Trib Tested: Hollywood Sweater Saver
There's nothing worse in the winter than having to pick dozens of pilling balls off of my favorite sweater — what was once a soft and smooth sweater turns into a ball-y mess. The Hollywood Sweater Saver promises to pull those pillings off of sweaters, coats and blankets, extending their life.
Our first test was on my favorite cable knit DKNY sweater, which had pilling along the cuffs. After five minutes of rubbing and scrubbing with the Sweater Saver, the balls were still clinging to the weave. A second sweater's pilling came off much easier ... onto the blanket, where pilling and fuzz slipped right off.
While the Sweater Saver won't be helping me on my favorite cable knits, it has some potential for smooth surfaces. But one word to the wise — don't pull the black brick from its wrapping over your bed unless you want shards of the brick floating around for days to come. Once the wrapper is removed, the brick sheds worse than your favorite angora sweater.
— Daveen Kurutz
The Sweater Saver proved fairly versatile. It works surprisingly well on lint-covered Lycra that couldn't be removed by other means. It also works well on sweaters that have "pilled," and dress shirts that have frayed at the collar and cuffs. It can also be used to smooth out finer gauge merino wool sweaters, but should be used gently to avoid abrading the fabric.
The Sweater Saver was less effective on cable-knit sweaters, however, and the user is advised to remove the plastic on this device over a wastebasket, since gray filings will spill everywhere.
— William Loeffler
In my closet, clothes can be retired early or taken out of rotation due to a few unsightly pills, that is, until I have the time to sit down and take an electric sweater shaver over the problem area. It takes time, patience and a few battery changes, but I'm usually quite successful at clothing reclamation. Which is where the Hollywood Fashion Tape ladies say their product comes in to save the day. Their solution to batteries and lost time is a new product called, appropriately, Hollywood Sweater Saver. Wave their simple pumice stone over the pilling fibers and they are instantly removed, restoring your clothing and other textiles to brand-new condition.
After testing the stone on a few garments, a living room throw pillow and couch cushion or two, I'm underwhelmed. Yea, the stone works, but it's not the quick trick they promise. And, being made of pumice, it tends to leave little black pumice bits behind on everything that either have to be vacuumed or brushed off the fabric - a task made more difficult by the nature of the product - the pumice wants to stick to the fabric. Yuck!
For those who like the pumice stone, the product could be better with a cover for handling. Pumice is naturally scratchy and to hold this little brick while also holding a soft sweater feels really weird. I'm going to stick to my old sweater shaver - it may not save too much time, but I'm not nearly as frustrated at the end of my work.
— Caroline Hirt
Additional Information:
Hollywood Sweater Saver
This 100-percent natural pumice stone cleanly and quickly removes pills from both natural and synthetic knits without snagging or damaging fibers.
Cost: $5.99
Where: Select beauty shops, apparel, accessory and fabric stores
