pH level
  • White wine vinegar
  • Cut-up pieces of velvet or corduroy cloth
  • Refreshed tennis racquets
  • Pumice stone or an electric sweater shaver
  • Masking tape and a lint roller

Tip

After drying a shedding blanket, always remove the lint from the dryer’s lint trap.

How To Stop Plush Blanket From Shedding Online Sale, UP TO 69% OFF | apmusicales.com

Warning

Handmade wool blankets should never be washed in a washing machine because this can cause shrinkage. Hand washing in a bathtub or large sink is the only way to go.

How Can I Stop Pilling?

It is possible to keep your blankets from pilling, but only if you are willing to put in the effort. Here are a few things you can do to avoid it.

Brush down the blanket

The best way to prevent stray fibers from ending up in your washer or dryer is to brush them off as much as possible before washing. A gentle brush can be used to remove larger lint spots. However, be careful not to destroy your blanket.

Using a razor, you can remove the tiniest pills if you want to be very careful. Again, take care to avoid shedding any tears.

Know what you should use

This can create extra pilling if the detergent you are using is very powerful, so check to see if it isn’t too harsh. When dealing with a pilling blanket, you’ll want to utilize gentle detergents.

If you’re looking for a cleaning product, you’ll be astonished with how vinegar works. Additionally, this is useful in the removal of loose lint from clothing. During the rinse cycle, add about a half cup of white vinegar.

It’s not recommended to use fabric softeners for cotton blankets. Fabric softeners can weaken cotton fibers and make them easier to break, resulting in more loose threads.

The use of fabric softeners on cotton blankets is not advisable. Using fabric softeners can weaken cotton fibers, causing more lint to fall out of the garment.

Be attentive when drying

Your blanket will dry faster if you hang it up to dry. For those who must use a dryer, be careful to keep an eye on it throughout the drying process. You want to empty the lint trap as frequently as possible during the cycle to remove as much lint as possible. The newer the blanket, the more frequently you should empty the lint trap. This is a general rule of thumb.

Getting rid of pilling on blanket. | Hometalk

A lint trap isn’t the only thing to worry about when it comes to cleaning out the lint trap. Using dryer balls can help you get rid of any lint that is still on the blanket. It’s okay if you don’t have one; a swatch of corduroy will do.

Clean tennis balls can also be used as an optional tip while drying the blanket.

Take extra precautions

You can use an electric shaver to remove any weak fibers that result in lint being spread after the blanket has dried. You can also use a pumice stone to lightly exfoliate your skin.

When dealing with polyester blankets, spray starch can be used extensively. The starch should dry in about two minutes. These fibers will be strengthened without becoming overly stiff.

Why Is My Blanket Pilling?

A common cause of pilling is friction. The material’s shorter fibers rub against one another, weakening and eventually breaking. Blankets that have just been purchased tend to have this problem, as they may have been handled previously.

Friction from washing or even frequent use can weaken the fibers in a blanket, even if you’ve bought one. But don’t be alarmed. It’s unlikely that you’ll encounter a lot of lint if you stick to the strategies described above.

Other Things To Remember On How To Stop A Blanket From Pilling

There’s still a lot of friction involved, even though you know how to properly prepare your blanket for a machine wash in order to reduce pilling as well. As a result, you should plan ahead when it comes to machine washing your blanket.

To keep the material from deteriorating, wash your blankets every one to two weeks if you use them frequently. Instead of washing your blanket every few months, if it isn’t frequently used, you can wash it every few weeks.

As previously mentioned, newer blankets tend to pill more, so wash them more frequently until pilling is minimal, if any.

A bathtub or basin can be used as a compromise, if that’s what you’re able to afford. When compared to washing with a machine, hand washing creates less friction. Some of the preceding methods, such as vinegar, can still be used for handwashing.

Sweater and Blanket Pilling: What It is and How to Deal With It

There is nothing more annoying than having a family member or significant other pull off lint or little cloth pill from your favorite sweater and discard them. Books and movies have depicted it in a variety of ways, with differing degrees of significance. To be honest, lint and cotton pills aren’t particularly attractive except during special occasions. In addition to detracting from the pattern of your clothing or blanket, they also leave a soiled feeling on your skin. When the item was designed with comfort in mind, the pills brush on the skin in a way that wasn’t intended. Piling difficulties aren’t only confined to cheap sweaters or apparel, but they can occur on high-end items as well. Lint and pilling will not go away even after you’ve spent a lot of money on a sweater that you truly desired. It’s also worth noting that natural textiles tend to be more expensive and more prone to lint and pilling than synthetic ones.

The friction that occurs when the fabric rubs against itself, whether in the dryer or via daily use, is what produces the pilling. It can happen in the washer as well, but the dryer makes it worse. Cleaning instructions are vital to know when acquiring a new piece of clothing. As the price of the garment rises, so does the need of reading these instructions to avoid any inconvenience or additional money you aren’t expecting. Hand washing sweaters or wool materials will quickly cause them to pill, so it’s recommended to send them to us at Mountaineer Cleaners instead. Pilling can be prevented and removed with the use of various tools that we have at our disposal.

The Best Way To Handle Excess Lint is To Not Handle it at All

If you want to take the time to adjust your sweater’s lint collection if it doesn’t warrant a trip to the dry cleaner we recommend carefully using a razor. Using a lint roller to remove small tablets might be time-consuming and inefficient in the long term. When using the razor to remove the pilling, exercise extreme caution in terms of both the pressure you apply and the surface you scrape. You may de-pill your sweaters and blankets with some “As Seen on TV” equipment from your local supermarket or electronics store. It’s really quite common for these equipment to be a considerably weaker version of the instruments that we use here at Mountaineer Cleaners.

How to Remove and Prevent Pilling on Clothes: Easy Tips for Fabric Pilling

A razor is an effective tool for removing lint from your sweater if it doesn’t deserve a trip to the dry cleaner. Using a lint roller to remove small tablets might be time-consuming and inefficient in the long term. When using the razor to remove the pilling, exercise extreme caution in terms of both the pressure you apply and the surface you scrape. You may de-pill your sweaters and blankets with some “As Seen on TV” equipment from your local supermarket or electronics store. It’s really quite common for these equipment to be a considerably weaker version of the instruments that we use here at Mountaineer Cleaners.

Conclusion

It’s common for a warm blanket to have pilling and lint specks. You’ll be glad to know that the tactics outlined in this article can help you avoid excessive pilling.

When dealing with loose fibers, you’ll need to be patient regardless of whether you’re working by hand or with a machine. With your newfound expertise in blanket pill prevention, the effort will still be worthwhile. Make sure to thoroughly wash your blanket when it’s time to do so for a better night’s sleep.