Bobbles on your clothes are really annoying and can really make your favourite jumper look old before its time. Well, all is not lost and you can say bye bye bobbles, with a number of options to remove these bobbles and make your clothes look like new again.
In this what is a bobble remover guide, we’ll explain:
Here are some of the best bobble removers or fabric shavers on the market today.
Best Overall - Philips GC026 Bobble Remover
Best for Bobble Removal - Steamery Pilo Bobble Remover
Best for Ease of Use - Conair Rechargeable Bobble Remover
Best for Charge Life - Magictec Rechargeable Bobble Remover
Best for Delicate Fabrics - Mugensa Mach5 Bobble Remover
Best Cheap Option - Lakeland Bobble Buster Lint & Fuzz Remover Clothes Shaver
One of the most popular and highly rated bobble remover on the market the Philips GC026 is a great option for those needing to rejuvenate their favourite jumper. With over 60,000 5-star reviews on Amazon and the comfort of buying from a well-known brand, this is certainly one of the best bobble removers available. We have a detailed Philips GC026 review if you’re interested in finding out more.
If Scandinavian minimalist design that delivers on quality is your thing, the Steamery Pilo is the fabric shaver for you. The Steamery Pilo bobble remover is allows you to easily remove bobbles from your favourite clothes easily and efficiently with it’s efficient blade set-up and rechargeable battery. Whilst it’s not the cheapest on the market, it truly delivers.
We also have a detailed review of the Steamery Pilo bobble remover if you're interested in finding more about this particular bobble remover.
The Conair battery operated Bobble remover is one of the most popular and effective options on the on market. It's a battery-powered bobble shaver that safely and quickly removes bobbles from fabric without causing any harm or damage to your clothing items such as sweaters, clothing, etc. With its large shaving head it makes quick work even over difficult fabrics like upholstery where some other bobble removes struggle to efficiently shave.
We have a detailed Conair CLS1X bobble remover review if you're interested in finding out more.
The Magitec bobble remover is a good quality durable product which has the added benefit of having rechargeable batteries which are included in the box. Each 2 hour charge lasts for 60 minutes so that you don’t have to worry about charging too often.
The casing, blades and product generally are made out of a nice robust material giving you the comfort that it won’t get damaged eve if dropped. A very good and robust bobble remover, but not the cheapest on the market.
Whilst at the top of the market price-wise, the Mach5 from Mugensa is one of the most powerful and efficient fabric shavers available today. With over 3 hours of shaving time on a single full charge and with 5-speed settings, that are adjustable depending on the fabric being shaved, this is a fantastic option for anyone looking to efficiently remove pilling from sweaters.
If you're looking for a low cost option the Bobble Buster from the well-known Lakeland brand is a great choice. It's a simple unit that removes bobbles efficiently and easily. It's not as well made as other models and the plastic does seem "breakable" if dropped, but overall it's a very good value option.
The more common or technical term for bobbles is “lint”. Lint is the common term used to describe small accumulations of fabric that appear on the surface of clothes, fabrics and upholstery. More often than not, these bobbles appear during the course of normal wear and are common on most fabrics including cotton, wool and synthetic fabrics.
There are two main types of bobble remover: electric and manual.
An electric bobble remover a small electronic device that uses a rotating blade to remove lint and bobbles from fabric. Electric bobble removers are mostly used on clothing, typically sweaters, sweatshirts, and other clothing made from wool, cashmere or angora.
Think of an electric bobble remover as an electric razor for your clothes except instead of cutting off hair, it removes bobbles, lint, loose threads and pilling from cloth. They can be used on almost any knit fabric including cashmere, angora and merino wool.
There are a number of manual ways to remove lint from fabrics, but one the most recognisable is small manual device which normally has a small wooden handle with sharp blades on a metal frame. The blades remove lint when firmly rubbed over a garment.
You can also use a lint roller which is a manual device that has a sticky roller which pulls off lint from garments when rubbed over the fabric.
Yes, the definitely work and you can say bye bye bobbles! However, and as good as job as they can do, worn clothes will always be worn clothes - don’t be put off though as you can definitely elongate the life of your favourite jumper with a relatively cheap bobble removing device.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this guide to the best bobble removers on the market today. For more information fabric care we have a number of other guides including:
If used correctly, you shouldn’t damage your clothes. But, for more delicate fabrics such as wool or cashmere be careful not to get too vigorous with how you run the bobble remover the surface of your garment as they can snag and pull the threads.
One of the best ways to make sure a bobble remover is suitable for a particular item is to try it on a small section of the garment first.
Yes, a bobble remover can be used on all fabric types that might pill or bobble. They are also safe to use on upholstery, curtains and carpets.
A bobble remover is designed with safety in mind and whilst they do have sharp blades, the blades are positioned behind a safety cover. As a result, and providing you use the bobble remover according to the manufacturer’s instructions, you certainly shouldn’t hurt yourself.
Yes, a bobble remover works well on cashmere and other more delicate fabrics. Just be careful not to be too aggressive with your shaving technique and it will be best to go for a more expensive bobble remover that has multiple shaving speeds.
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