Lint Magnet Overcoat

December 17, 2006 5:25 PM

Can a black wool overcoat be made less of a lint attraction? I have a overcoat that I am about to give to the Goodwill, because it is like a magnet to lint. I can have it proffessionally dry cleaned, but in about four hours of normal use, I look like a homeless person. Is there a way to treat the fabric so it would be less likely to attrract so much lint?
posted by garyfugere to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (7 answers total)

I'm not sure this is exactly the same problem but I used to have a fleece jacket that would build up huge amounts of static electricity. When wearing it, I would regularly shock people when touching them and shock myself when entering and leaving cars. To treat it, I ended up using Endust for Electronics on it. The only thing you really have to worry about is possible staining. As the fleece was annoying and nearly unwearable as it was, I had nothing to lose.
posted by Cog at 5:33 PM on December 17, 2006

Hey Cog, you can get anti-static spray for clothes, y'know. One brand is called Static Guard--you can get it at most pharmacies, etc.
posted by stray at 6:17 PM on December 17, 2006

You can rub it with a dryer sheet, or toss it in the dryer with a couple of them. They are supposed to help keep lint and pet hair off of your clothes by eliminating static cling. You may be able to last 8 hours without looking homeless.
posted by blackkar at 6:36 PM on December 17, 2006 [1 favorite]

Won't help with the static, but there are lint rollers and lint brushes that will probably be as effective as dry cleaning to get the lint off.
posted by yohko at 8:04 PM on December 17, 2006

Scotchgard should help prevent crap from sticking to your coat.
posted by tastybrains at 9:34 PM on December 17, 2006

Yeah, dryer sheets. What they really are is just wax, and that's what prevents static and lint. I'd think, but I have no idea how to make this practical, that a thin layer of aerated Carnuba wax (or something similar, like parafin), would do the trick.
posted by klangklangston at 8:32 AM on December 18, 2006

I've done the same thing as blackkar - toss the jacket in the dryer with a dryer sheet, tumble on low heat (or delicate) for a while.

The waxy stuff from the dryer sheet mildly coats the fabric material which both cuts down on static as well as other attractive forces (van der waals?).
posted by porpoise at 10:38 AM on December 18, 2006