Knitwear that doesn’t go bobbly

This is an old thread, recently resurrected but relevant as we go into winter woolies.
I buy almost all clothes from charity shops and don’t mind if a jumper goes bobbly when I only paid £6 for it. I’d prefer wool but man made ones do wash and last better.

I bought 2 wool jumpers from Woolovers last year. One was already bobbly, creased and tatty, so it went straight back. The other one was acceptable, but after a couple of wears is already bobbly. I have things I bought from them years ago though, which are still in good condition. Something has changed over the years.

I would recommend House of Bruar in Scotland, very good quality with sweaters that only bobble slightly which can be removed quite easily. They hand wash very well.

Lakeland debobbler works. No Rick of cutting fabric

I'm glad others have mentioned Woolovers, I have vowed never to buy their clothes again. Two polo neck lambswool from last year have stretched around the necks, and have bobbled and look thin after washing. Cords that I also bought are not a very good quality for the price I paid. Their catalogue promises so much.

This will have some of you shaking your heads at me . I agree about bobbling and was resigned to it, even on hand knits until I bought some very reasonably priced silk mix yarn on Temu. I was expecting cheap and nasty but the yarn was perfect, no flaws, and knitted up beautifully. I wore the jumper about 10 or 12 times last year and washed it probably 4 times and it is still like new with zero bobbling. I am careful to dry it flat so it doesn’t go out of shape ( it came with no washing instructions). I am awaiting a delivery of the same in a different shade. I found a similar yarn in a local yarn barn for 5 times the price. When I asked where it came from I was told ‘China’.

Bhs are missed by me. Their knitwear was so good. M and S now are bad. Bought a cheap one from Asda and was surprised
how good it was. New Look had cardigans that were bobbed in the shop, was told its the fashion. When I went in there again bit later to show my friend the lot had been taken off.

Natural wool will air very nicely and does not need much washing, it freshens up. Cotton is heavy and does not freshen by airing, it is also cool. Acrylic is good for those who cannot bear wool next to the skin and it does not freshen like wool does. It can however be easily washed and is much cheaper

I have cotton jumpers from years ago, lands end in the sale. They are heavy and ribbed and very good for spring and autumn, they are thick and not good for layering. They have never bobbled and m/c wash well but take a long time to dry.

I am making a gansey for ds at the moment and this wool will never bobble, it is tightly spun and tightly knit., called frangipani. You would not be able to buy a similar hm one for less than £600, it is costing about £130 to make and will rarely need washing. It will wash fine in a machine with a good hand wash programme and only with a special wool wash liquid, never conditioner for wool. I watched that programme once, it just gently rocks and then at the end it spins only in one direction. I even wash hand spin merino jumpers in it, they never felt

I'm another one who has bought from Woolovers and am still wearing jumpers I bought a few years ago. The finer knit ones don't seem to 'pill' as much as the bulky ones.
The longest lasting jumpers I have are the ones I knitted myself. There isn't any problem with bobbling with any of them.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

Message deleted by Gransnet. Here's a link to our Talk guidelines.

The company I buy cashmere from say you should not use fabric softener as that encourages bobbling.

Try Uniqlo - their sweaters, whilst not high fashion, are good quality and mine have not bobbled. I do use a washing net for all items that may be at risk and it generally helps.

Oh, a warning, Uniqlo introduced a new returns policy a while ago now. If one orders on line, there is a fee to return it. Grrrrr. Exchange is possible in their shops - if they stock something you like/want.

For someone buying from Uniqlo for the first time, perhaps a visit to a store would be ideal (but there are not too many of them in the UK).

I stick to buying woollen and cotton clothing from Uniqlo purely because their quality is far above everyone else's but their return policy has stopped me buying things I 'would quite like to try' as if the sizing is wrong or I dislike the garment on me, I am too mean to pay postage to return it!

Woolovers are a company selling woollen clothing.

No idea either Lizbeth ….pull over type maybe ?
I wonder if the problem has started since they began using recycled material
Cotton is no good in the winter (well not in my house) way too cold

What's a woolover?

I have developed some bobbles underneath the sleeves on a merino handknit and have tidied the sleeves by using curved nail scissors. It was an easy satisfying job. I shall de bobble this jumper properly before washing and packing it away for summer

My bobbly M&S recycled polyester jumpers are enjoying a renaissance, as I’m wearing them inside out, all labels removed. Exposed seams & reverse stocking stitch knitwear can look good, & oversewing the seams in a contrasting yarn can be quite attractive.

I had to throw away all last year's knitwear as they weren't fit to wear.
I bought 3 new jumper
1 from M n S - bobbled after a few washes.
1 from Cotton traders - the same.
The one from Next in a similar price range still looks good.

Another shop in an outback town .....

nanna8

I agree with you about M and S cardigans. I sent for one, paid a fortune and it went bobbly almost immediately. I’ll never bother getting them from there again. Even K mart is better ( and cheap as chips )

Still wearing my Australian jumpers from Target and another shopping an outback town (can't remember the name)

Plus I'm still wearing knitwear from Jumper, Olsen, Country Casuals, Penny Plain years later.

Sorry, but £75 for a sweater which is machine made from known online shops is not cheap imo.

Paperbackwriter

Most of the brands you are mentioning on here would count as cheap (sorry) and very cheaply made. You really can't expect top quality. I hardly buy any wool items any more but I have several cashmere items that I got from Pure and from Brora a long while ago. Sure they were expensive at the time but they've lasted so well for absolutely ages. Cost per wear is probably less than M&S if you're going to chuck it out after a year.

I endorse this. A good jumper will now cost £100 to £200 and will still bobble; the nature of the beast. I have a few woollies from around 20years ago and the quality was better then. I think quite low grade cashmere. merino or lambswool in now in use.
Can I suggest boiled wool or quilted jackets as an alternative. Just as warm and better for washing and wear.

I purchased a lovely cardigan from M&S. It was just what I wanted, it was a maroon colour which went perfectly with my black leggings and maroon boots. It was thigh length and very soft. It cost £29.99. The first (and only time) I wore it developed great rolls of fluff over it. I was so disappointed. I took it back to M&S but was only offered a refund of £4.99 because I purchased it with £25 M&S Premium club voucher and the rest with cash!

Interesting responses, thanks everyone. I think the only solution as suggested is to search for oldies but goodies on EBay & in charity shops, where donators & sellers have become bored with their great quality, aged & worn to death knitwear, no pilling, stretching or shrinking (just as it used to be). Don’t get me started on M & S trousers, same style, same size but varying leg lengths. I had some with one leg an inch shorter than the other. No quality control anymore.

I had never given thought to this 'problem' before this thread. Intrigued, off I went to inspect the jumpers and cardigans in my wardrobe. I found 7 pill free cotton ones, mainly from Cotton Traders - all at least 10 or more years old. Just a couple of warm, bobbled, wool ones, only worn for gardening or painting as any bobbled garments are regularly culled.
The big surprise though was two old, very warm, polo necked, tunic length, woollen jumpers, seasonally washed weekly as staples of my everyday winter wear. On close inspection, I saw that both were covered in pills, which I had never noticed because both are mottled - one navy and white, one grey, pink and cream. I had another look at a dressy, black, lightweight, fine woollen long cardigan which has silver flecks throughout. Again, I had to look very closely to see that there was some pilling, again masked by the flecks.