I get sometimes old ones will but I have brand new pants that pill every time I wear them. Just from them touching chairs. Not even from washing. Why the heck does this happen? Is there a way to prevent it? I just shave them off.
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I’m a professional fabric developer.
The yarn that makes the fabric is not just 1 long strand but made of many tiny fibers spun together to make 1 uniform yarn.
Long staple fibers, such as Supima/Pima cotton are less likely to pill due to less fibers needing to be spun together to make yarn.
Long staple fibers are expensive so short fibers are used for many cheaper yarns, which in turn make cheaper clothes.
There are also 2 types of polyester yarns, spun and filament. Spun poly is made similarly to cotton where short fibers of polyester are spun, whereas filament yarn is 1 long strand of poly, spandex is a filament and 99% of polyester t-shirts are spun.
Now when you rub the fabric over and over, the little fibers that make up the yarn start to unravel and clump together, causing pill balls.
Pilling is a sign of cheap fabric and/or not properly following care labels.
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