Your black woolen clothes look classy and timeless until they build up lint and put a damper on your mood and outfit alike. So you may be left wondering how do you remove lint from clothes and deal with your non-cute fuzzy problem.
Learning how to remove lint from clothing will certainly help you look your best although you should probably also try to avoid lints in the first place in the future. Here are some of the methods described with which you can definitely remove lint from any clothing no matter the type of fiber.
1. Electric Lint Shaver
Well, you certainly can't talk about how to get rid of fluff on clothes without mentioning the all mighty electric lint shaver, if you can get it then this thing isn't just a consideration but a done deal. This battery-powered device can easily take care of any lint built up in your clothes.
Simply turn on the shaver and glide it gently across the fabric, furthermore, it's not effective for just lint but also for those pills stuck deep deep down. This is a must-have for anyone looking to take care of their clothes, just be sure to toss the shaved link from the compartment into the trash afterward.
Ok so maybe you don't have an electric razor available near you or can't afford to buy one leaving you still wondering "how do I remove lint from clothes", fortunately, there are still plentitude of options out there to help you DIY your way through your clothes' fluff such as a humble scouring pad.
The abrasive nature of the scouring pad available in every single household works in your favor, you can wet it to reduce its harshness and then after removing the excess water, rub it gently against your fluffed garment with the rough side. This will scrub off any lints in no time without needing to submerge them.
3. Scotch Tape
Another commonly available household item that can help you remove lint from clothes is scotch tape, even if you don't have one what are you doing? It's only $10. Grab a scotch tape, tear out a piece of it, and stick it to your clothing surface to rip it off like a bandaid.
Make sure to use a 3-inch wide version or greater to make it easier to quickly remove lint and you will soon remove lint clothes from your wardrobe in no time. If you fear that the adhesiveness of the scotch tape is too strong and could ruin you clothing then you can settle for masking tape instead.
Although the humble masking tape is less harsher on the fabric of your clothing as opposed to the stronger scotch tape, unlike the scotch tape they rarely come in wide form or perhaps you don't have the wider ones available in your home.
Instead of just painfully staking it out slowly one lint at a time with a small and narrow masking tape, you can DIY a masking tape roller in your home quite easily. Grab the brown core of the toilet paper and roll a masking tape around it in a spiral with the sticky side facing outwards and roll it down your clothes to remove lint.
5. Lint Roller
Let's roll it back and keep it simple, if you want to know how to how to remove lint from fabric efficiently and save yourself time then perhaps instead of DIYing you should look at a commercially available readymade solution that is an actual proper lint roller that you can easily find in most supermarkets.
Once you have the roller, peel off the wrapper off the tube, roll it across the garment that you are cleaning in a smooth up-and-down motion, and pick up the lint on the roller. However, as you go on the roller will get less and less sticky, if this happens you need to peel off the current sticky sheet to reveal a fresh sheet underneath.
Alternatively, if you were unable to find any lint rollers in your local vicinity then you can settle for purchasing a lint brush instead. They look like a regular hairbrush, however, they have a pad instead of bristles to catch lint which is visually similar to the softer side of velcro.
The polyester weave of the pad has tiny bristles pointing in the same tilted direction which will lift and catch the lint. This pointed direction should be indicated by an arrow on the brush, thus when brushing against the fabric make sure to brush it from top to bottom while following the direction of the arrow.
They are also reusable unlike lint rollers so they are more eco-friendly.
7. Dryer Sheets
Dryer sheets are designed to remove the static charge which causes the lint to build up so it makes sense that you can also likewise similarly use them to remove fluff from clothes thanks to their antistatic laundry properties even if used outside of the dryer.
For dryer sheets to release their liquid softeners that stop static electricity cling via containing positively charged ions which balances and neutralizes the imbalance in charges, it needs to be wetted and wrung first before it can remove lint by wiping your clothes. The wet sheet gunk on your clothes can be wiped off easily with a dry towel.
Rubbing off clothes lint with a dryer sheet may not be the most labor-intensive method when trying to optimize how to remove lint from clothing but it is still a slow laborious process. What if I told you there's a better way to make use of it? Use the dryer sheet as intended, in the dryer, big surprise I know.
Run an "air only" setting with a clean dryer sheet and you can easily see all of even your most persistent lint and pills removed on your lint-ridden all-black outfit in a pinch. Even if it didn't remove all of the lint, it will essentially transform a persistent lint into a timid one that can easily be brushed off with a lint brush or pulled off with a hand.
9. Velcro
If you have some clothing or accessories with velcro then you could also use that as an alternative measure to finally bereft of lint on your clothes. Alternatively, you could also purchase velcro for cheap if you don't have it and cut off a piece that's about the width of your hand.
Disregard the soft side and using the rough velcro with hooks, rub your velcro hand downward against the garment to scrape off the completely. If they gather and build up near the bottom of the garment instead of being picked off, you can remove them using some scotch or masking tape.
Another emergency quick fix that you can use in a jiffy to solve how to get rid of lint on clothes is to use a pair of pantyhose. It sounds a bit weird but we're not selling you a load of robbery baloney.
You can indeed use a pair of pantyhose to scrape off and catch all the lint due to it acting as a lint attractant. So you can just put your hand into the pantyhose sock and use it like a glove to rub the lint away.
11. Sweater Stone
If you have a lot of lint that you need to remove from several different clothes then it might be worthwhile for you to invest in a sweater stone. A sweater stone looks visually similar to pumice however, it is softer to prevent from breaking into small powder fragments which is why we don't recommend you to use a pumice stone.
