Pilling is a fabric surface characterized by little pills of entangled fiber clinging to the cloth surface and giving the garment unsightly appearance. The pills are formed during wear and washing by the entanglement of loose fibers which protrude from the fabric surface.

Under the influence of the rubbing action these loose fibers develop into small spherical bundles anchored to the fabric by a few unbroken fibers.

So, how can I test the Fabric Pilling?

Martindale abrasion tester may be used for pilling test of any fabric. The normal samples holders are replaced with light weight square holders, which are keyed so that they may have vertical movement but cannot turn on their axes.

The samples are given a multi directional movement and rubbed against a standard fabric. After certain number of rubs, the samples are examined and the number of pills counted.

This may be repeated say in stages of 500 cycles up to 3000 or 5000 and the rate of development of pills noted.

The abrading materials may be 15 oz. cotton canvas or the test materials itself. The test specimens are mounted on the rectangular blocks. One and half inch * two and half inch and after a given number of rubs, the number of pills is counted.

So is there any things that I have missed to know about Fabric Pilling? It’s a simple topic of Textile Testing. So I will describe it later. If you have any new idea, you can tell me by comments.