Isn’t it the worst when you notice that one of your favorite articles of clothing is starting to get pills and look old and worn out? I recently learned that there is a way to actually fix that – with a fabric shaver!
This winter I thought I was going to have to retire some of my very favorite sweaters because even though I still loved them, they were really showing their wear. Ok honestly the sweaters had probably been looking pretty bad for at least a year or two, but I’d been unwilling to retire them up to that point.
Even though I like clothes, I don’t really like shopping. I don’t know if it’s because I’m too picky or just impatient, but it’s usually not a super fun process for me. So if there’s a way for me to get more life out of a piece of clothing that I really like, I more than likely will do it!
Why Repairing Instead of Throwing Away Is Important
Finding ways to extend the life of our clothing (and other possessions) rather than just replacing them right away creates less waste, and saves resources – both our money and the materials used to make them.
I used to kind of like buying cheap, poorer quality clothing from fast fashion retailers like H&M and Forever 21, because when my clothes wore out quickly, I got to buy new ones! Since learning about how fast fashion takes a toll on both financial and environmental resources, however, Ryan and I have begun taking baby steps towards buying higher quality clothing made to last. We’ve also begun looking for more ways to extend the life of our clothing.
What Is a Fabric Shaver?
For a long while, I’ve been meaning to try out a tool I’d heard about called a fabric shaver or defuzzer. A fabric shaver is a tool that saves off pills from worn fabrics and fuzzes from linty cloths to help them look like new again!
It almost sounded too good to be true to me, so I didn’t buy one for a while (even though they’re very inexpensive.) Finally I asked for and received a fabric shaver for Christmas this last year, and I am so glad I finally got one!
Here it is:
Fabric Shaver on Amazon
This thing actually works miracles. All you have to do is plug the fabric shaver into an outlet, flip a switch, then run it all over your favorite sweater or shirt or blanket (or any fabric) that’s covered in pills or fuzzies. And it makes it nearly like new again! Here’s a picture of me using it:
You can twist the circular plastic cover over the shaving part to adjust the closeness of the shave, for different types of sweaters or fabrics. For example, you probably want a closer shave for a cotton shirt, and a less close shave for a chunky knit sweater. Also, the purple plastic compartment under the shaver catches the fuzz. It’s super easy to open and empty.
The fabric shaver also comes with tools to clean the shaver, to get the extra fuzz out of the holes. I don’t expect to use those often, because even after using this shaver on 8-10 pieces of clothing the fabric shaver didn’t have any clogging issues whatsoever.
Here are pictures for one of my sweaters, before and after using the fabric shaver:
Things to Know Before Buying:
If you buy the fabric shaver that I have and linked above, the instructions that come with it are in broken English. I thought it was pretty self-explanatory to use so that didn’t bother me, but it’s still something you might want to know before you buy. There are other highly rated fabric shavers on Amazon, but most of them are battery powered. I bought this specific one because you can plug it into an outlet.
You need to be careful when running this fabric shaver over creases or folds in fabric, because if not used properly it can create small holes. I didn’t have any issues with any other clothing I used it on, but when I wasn’t being careful while using the shaver on a thin cotton dress, I cut a tiny hole into it from running it over a fold. It’s hardly noticeable, but it happened. Do be careful and take your time while using this!
My Recommendation
Because I used this fabric shaver, Ryan and I are going to get so much more use out of several favorite articles of clothing that we would have otherwise needed to get rid of. They really do look like new again! I highly recommend it.
