What Is Bedding Pilling?
Bedding pilling occurs when bedding materials, such as sheets, have short or broken fibers that work their way to the top surface of the sheet. A small ball of threads form that are still attached to the sheet. You can remove this pilling, but the pilling may start again once the sheet is used again. Does this Spark an idea?
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Prone Bedding Materials
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Bedding materials that are prone to pilling are short staple cotton and any sheets with a thread count of less than 180. Inexpensive cotton flannel and polyester blend sheets will also pill.
Washing
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Do not wash sheets in a washing machine with an agitator, or at least try to use a slower agitator cycle. Use a shorter wash cycle, and do not wash anything with your sheets that has buttons or zippers on it that can catch and pull at the fabric. Heaver materials, such as wet towels or jeans, will also slide against the sheets, abrading and pilling them.
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Drying
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Do not tumble-dry your sheets with other heavy items, such as wet towels that can abrade the fabric, or any garments that have hooks, snaps, buttons or zippers that can catch on the sheets. Check the interior drum of the dryer to make sure that there is no chipped paint or rough surfaces that can also catch on your sheets.
Solutions
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Cut off the pilling with scissors or shave the sheets with a razor. Pull the material tight and make sure you do not cut through the fabric. Or try using a pumice stone to remove the pilling; it tends to work better when the sheets are wet. Slide the stone over the affected area and pull off the pilling. The crumbled pumice stone will brush off without staining your sheets.
Prevention
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Do not wear pajamas or any other garments that have buttons, zippers or any other hard objects that can rub against your sheets while you are in bed. This can also cause pilling. Also, use sheets that have over a 180 thread count to prevent pilling.
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References
- Photo Credit bedroom image by Adrian Hillman from Fotolia.com
