The Care and Keeping of Cushions

You know you're a grown-up when you get legit excited about mundane things, like household cleaning supplies, new bedsheets, or vacuum cleaners. Well today I'm super excited about one of the most humble household items I can imagine: an electric de-fuzzer. Officially called a fabric shaver (or sometimes referred to as a de-piller), this tiny little handheld machine removes the bobbles that can sometimes form on our frequently used fabric or knit items. Sweaters and socks are especially prone to pilling up with little bobbles, but it can happen to any fabric item that sees a lot of rubbing/friction. 

Just look at the horrendous pilling on this poor couch cushion (and its mate was just as bad!) The slipcovers had been washed many times but that did nothing to improve their appearance when the fabric itself had so many bobbles. After feeling vaguely irritated by the situation but also ignoring it for ages, I finally decided to buy a de-fuzzer and see if I could make my poor cushions look a little less beat up. As always Amazon had a lot of models to choose from, so I picked the cheapest one with the most familiar name. I think in my teens I had a Remington hair straightener that I had pretty good memories of, so I purchased the Remington Fuzz-Away Fabric Shaver. It's marked as non-returnable (I'm guessing for hygienic reasons?) but at $7.99 I was comfortable taking the risk.

I'm so glad I did! Just look at the difference between my de-bobbled cushion on the left and the sad bobbly mate on the right. As my mother in law remarked, it looks like a brand new cushion! Using the de-fuzzer was really easy, I just popped in two AA batteries, took the clear cover off and gently touched it to the surface of my cushion. I moved the machine in small circular motions, taking care not to press too hard, and it was incredibly satisfying seeing the bobbles disappear leaving pristine-looking fabric behind. The machine sucks up anything it shaves off into the little compartment on the underside, so there's no mess at all. Also, the shaving of the bobbles did not disturb the printed design on my cushions at all- there was no loss of color or sharpness or cracking or anything else. My cushions really do look pretty much brand new again.

Cleaning the Remington de-fuzzer was very simple to do; the fuzz-collecting compartment easily pops out and you just empty it into your trash. It kind of reminded me of cleaning the lint filter on the dryer! The little metal screen with the holes also unscrews so that you can blow away any lint that remains on the blades. Easy peasy! The entire device is very lightweight and comfortable to hold, so I really can't think of a single negative! It worked wonderfully to restore my cushions, which alone makes it worth the purchase price. However, I wasn't done with it yet...

Behold, the before and after of my couch! My couch is upholstered with a dark blue fabric that unfortunately pills like crazy. Maybe it's the fabric itself... or maybe it's the fact that my todder loves to jump and scoot and climb all over it, but it's been covered in numerous white bobbles for quite a while now that made it look quite shabby. Well no more! The Remington de-fuzzer has removed the bobbles with ease, and although I haven't done every square inch of the couch (for example the undersides of the cushions!) I feel really happy with how little time and effort it took to do the visible areas.

I still haven't tried removing bobbles from my clothes, but I have no doubt it'll be just as easy as it was to do my couch and cushions!

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