With the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, the requirements for clothing are not only limited to warmth and durability, but also put forward new requirements for comfort, aesthetics, and functionality. The fabric is prone to pilling during wearing, which not only makes the appearance and feel of the fabric worse, but also wears the fabric and reduces the wearing performance of the fabric.

Factors affecting pilling

1. Fiber properties

Fiber strength

Fibers with high strength, long elongation, high resistance to repeated bending, and strong wear resistance are not easy to be worn off and fall off during friction, but will cause them to further entangle with the surrounding hair clusters and hair balls to form larger balls . However, the fiber strength is low, and the formed hair ball is easy to fall off the surface of the fabric after friction. Therefore, the fiber strength is high and it is easy to pilling.

Fiber length

Short fibers are easier to pilling than long fibers, and filaments are less prone to pilling than short fibers. The friction resistance of long fibers in the yarn is greater than that of short fibers, and it is not easy to be pulled out of the yarn. Within the same number of fiber cross-sections, the long fibers are less exposed to the surface of the yarn than the short fibers, and have less chance of being rubbed by external forces. Polyester filament has high strength, is not easy to wear and break when subjected to mechanical external force, and polyester filament fabric is not easy to pilling.

Fiber fineness

For the same raw material, fine fibers are more likely to pilling than thick fibers. The thicker the fibers, the greater the flexural rigidity.

Friction between fibers

The friction between fibers is large, the fibers are not easy to slide, and it is not easy to pilling

2. Yarn

The main factors that affect the pilling of fabrics are the hairiness and wear resistance of the yarn, which involves the spinning method, spinning process, yarn twist, yarn structure and other factors.

Spinning method

The fiber arrangement in the combed yarn is relatively straight, the short fiber content is less, the fibers used are generally longer, and the yarn hairiness is less. Therefore, combed fabrics are generally not easy to pilling.

Spinning process

During the entire spinning process, the fibers are repeatedly drafted and combed. If the process parameters are not properly set and the equipment is in poor condition, the fibers will be easily damaged and broken during the processing, resulting in an increase in short piles, thus making the yarn The hairiness and hair particles increase, thereby reducing the pilling resistance of the fabric.

Yarn twist

High twist can reduce yarn hairiness and less likely to cause pilling, but increasing twist will reduce fabric strength and affect fabric feel and style.

3.Fabric structure

Tightness

Fabrics with a loose structure are more prone to pilling than those with a tight structure. When a fabric with a tight structure is rubbed against external objects, it is not easy to generate plush, and the plush that has been generated is not easy to slip onto the surface of the fabric due to the large frictional resistance between fibers, so it can reduce the phenomenon of pilling, such as knitted fabrics. Because the exposed yarn has a large surface area and a loose structure, it is generally easier to pilling than woven fabrics; and like high-gauge fabrics, which are generally more compact, low-gauge fabrics are more prone to pilling than high-gauge fabrics.

Surface flatness

Fabrics with a flat surface are not prone to pilling, and fabrics with uneven surfaces are prone to pilling. Therefore, the pilling resistance of fat pattern fabrics, common pattern fabrics, rib fabrics, and jersey fabrics is gradually increased.