Looking for the latest best fabric shavers? Read this review to find your favorite one.
Since wool became too expensive to be the only material for making jumpers, cardigans and sweaters, we’ve had to put up with annoying ‘pilling’ on our warmer clothes. And it’s clear that garments made from a mix of several different fibres have the biggest problem with those ugly, little balls appearing. So when buying your cold-weather clothes, always check the label and go for garments with the highest percentage of natural wool or ones that are all nylon, when you can.
They are the most expensive clothes, but they stay in shape and look good longer than multi-blend materials.
Smarten up your stuff
However, most of us have multi-blend sweaters and jackets in our wardrobes and the fabric shaver is a clever way to remove those pill-balls and smarten up your stuff. We tested every type of fabric shavers from the latest electric gadgets, to hand-powered, delicate-fabric comb ‘pill’ removers. So this is a comprehensive overview of the best fabric shavers to keep your clothes and furniture in good condition, so you get plenty of wear out of your purchases.
Use a light touch
If you haven’t used a fabric shaver before, learn from the mistakes of others! I tried de-pilling my sweaters years ago with a leg-shaving razor. But unfortunately, I ruined the sweater because I held the fabric very taut, as you should, but pressed down too hard with the wrong type of razor. And so I shaved off too much and cut into the main threads!
On the other hand, if you don’t lightly stretch the fabric out totally flat, it may wrinkle up and accidentally get cut. So always read any instructions that come with your fabric shaver and use a gentle touch to deftly skim-off the pilling, without affecting the main threads.
And here’s our choice of the 7 Best Fabric Shavers on the market right now:-
1. The Laundress – Best Hand-powered Fabric Shaver/Sweater Comb
We’ve put this at the top because it’s the best fabric shaver for delicate fabrics and the least likely to damage expensive clothing. So if you have garments made of costly cashmere or soft, merino wool, try this first. The Laundress can be easily used to get rid of pill-balls, without you having to pull delicate fabrics into a taut section first. And so it’s the gentlest option.
Pros
- Best for fine fabrics
- Hand-powered
- Small and light
Cons
- Takes longer to remove fuzz-balls
2. Conair – Best Adjustable-head Fabric Shaver & Defuzzer
You’ll be delighted with this little device, as it wins the fabric shaver popularity contest hands down! It has many thousands of first-class, feedback comments online, and it was one of our favorites, too. We loved the versatility of having an adjustable head that takes care of pill-balls on fine-, medium- and heavy-weight materials.
Pros
- Highly rated by public and expert users
- Comes with the Good Housekeeping Warranty
- Adjustable head for different fabrics
Cons
- Doesn’t come with batteries included in price
3. Beautural – Best Fabric Shaver Features & Accessories
If you have to de-fuzz the sweaters of a whole family, then you may prefer to pay a little more and have this fabulously efficient fabric shaver to hand. It can be used with batteries or a household electrical socket and has a long, 10 ft. cord, making it easy to use on couches and large sweaters/coats etc. It has a comfortable to grip and a large lint-catcher to keep all the unwanted fuzz-balls in one place. In addition, there’s a blade replacement, a storage bag and a handy lint brush.
Pros
- Comfy grip
- Long socket adapter/cable
- 3 useful accessories
- Battery or mains powered
Cons
- Higher price
4. Pritech – Best Rechargeable Fabric Shaver for Pet Hairs
This handy fabric shaver is also a mini-vacuum that picks-up pet-hairs, loose fibers and fuzz from clothes and couches. It’s rechargeable, so you’ll never run out of batteries and uses magnets in the design to make it simple to open up for inside cleaning. The handle makes it easy to use, too.
Pros
- Rechargeable battery for ease of use
- Integral fan removes lint
- Easy cleaning
Cons
Some users found technical issues
5. Magic Tec – Best Rechargeable Fabric Shaver
This high-performing fabric shave also has a useful, integral fabric brush that swiftly removes pet-hairs, dust and lint. And with a rechargeable battery and thousands of high-rating, user-reviews the economically priced, Magic Tec, is excellent value for money. It’s a very well-designed and useful electric fabric shaver and pet-hair remover that we all found versatile and easy-to-handle!
Pros
- Top choice for pet-owners
- Handy rechargeable battery
- Built-in lint remover brush
Cons
- Two hour charging time
6. Sunbeam S20 Fabric De-fuzzer – Best Fabric Shaver for Sofas
This is a heavy-duty fabric shaver you can use to smarten up larger areas, like sofas and armchairs. It has a large head and a well-designed handle, to make it comfortable to use for de-fuzzing furniture or large sweaters/coats. You need to pass it over the fuzzy area more than once, to get all of the pill-balls off. But as it can be used with ‘C’ batteries or just plugged into an electric socket, we found it easy to use and efficient for big jobs.
Pros
- Designed for wide surfaces like couches
- Efficient with comfortable handle shape
- Battery or plug-in to electric socket
Cons
- Higher priced
7. EVERCARE – Best Overall Fabric Shaver
And we chose this low-priced little gadget as our best fabric shaver of all, for its ability to whisk away all pill-balls from sweaters and furniture fast and efficiently. It’s a small device that’s easy to hold comfortably and can be stored in a small space. This fabric shaver has two handy accessories: a blade-cover to maintain sharpness and a small brush to get trapped threads off the head. It’s great value for money at a fraction of the price of some fabric shavers.
Pros
- Works efficiently
- Small and comfortable in use
- Best value for money
Cons
- Batteries not included in purchase price
