This second part of the interview series with Chantal Roy is all about pilling
How does pilling occur?
Pills are after all nothing but the shorter fibers in threads that come to the fabric's surface, it happens when the item gets worn (see
previous interview for more detailed explanations)
Can pilling be prevented?
Not in my view, at least not if you make a normal use of your item. Of course you can limit the pilling damages by avoiding excess rubbing, but
as said before, cashmere is not a rope, but a fine fiber, and therefor less resistant than wool. If silk gets mixed in (as is the case with the GMs) it becomes more resistant, as silk is a resistant fiber generally.
Which is the best way to treat piling?
In my view, with a velvet clothes brush. They can easily be found at haberdashers, at the laundry or clothing care sections of drug stores or grocery stores, or in men's department stores.
How to use: brush over your cashmere shawl in one direction (some brushes indicate with arrows in which direction they should be used), and the pilling and fuzz of the shawl is gathered onto the surface of your brush. Sometimes a light brushing is all that is needed, at other times brush more energetically. Finding the right stroke is something you learn with practice, patience and experience. To clean the brush, simply brush backwards on any surface or on your hand, and you can easily lift off all the pill and fluff which has gathered. There is no risk of pulling threads with this method, as the velvet hair of the brush is so soft. To those who do not feel experienced or confident enough to try this method for themselves, I offer a brushing service at
Rammendo Invisibile.
What to you think of the little razor machines:
I prefer a velvet clothes brush to the razor machines as using the razor very near to the weave can easily lead to cut threads (it can happen without you even realizing it), resulting in the shortening of fibers. These shortened fibers can then lead to new pills once they have come to the surface (which happens when the item gets worn). A razor may also cut parts of fibers that were perhaps twisted together and would have held fine otherwise, or in the worst case scenario, if worked too near to the weaving of the shawl, the result can be holes. The little razor machines tend to do wonders in the beginning, but sometimes make things worse in the end, resulting in thinning, and new pills.
Thank you so much for sharing your advice and knowledge with us, dear Chantal.
As a result of this interview, I banished the little razor I had for years (but luckily never used it)
and went to test Chantal's brush method on one of my cashmere sweaters.
Before..
..and after. So happy and pleased with the result!
A while ago, I received another wonderful idea on the subject of pilling removal by Elizabeth, who kindly agreed for me to share it here with you:
I came upon this idea quite by accident and it works very well without any damage to the scarf. What you need is some very strong packing tape (make sure it does not leave glue residue) I use Scotch brand High Performance Packaging tape from the 3M company. Take your scarf, place it on a hard smooth surface and place the tape over the piled area. Press the tape down firmly (photo with the flash glare) and peel it off. The pils and fuzz will adhere to the tape and come off without damage to the scarf (photo of the used tape shows the piling adhering to it), the area will look like new. I hope the photos will give you an idea of the before and after.
Before