Why does knitwear pill? Find out the 3 key reasons!

Find out the 3 key reasons!

Why does knitwear pill?

How to find that perfect long lasting knit?

There are three important factors that make a huge role in a quality knitwear vs. the poor low-cost-alternatives. Read on and learn how to catch the best knit next time!

Avoid this: Coarse scaled fibre

All the wool fibres have scales on their surface. Bigger scales will cause fibres to attach on each other and cause pilling. They will also make the garment feel harsh on you.

Alpaca has the smoothest surfaced fibres of all wool fibres. That’s why our knits feel so good and are resistant to pilling.

Alpa® garments are made either of pure 100% alpaca wool or 70 % alpaca mixed with 30 % finest Mulberry silk.

Skip the short fibre

When knits are made with cheap, short fibres, there will be a lot of loose fiber ends on the surface of the knit.

More loose ends mean more pilling. When you are shopping for knits, try pulling a single fibre out of the knit to see the length of it. If the fibre is short, the garment will not become a long lasting friend.

Cheap knits may feel very nice in the beginning but will make you regret your purchase soon as they start to look horrible.

Alpaca wool is precious and has very long fibres – the length of fibres can be between 5-10cm.

Loose knitting – pills quaranteed

The more dense the knitting, the shorter is the fluffy surface of the knit. Tight knitting prevents the loose fibres from sticking with each other and makes the knit stronger.

Cheap knits are often knitted loosely to save money and material. It shouldn’t be a surprise that they will look awful in no time.

We are committed to make exceptional knitwear that will blow your mind with its quality. That’s why we will never cheat our customers with loose knitting when manufacturing Alpa® products.

How will they wear?

We really know how our knits age. See the following examples of our knitwear after some good use.

150 days of use

This light grey Alpa® classic Crew Neck has seen some proper wear and love. You can see the soft surface that has formed on the knit that will make it feel super good on you. The good news: practically no pills at all!

Two years. Twice a week. Good as new.

Closeup of an Alpa® Twilight cardigan, worn for over 100 days. This dense 100% alpaca knit looks as good as new. No pills – just some minor surface fluff.