Rub the sweater stone gently against your sweaters and fleece to remove lints, ensure that you are going with the weave of the fabric, and try not to rub too hard or go over the same area too much to avoid getting a hole in your fabric. Avoid using this on delicate fabric such as silk, satin, or cotton.
Microfiber is a great choice for cleaning off any lint, they're not only durable but like most synthetic fibers, it attracts and picks up lint like a magnet which can be levied when you are trying to get the lints out of other clothes rather than the microfiber.
Since they have a fantastic grip and cleaning power, you can grab one and roughly shimmy off the lint to get it off. Since the fiber is extremely durable, you can wash or boil the microfiber to remove any trapped lint in the towel without damaging it.
13. Tumble Dry with Microfiber Cloths
Alternatively, another great way to remove your clothes from all the lint that they have accumulated using a microfiber cloth is to place them together in a clothes dryer with a couple of microfiber cloths.
As they get spun and dried in the dryer, the lint will stick to the microfiber cloths due to it attracting lint. Make sure to tumble them dry until they're slightly damp to avoid static build-up so you can remove any remaining lint by using a roller or tape.
This method is slightly tedious but otherwise, it is a fantastic way to clear a large amount of clothes of their lint. It requires some preparation as undiluted vinegar can damage your washing machine seals so make sure to also check the label and manual of your washer to check if it recommends against vinegar.
Aside from that dilute a 3-5% concentrated distilled white vinegar further by adding 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water then add it to your laundry during the final rinse cycle to remove the fuzz. The vinegar can loosen the lint from the fabric by relaxing the fibers, remove grass stains, and deodorize it, basically 3 birds with 1 stone.
15. Clothes Steamer
If you are a proud owner of a steamer then you could potentially rid a garment that has lots of lint by using the clothes steamer. Alternatively, you could hang it in a steamy bathroom for 15 minutes but that's no guarantee so it's rather better to use the former.
The clothes steamer will remove the lint from the fabric by loosening the bonds between the polymer molecules in the fabric while also making it damp which will help reduce the static charge that holds the lint to the fabric. Furthermore unlike just dampening the clothing normally, steam can penetrate deep into the fabric as well.
The spirit of our guide has always been to DIY your own solution in the home so staying true to that spirit, if you don't want to buy or have access to any of the tools required to implement other measures but do have rubber globes in your home then you can make use of it.
The rubber either on a dishwashing glove or just a plain rubber glove is a great alternative to help remove lint similar to pantyhose as it is made of synthetic silicone rubber which is a lint magnet as it is slightly sticky and due to its surface texture.
17. Shaving Razor
Okay, maybe you've previously tried all the previous options and the lints still aren't coming off because they're embedded far too deeply into your own fabric instead of just clinging with some static charge. How to get rid of lint from clothes then?
Fortunately, one option worth considering is a commonly available household item, a regular shaving razor can do a brilliant job of removing even the deeply embedded lint and pilling. Make sure to use a clean, dry razor and slide downwards in a "shaving motion" while being careful enough to not cut into the cloth and ruin your garment.
Last but not least if you don't have any free time to wash, delint, or dry your garments then you can remove fluff from your garments in a jiffy by simply spraying them with a commercially available over-the-counter anti-static spray such as Static Guard.
After spraying with the anti-static spray make sure to brush your garments with a lint roller or a sweater stone to completely eliminate all the lints on your garments and give them a shine that makes them look as good as new.
What Is Lint?
As your clothing begins to get worn down with regular usage, you get tiny fibers on the outer layers of your clothes that tend to come off during washes or drying cycles. Lint is a product of those fabric fibers breaking down and coming off.
These fibers eventually settle down on the fabric again and become extremely difficult to remove either as a result of how deeply they are embedded or due to the static charge cling which can make them near impossible to remove without the assistance of tools.
If you didn't know it yet then you know it now, you can sort laundry to prevent lint through proper handling. As we all know, prevention is better than the cure so this knowledge can prove essential for you to not need to delint your laundry regularly on the fly.
The key thing to note is that some fabrics such as cotton, wool, and chenille clothes are lint shedders while others such as corduroy, microfiber, and synthetic fabrics are lint attractors and should never be washed together. Of course, sorting lint shedders by color helps a lot as well.
How To Prevent Lint From Getting On My Clothes?
There are several more things that you can do to prevent lint and pilling from depositing on the outside of your clothing by reducing how much heat, friction, and static charge that your clothes experience on a daily basis outside of just your laundry routine.
By following these easy precautionary tales and tips, you can help minimize the amount of lint in your life that can develop and cling frustratingly to your clothing:
Clean The Washer: Some washers have a lint trap that should be cleaned regularly as it won't be able to catch or prevent any more lints if it's full. It's usually located on the side or upper rim of the tub.
Gentle Wash Cycle: If you don't have any stains such as food, grass, or paint stains on your clothes that need to be removed then you can just wash them on a gentle setting or as specified on your product's care tag to learn about the appropriate washing cycle to extend their lifespan.
Wash Clothes Inside Out: To prevent the lint from your clothes from depositing on the outside of clothing you should wash your garments inside out. This prevents the external garments from being exposed to extreme changes in pressure and friction, preserving their looks.
Use Fabric Softener: Lastly, you can also add a fabric softener to the final rinse cycle to help the fibers relax and release lint so it can be flushed away easily. This can be a commercial fabric softener, homemade fabric softener, or even diluted distilled white vinegar.