Knitwear - bobbling/pilling - why???

[Feelingoptimistic]

So, this is a bit boring, but there have been lots of threads about how some items bobble/pill really badly and this is something that really bugs me.

I really wonder what determines how badly something bobbles/pills - is it the quality of fibre used, or the way it has been knitted, or a combination of the two.

I have had jumpers made from wool that have not pilled or bobbled at all, while at other times it seems to happen nearly immediately.

One of the worst was a beautiful and very expensive cardigan I bought in Jigsaw a while ago - it's made from Alpaca, and it's very, very bad - I have to de-fuzz it before every wear.

I am sick of pricey knitweat bobbling too. Although, I think with me it has something to do with my figure - large boobs and curvy so there are lots of places where the fabric gets rubbed and then pills.

Everyone else's jumpers and cardis always seem to have far fewer bobbles on than mine! Is this because they de-fuzz assiduously before leaving the house?!

FO what do you use to defuzz knitwear? TIA.

MM - I have recently bought a special comb thing from Brora (£2.50).
I think John Lewis also sells something a bit more high-tech, that I thinking of getting...

I've seen something in JL. May buy at weekend. Thanks.

I use a lint shaver from John Lewis. They are fab and keep your knitwear looking like new.

I think that the amount a garment pills/bobbles is basically down to quality of yarn.

Yarn pills when the ends of the short fibres (remember that wool is made up from lots of short sheep hairs wound together) break free from the yarn and rub on external objects (your arm, other bits of the garment, a coat, whatever). So the looser the twist of a length of yarn, the more likely it is to pill.

Annoyingly, looser twisting of the yarn makes for a softer, drapey-er garment, which is why designers often use them. Also it's probably cheaper as it's quicker to make a loose yarn and requires less weight of yarn per garment.

Top quality cashmere rarely pills (unless it is rubbed against something, which most garments inevitably are), due to the nature of the fibres (good cashmere uses long fibres well woven, cheap tesco cashmere uses the shorter and coarser fibers) and really tough pure wool knits rarely pill.