Love my wool clothes, but the holes and the pilling... help!

March 17, 2025 11:45 AM

I have several wool t-shirts and thin shirts that I love, but half of them got a couple of tiny holes after just a few uses. The shirts are too expensive for that! I do not think it's moths because my wool sweaters don't get any holes and they're hanging right next to each other in the closet and touching. And not every shirt has holes. The thicker wool sweaters don't have any tiny holes but they pill so badly that I am afraid they are going to wear out and get so thin in a couple of years. Is this just the deal with wool?

Some of the items are from Janus in Norway. Some are from random Amazon shops, and some shirts from one brand get the tiny holes, and some don't (so far). Doesn't seem to be consistent. Maybe it's just tiny snags and super sensitive material because it's thin?

And the pilly sweaters get that way because I always have a backpack or a purse or something that rubs the sweater through my winter coat.

posted by dabadoo to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (11 answers total)

Both pilling and the fragility that is probably leading to your tiny holes have to do with the length of the wool fibres. A lot of wool is marketed based on fineness, i.e. the diameter of the wool fibres, so it's hard for the person buying wool clothing to know what they are getting when it comes to fibre length and durability. Fineness (micron) tends to be inversely correlated with length (staple) so when clothing manufacturers are sourcing wool, wool that is fine and short will be a lot cheaper than wool that is fine and long. So really all you can do is look to buy from manufacturers that care about their reputation for high quality long lasting garments who will price in the cost of fibre length.
posted by Rhedyn at 11:55 AM on March 17 [6 favorites]

I got the small holes with the two thin Smartwool tshirts I owned. I don't think this is a function of wool as much it is a function of the thinness of the fabric. They're meant to be base layers, but since I don't use them as such I won't get any more.

It is very normal for wool to pill. Quality of the wool will affect it (the length of the fibers IIRC), but against armpits or the abrasion of your purse pilling is inevitable. Abrasion also helps wool felt, so I wouldn't be too worried about them getting so thin that they're unwearable in a couple of years. Eventually yes, over time wool (and other fibers) will wear out, but wool is relatively easier to mend due to the grippiness of the fibers.
posted by watermelon at 11:58 AM on March 17

Tiny holes in thin fabrics can be caused by your washer or dryer if there's anything in there that's not smooth and attached properly or if you wash fine fabrics with bras or zippers.
posted by jacquilynne at 12:03 PM on March 17 [2 favorites]

Where do the shirts form holes, and do the holes form at the waist area? My thin base layer shirts all have tiny holes right at my belly button area, caused by the friction of them brushing against the placket on my jeans.
posted by phunniemee at 2:49 AM on March 18 [1 favorite]

I have been slowly investing (it ain't cheap!) in merino (I have no idea if it is actually merino, nor do I have a clear idea what "merino" means) wool undershirts and boxer briefs. I have found an extremely huge gap in quality between different brands. Some are just much thinner and more cheaply constructed than others.

For short sleeve T shirts I go with Unbound Merino brand as they have V-necks which I prefer, plus they aren't skin-tight and usable only as base layers. They look like a regular old fashioned T shirt, not like I'm wearing a sausage skin. I have 2 pairs of Smartwool boxer briefs which are extremely well made and have held up well. On the other hand, I got a 2-pack of Ibex brand boxer briefs which are much thinner, not nearly as well constructed and overall smaller and skimpier feeling. Plus the waistband feels crummy and curls up. I had other Ibex brand stuff in the past which was extremely well made... I'm suspicious that the Ibex underpants I bought are fakes.

I recommend trying different brands. I only wash my T shirts every 3-7 wears (yes, 7 wears... in the winter when I'm not sweaty) and let them hang dry. No dryer, though I have accidentally put them through a dry cycle which didn't seem to hurt (I never dry anything on roasting hot).

Wool underwear has exploded in popularity and I think there's a lot of cheaply made knock-off stuff out there.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:32 AM on March 18

Does your laundry detergent contain enzymes by any chance? (Over here we call it 'bio' detergent, not sure if that term is used in the US.) Those enzymes are for breaking down protein, and wool is a protein fibre. I've made this mistake unfortunately and it's weakened the fibre, making it easier for holes to appear.
posted by Glier's Goetta at 5:41 AM on March 18 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: The holes are not at the waist by the button/zipper area, they are randomly on the chest or upper back area.

I do not wash my wool stuff often. Sweaters go 10+ wears. I wash my wool stuff on delicate in a smooth garment bag. I'll check about the enzyme detergent. But one of the shirts that got a tiny hole I wore for a week before even washing it. My most worn wool t-shirt gets washed more often and doesn't have any holes. Other shirts by that brand (same style so I assume very similar fabric) do have holes. Drives my scientific brain crazy!
posted by dabadoo at 6:12 AM on March 18

@SoberHighland, you can be pretty confident it is really Merino, because almost all the wool out there in the mass produced garment industry is Merino. Merino is a specific breed of sheep specialised for fine wool. But Merino wool is not a standardised product and quality can vary tremendously by individual sheep quality, age, health etc and skill of shearer. For the mass industry, fleeces are professionally sorted by quality into huge bales and then auctioned. So for the more fast fashion side of things, they'll buy the cheapest leftover bales, which will have weaker fibres, shorter staple, and short bits from shearing mistakes. It's still Merino. When they turn those bales into yarn and garments, it could be a bit luck of the draw that one shirt gets some better wool and another gets worse, from the same batch.
posted by Rhedyn at 7:50 AM on March 18 [3 favorites]

Garments made from wool that is loosely spun or spun from few "plies" will pill more. For future purchases, look for stuff made from more tightly-spun yarn. It will not be as plush or smooshy, but it will be more durable and will look good for longer.
posted by heatherlogan at 3:13 PM on March 18

But one of the shirts that got a tiny hole I wore for a week before even washing it. My most worn wool t-shirt gets washed more often and doesn't have any holes.

This tracks with moth damage. Moths are not directly attracted to wool (for the most part), they're attracted to body oils or other nutritious substances on the wool. Unwashed wool, especially when left undisturbed, attracts moths.

If moths are present, the apparent absence of moth damage in your wool sweaters is merely because a tiny moth larva is much less likely to chew all the way through a thick sweater yarn than through a micro-thin shirt yarn.
posted by heatherlogan at 3:18 PM on March 18

The fact that some wool garments have not been affected by moths is not evidence that you don't have moths. It is possible to put a long-lasting anti-moth treatment into the wool fiber, but how can you know whether a given garment has had this treatment?
posted by metonym at 6:18 PM on March 18