2023 Fashion on the Ration Challenge

Cherryfudge

@Laura_Elsewhere, I have  question for you as the go-to person for questions of fabric care. There may be no welcome answer but I'll ask anyway.

One of my car boot finds was a 'good make' of sweatshirt, 70% cotton, 25% polyester. I suspect the only thing wrong with it is that it had been over-washed. It's not frayed or stained or damaged apart from an even covering of tiny bobbles, too small to cut off. Do you think that's washing damage, or what else could it be? And can I do anything to reverse the damage? At the moment it gets worn around the house and not washed after every wear.

Laura_Elsewhere

@Cherryfudge (in case anyone thinks I'm being a know-it-all, I should point out the vast range of things that are complete mysteries to me, like earning a living or bringing up children or holding down a proper fulltime job, etc...!)

Usually when you get that bobbling, aka pilling, it's an indication of chopped fibres working partly free and then just rubbing together into bobbles. If you pull them off, then you're removing more fibres as they'll drag some with them, but you can buy little pilling-shavers, or you can use an electric shaver although I'm not answerable for the owner's views on this use!! If the pilling is larger bobbles, ie on a jumper, then cutting them off with scissors works although it's horribly easy to accidentally snip into the jumper (ask me how I know...). 

It can happen to almost any material, even high quality ones, with enough wear, especially under the arms, areas like that which get a lot of friction, but it's a lot more likely with cheaply-produced fibres, and with synthetic blends, sorry! 

So basically just wearing it and, as you say washing it, is going to produce the bobbling, but you can cut them off and with luck it won't re-bobble too quickly!

Cherryfudge

Thanks @Laura_Elsewhere, they are so many and so fine that I'm afraid I'm not going to try to cut them! However, I might have a careful go with the hair clippers  

PipneyJane

I have a bobble shaver, @Cherryfudge. There's no name on it nor am I certain now where I bought it - I've had it for years.  Maybe John Lewis or Robert Dias.  It looks vaguely like this one.  (Not recommending that one, but it was the first I found.)

Works well, just don't push down hard because it'll shave down into the fabric and not just cut off the bobbles.

HTH

- Pip

PollyWollyDoodle

Laura_Elsewhere said

All I can think is: it comes down to trying not to buy on impulse and then not wearing the thing, trying to buy better quality where possible so the thing lasts longer, trying to wash things only when necessary so the thing lasts longer... 
Maybe fewer clothes, but clothes that last longer- I think that's my aims, synthetic or natural, second-hand or home-made or bought-new... 

I think that's a really good summary, Laura - not buying unnecessarily and taking care of what we have. Buying second-hand and only buying new clothes from ethical suppliers.  My record isn't perfect, but that's what I'm aiming for. 

CapricornLass

Thanks for the guidance on the gilet - I didn't realise I would provoke such a discussion on the synthetic/natural yarns issue!  I don't think there's any easy answers, but I'm like Laura, I want to extend the life of the clothes I have for as long as possible, regardless of what it is made of.  

weenancyinAmerica

I just use a cheap disposable razor to take off bobbles. It can last for several years if this is all you use it for. Just use a light touch with shaving.

dND

What a wonderful last few pages of discussion. 😁 It's covering the catch-22 I feel about fabrics.  In the end I've decided to 'upgrade' my wardrobe with natural fibres as there is a chance of composting then when they finally wear out, but because of their environmental cost of production I'm trying to source them from charity shops, (knickers excluded, I have to get them new).

However, I can't always find what I want or in many cases afford the natural version and we have to live in today's world.  It's all a question of compromise isn't it but this challenge and a few of the others on the forum are great for making one think rather than getting sucked into the disposable/fast-fashion world the mega manufacturers want us to inhabit.

I too have rather a lot of 'rescued' acrylic which I'm going to use for items for homeless/street-dwellers.  Whilst it's not as warm as wool, it dries out much quicker, (again it's a compromise).  For me I have rather a lot of alpaca fleeces from the alpacas I had in France that I still have to skirt, pick, card, spin and clean!!  It should keep me out of mischeif for quite a while.🤣

Cherryfudge

PipneyJane said:

Works well, just don't push down hard because it'll shave down into the fabric and not just cut off the bobbles.

HTH

- Pip

Eek - that would be me.

Thanks, I'll keep a look out for one.

MrsCD

Laura_Elsewhere said:

Is eyelash the stuff that has a lot of 1cm-long fibres all along one side, out at 90 degrees to the main yarn? If so, you can knit it up into excellent flamboyant fake-fur cuffs for gloves or short ankle-warmers to go at the top of ankle-boots...  

Or you give it to a friend to knit a cat to go with the witch for daughter's class!