Jumpers/sweaters

It's by no means always down to the price of the garment. Pilling happens when fibres rub together, and get clumped together by the friction. Some types of yarn, eg alpaca, have long fibres, so are more likely to 'pill' than say merino, which tends to be made into shorter fibred yarns.

The spinning also makes a difference. Loosely spun yarns will pill a lot more than tightly spun ones. Loosely spun yarn can be very soft and comfortable (and expensive) but will wear faster than tightly spun. Mixed fibres, such as wool and acrylic mixes are cheap, but the fibres behave differently - the wool will felt into pills, but the acrylic won't. The wool will cling to the acrylic, though, and this can make the bobbles/pills less likely to drop off the garment than those on a pure wool jumper, so look worse.

Cashmere has that 'haze' of fluff around it that will pill where the garment rubs, so under the arms, and on the sides of the body. Pure cashmere can easily be made to look new again, as a gentle combing with a cashmere comb will remove the pills easily - a cashmere mix won't 'depill' as well.

So, a tightly-spun yarn made from short-haired fleece won't pill as much as a loose yarn made from longer haired fleece. Mixed fibres are more difficult to keep looking good than pure ones and so on.

Washing by hand is also important, as even a gentle machine wash on the wool cycle will agitate the fibres and make them felt. Always hand wash inside out (so pills go to the inside), and dry gently (preferably flat, although I use radiators if I'm in a hurry).

My grandmother used to make us jumpers when we were children. They were made of Bri-Nylon, 100% synthetic, scratch and shiny, machine washable and cheap. The things were indestructible!

Every jumper I’ve bought that was reasonably priced have bobbled badly, the more expensive ones have no bobbling.

I agree that a lot of jumpers look 'Old' after a couple of washes and wears.
I had a BHS jumper for about 20 years, it was a wool/cotton blend , I finally gave it away a couple of years ago, it looked like I'd had it maybe a couple of months and I'm NOT exaggerating AND I used to chuck it in the washer, it being an 'Old' jumper !!!

I get too warm, so only wear really fine cardigans over a t-shirt through the winter. I tried one from Uniqlo this year and it has held up well.

I also knit myself a jumper with a cotton/alpaca mix which turned out nicely, and isn't too hot. We'll see how well the yarn lasts; it's too soon to tell yet.

I love cashmere or merino wool and have bought several preloved jumpers over the years from eBay, all in fabulous condition (neither shrunk nor bobbled), each under £20 and I’m absolutely delighted. If I bought an expensive new one I know I wouldn’t wear it.

Me too ,Purplepixie .
Knitted myself 2 plain jumpers , very quickly,at the start of winter and I have lived in them .
Warm and washable and looked so good I have made several more for other people.

I save my pennies and buy cashmere which last for ever, are comfortable to wear and imo worth every penny. I rarely wash them. I am clean when I put them on and I air them when I take them off. I will spot clean and if I think they need a wash I do it carefully by hand and dry flat.

I find it hard to believe sometimes when labels say
‘ pure wool ‘. You can often almost feel that there is a slight synthetic feel in some. I have a couple of St.Michael botany wool jumpers, many years old, and still wearing them, and no bobbles. The new ones are almost half the weight of the old ones. They cut back on quality to keep the price down. The price of pure wool knitting yarn is expensive nowadays, so it’s obvious that a bought one would be too, though as some posters say, even expensive ones don’t keep well.

Witzend... Phillips. I bought it from Amazon a couple of years ago, I picked it as it had good reviews. Just looked.. Still available £15.99.

Cotton jumpers and cardigans have improved massively over the years

I can’t wear anything with wool in it. I buy just one lovely cashmere jumper every year. I have several that Ive worn for years. Expensive but so well worth it. It’s also much cheaper than buying several jumpers each year, only to throw them away after a few wears.

Fairislecable

I tend to buy cotton jumpers and cardigans as the fibre does not pill.

This is the sort of thing and I also have some from White Stuff.

www.seasaltcornwall.com/makers-organic-cotton-blend-jumper

I agree, I only buy cotton or (occasionally) synthetic jumpers now. I find that, as well as going bobbly, wool makes me very itchy. Also wool tended to be attacked by moths in our last home.

Hi purple pixie,
Amazing...........you should start a business!
Warmest wishes

I bought 2 lovely quite expensive jumpers recently. After wearing them a couple of time they look dreadful. I've de-bobbled them but you can't keep doing that.
I'll take a look at some of the recommendations given.

Visgir1

I just buy either Cashmere, Merino wool or cotton. Can't stand man-made fibre jumpers. I Just wash in wool wash detergent, always in my washing machine on a 15 min, cool wash.
However if they do "bobble" I have a de-bobbler that you charge up. Not expensive about £10 and they make the jumper look like new. You can buy them everywhere, sure I saw in "Home Bargains" recently. I have tried the hand combe type one, but I not keen on them.
If you look after good jumpers they last years. I personally love a good jumper.

Can you tell us the brand, please?

I am sad to see bobbles on pure wool cardigans. I have a electric debobbler but does repeat use of same not result in bald fibres?

It's usually acrylic that makes knitwear bobble, when buying look at the label to make sure there isn't any acrylic in it.

I bought two from Crew Clothing, not at all cheap, they bobbled from about 2nd wearing.
I have actually pulled the bobbles off but they are back after every wearing.
That make is off my shopping list now.

Thisismyname1953

A company called Lands End do lovely cashmere and Marino wool cardigans and jumpers . Expensive but they have regular sales . Seems to be 20% off full price at the moment.

The quality of cashmere is not standard. I have had a good one from Landsend and a terrible one. Trying House of Bruar now.

A good wool jumper shouldn't really need washing. Hang out on a breezy day or, if really necessary mist with clear water then hang to air.
Most people don't wear wool next to the skin so all that washing is almost certainly unnecessary.

Agree. Cannot beat a good jumper and I have a de-bobbler too! I can charge it up. Fantastic and worth £10 to save a good jumper from the cat’s bed.

A company called Lands End do lovely cashmere and Marino wool cardigans and jumpers . Expensive but they have regular sales . Seems to be 20% off full price at the moment.

I make my own. This is my latest one.

I got so much bobbling from wherever including MandS but this year I bought off Damart and Roman and haven’t had any bobbling at all

I just buy either Cashmere, Merino wool or cotton. Can't stand man-made fibre jumpers. I Just wash in wool wash detergent, always in my washing machine on a 15 min, cool wash.
However if they do "bobble" I have a de-bobbler that you charge up. Not expensive about £10 and they make the jumper look like new. You can buy them everywhere, sure I saw in "Home Bargains" recently. I have tried the hand combe type one, but I not keen on them.
If you look after good jumpers they last years. I personally love a good jumper.