How to Reduce and Remove Lint From Clothes

Nothing ruins an outfit faster than having a bunch of lint all over it. And while you can devote 15 minutes of your already chaotic morning to lint-rolling yourself back to perfection, it helps to have other ideas on deck to get all that cottony debris off you quickly.

So to help getting dressed—and your mornings—go more smoothly, we rounded up a bunch of tips, tricks, and hacks for removing lint, and keeping it away.

How to Get Rid of Lint on Clothing

1. If the cloth lint appears after washing, it is recommended to wash it again with special methods. Begin by washing the item again (no need to add detergent) adding one cup of distilled white vinegar or a dose of liquid fabric softener to the rinse water. Why does this work? The washing agitation will help displace the lint and the vinegar will help loosen the lint from the fabric by relaxing the fibers.

2. Place the item in a clothes dryer with a couple of microfiber cloths (the lint will stick to the microfiber cloths) and tumble until slightly damp. Remove from the dryer and use a clothes brush or sticky lint roller to remove the remaining lint. If you don't have a sticky lint roller, use heavy-duty packing tape wrapped around your fingers to pull off the lint.

3. If you don't have time to rewash, spray the garment with an anti-static spray and then brush with a lint roller or a dry, cellulose sponge. These same tips work for removing dog and cat hair from clothes.

4. For lint or pet hair on upholstery, start by vacuuming with the upholstery tool on your vacuum. Next, spray the fabric with an anti-static spray (Static Guard is a brand name). Brush the upholstery with a microfiber cloth, cellulose sponge, or rubber squeegee. Vacuum again and finish up with a sticky lint roller.

5. Consider an electric lint shaver. This is a battery-powered device that you can glide on to your clothes to take care of the lint. Turn on the shaver, and run it gently across the fabric. When you are done, open up the lint compartment, and toss the shaved lint into the trash. Pritech lint remover can remove the cloth lint easily.

6. Rub a pumice stone or a "sweater stone" against sweaters and fleece. This can also remove pilling. Make sure that you are going with the weave of the fabric, and not against it. Also, try not to rub too hard, or go over the same area too much. The pumice stone will take off the top layer of the fabric. If you keep going over the same spot, you may get a hole.

Lastly, The best way to reduce the lint is that we do not store lint producing items such as sweaters or bathrobes near lint attracting clothes, and keep dark-colored clothes away from light-colored items.