How to Stop Cotton Clothes From Pilling
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Pills form when short fibres work loose from the surface of a fabric and tangle into small balls, and friction is what does it. You get less pilling by causing less rubbing. Wash soft cotton with soft cotton, turn pieces inside out, close every zipper and button, keep the drum loosely filled, and take things out before a long tumble has worked on them.
That is the whole method, and it works on any staple fibre. The reason it comes up so often with cotton is that cotton is a staple fibre by definition, spun from short lengths rather than drawn as one continuous filament. Understanding that one detail explains almost everything about why clothes pill and what actually helps.
Why clothes pill
A cotton yarn is made of fibres a few centimetres long, twisted together. Every one of those fibres has two ends, and most of those ends sit inside the yarn where you cannot see them. Abrasion works them outward. Once an end is standing proud of the surface, more rubbing tangles it with its neighbours, and a pill is simply a knot of several loose ends wound around each other.
Two things decide how quickly that happens. The first is fibre length. Longer staple cotton has fewer ends per square centimetre of fabric, so there is less to work loose in the first place. The second is twist. A yarn spun tighter holds its fibres in place under more abrasion than a softly spun one.
Fibre content changes what happens next. In a pure cotton fabric the pill is made of cotton and anchored by cotton, so ordinary wear and a few wash cycles tend to break it off and carry it away. In a blend, a cotton pill can end up tethered by a polyester filament, which is stronger than the cotton around it, so the pill stays put. That is one of the reasons every Isla Lune piece is 100% cotton with no blends, and there is more on the comparison in cotton versus polyester pajamas.
Where the friction comes from
Most people assume the washing machine is responsible for all of it. The machine is a large share, but wearing is the other half, and pills show up exactly where a garment rubs.
| Source of friction | Where pills usually appear |
|---|---|
| Washing with towels, denim or anything with a zipper | All over, and fastest on the softest piece in the load |
| An overfilled or nearly empty drum | All over, with the collar and cuffs going first |
| Long, hot tumble drying | All over, and the fabric feels rougher as well as pilled |
| Fabric rubbing against itself as you move | Under the arms, inner thighs, and the inside of a sleeve |
| Sitting against upholstery or a car seat | The seat of the pants and the back of the thigh |
| Bag straps and seatbelts | One shoulder and across the front of the chest |
| Sheets, for sleepwear specifically | Hips, knees, and the small of the back |
How to stop clothes pilling in the wash
- Sort by texture, not just by colour. Soft cotton belongs with other soft cotton. Towels shed lint and abrade, denim is stiff and heavy, and both work on anything fine that shares the drum with them.
- Close zippers, hooks and buttons before the load goes in. An open zipper is a row of metal teeth dragged across fabric for the length of the cycle.
- Turn pieces inside out so the surface you look at is on the inside of the tumble, protected by the seams rather than facing the drum.
- Fill the drum about three quarters. Packed tight, items grind against each other with nowhere to move. Nearly empty, the few items in there slap against the drum wall instead of moving in the water.
- Pick the shorter, gentler cycle. Time in the drum is time spent abrading, so a long heavy-duty cycle does more surface damage than a short delicate one regardless of the temperature.
- Dry gently and stop early. A long hot tumble keeps working on the surface after the fabric is already dry. Taking things out while barely damp, or hanging them, removes that whole stage.
Settings matter here too, and they are covered in how to wash cotton pajamas so they stay soft. The short version is cold water, gentle cycle, low heat.
What to do when pills appear
A small amount of pilling in the first few washes of a new cotton piece is normal and usually temporary. New fabric carries loose surface fibres left over from spinning and finishing, and they come away over the first cycles. That kind of pilling settles down on its own.
When pills are already there, lift them off rather than pulling. Hold the fabric flat and taut with one hand and work across the surface gently, keeping everything flush with the weave. Pulling a pill takes the fibre it is attached to with it, which leaves a thinner patch and gives the next pill somewhere easy to start.
Pilling that keeps returning in the same place long after a piece is broken in is telling you something different. At that stage the surface fibres are breaking rather than simply tangling, which is one of the signs discussed in how long should pajamas last.
Does 100% cotton pill?
It can. Any fabric spun from short fibres can pill, and a fabric that never pills at all is usually one that has been made stiff or slick enough that you would not want to sleep in it. The useful question is not whether a fabric pills but whether the pills clear.
Cotton has the easier version of the problem. The pills that form are cotton, held on by cotton, so wear and washing tend to release them. Our sets are 100% cotton in every piece, sold as separates in Love Letter, Raspberry and Moonmilk, and the care instruction is machine wash cold and tumble dry low. You can see the full range in the cotton pajamas collection.
Common questions
Why do clothes pill after washing?
Washing is a long session of controlled abrasion. Items rub against each other and against the drum, and that rubbing works short fibre ends out to the surface where they tangle into pills. The rougher the company in the load and the longer the cycle, the more of it you see when the load comes out.
Why do clothes pill in the washer?
Because of what is in the drum with them. Towels, denim, and anything with a zipper or a hook act on softer fabric for the whole cycle. Load size matters too. An overfilled drum grinds items together, and a nearly empty one lets the few pieces in it slap repeatedly against the drum wall.
How do you stop clothes pilling in the washing machine?
Sort the load by texture so soft cotton washes with soft cotton, close all zippers and buttons, and turn pieces inside out. Fill the drum about three quarters and choose the shortest gentle cycle that will do the job. Each of those steps removes rubbing, and rubbing is the entire cause.
How do you prevent cotton from pilling?
Reduce friction at both ends. In the wash, keep cotton away from towels, denim and hardware, use a short gentle cycle, and dry on low or hang. In wear, notice where the fabric rubs against a bag strap or a seat, since those spots pill first no matter how carefully the piece is washed.
How do you remove pilling from cotton clothes?
Lay the piece flat, hold the fabric taut, and lift the pills away with the surface kept flush against the weave. Work in one direction and take your time. Never pull a pill loose by hand, because it takes intact fibre with it and thins the fabric in that spot, which makes the next pill form faster.