Buy it for Life

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A place to share practical, durable and quality made products that are made to last, with an emphasis on upcycled and sustainable products!

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Weird BIFL request - Fabric de-piller / shaver? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by whodatdair@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/buyitforlife@slrpnk.net

11 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The things with a grid of holes and a little spinning blade that removes pills from furniture and fabric. I keep buying $10 shitty Walmart ones and they die after a few months.

Any brands etc that aren’t enshittified yet?

all 12 comments

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[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 9 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

A manual model with metal screen and blade will last forever and they’re generally cheaper than the electric kind.

[–] clay_pidgin@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 weeks ago

Do those really work? I hate pilled clothes.

[–] Boomkop3@reddthat.com 3 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

Googling that only finds me electric ones :/ What model have you got? Or can you link something similar?

[–] whodatdair@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 weeks ago

Same as the other commenter - what manual ones are you referring to? I too am having trouble finding what you’re referring to

Appreciate the response! :)

[–] sigmaklimgrindset@sopuli.xyz 6 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

Get something called a "fabric comb". It's what my grandparents and great grandparents used to depill all their clothes, including delicate wool and cashmere, and that's what I stand by. Cheap, come in different sizes, tooth ranges, and no need to change batteries. Hard to enshittify that.

Find an YouTube video to show you how to comb different grains/types of cloth with it. I was taught by my grandma, but it's pretty easy once you know what you're doing.

[–] whodatdair@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 3 weeks ago

Neat! Never tried one, I’ll look into them - thanks for the reply!

[–] Boomkop3@reddthat.com 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I tried one of those, it damaged several things and I've not used it again

[–] sigmaklimgrindset@sopuli.xyz 4 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yikes, sorry for that. I've had the electric depillers cause holes in my knitwear/sweaters more often than I like, that's why I went back to old traditions and haven't had any problems.

Could be user error for both of us, but maybe the real lesson is that clothes nowadays suck/are flimsy as hell?

[–] Boomkop3@reddthat.com 2 points 3 weeks ago

I'm using mostly smooth, thightly knit fabric. Maybe we just have different fabric preferences?

[–] Thassodar@lemm.ee 4 points 3 weeks ago

I have a black and green Conair one that has lasted longer than the cheap stocking stuffer ones you usually can get for less than $5 or $10.

Like 3+ years long, but maintaining the threads and such that get wrapped around the middle spindle and not using it for more than 20 - 30 minutes at a time I've noticed helps the motor last longer.