HELP Flannel Questions
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 155
HELP Flannel Questions
Hello Everyone, I just made a queen sized flannel rag quilt for my grandson's 3rd bday. He just got his first big boy bed and his mom wanted it bigger so he would have it for years. LOL I took it to the laundromat yesterday to give it the first washing and drying so it would rag out. LOL It didn't rag as much as I wanted, but I have a problem, It is totally full of little lintys. How do I get all those fuzzies off it front and back so it looks new again before I send it to him. I don't want him to think Grandma sent him a used linty blanket. I sat for over an hour with an old lint brush, but it didn't do so great. I tried to back roll packing tape and dob it all over. OMG this is a nightmare and now, I have 2 more grandchildren that want one of Grandma's soft warm raggedy quilts. LOL I used dryer sheets in dryer in hopes that would help, I changed lint trap every 10 mins but really not much in it later on. The quilt turned out beautiful for him and I love it but need those lintys gone. Any suggestions or do I just have to sit and pick them off forever?
#2
Power Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 41,535
Flannels sometimes pill. Unless you want to pull every pill off by hand the other option is a sweater de-fuzzer. Use the one with the little blades inside a screen that cuts off the pills. You can get then battery driven or ekectric. I have one for removing pills off my favourite chair.
#3
The only thing I can think of is to put it thru the washer again, like you would if you'd left a kleenex in the pocket while doing laundry. Or maybe use one of those electric sweater shavers but that would be a lot of work.
#5
Super Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC
Posts: 8,138
As the saying goes, I feel your pain!
I think that, when drying a queen size flannel rag quilt, the lint filter should be cleaned out several times during the drying cycle. This is especially true if the fabric was not pre-washed.
Probably the best thing to do to remove the pills is to get one of those sweater shavers and use it.
I think that, when drying a queen size flannel rag quilt, the lint filter should be cleaned out several times during the drying cycle. This is especially true if the fabric was not pre-washed.
Probably the best thing to do to remove the pills is to get one of those sweater shavers and use it.
#6
Originally Posted by [email protected]
Hello Everyone, I just made a queen sized flannel rag quilt for my grandson's 3rd bday. He just got his first big boy bed and his mom wanted it bigger so he would have it for years. LOL I took it to the laundromat yesterday to give it the first washing and drying so it would rag out. LOL It didn't rag as much as I wanted, but I have a problem, It is totally full of little lintys. How do I get all those fuzzies off it front and back so it looks new again before I send it to him. I don't want him to think Grandma sent him a used linty blanket. I sat for over an hour with an old lint brush, but it didn't do so great. I tried to back roll packing tape and dob it all over. OMG this is a nightmare and now, I have 2 more grandchildren that want one of Grandma's soft warm raggedy quilts. LOL I used dryer sheets in dryer in hopes that would help, I changed lint trap every 10 mins but really not much in it later on. The quilt turned out beautiful for him and I love it but need those lintys gone. Any suggestions or do I just have to sit and pick them off forever?
I do think I'd run the blanket thru the home dryer a couple times using 2 or 3 dryer sheets each time.--------set on no heat.
#7
As the saying goes, I feel your pain!
I think that, when drying a queen size flannel rag quilt, the lint filter should be cleaned out several times during the drying cycle. This is especially true if the fabric was not pre-washed.
Probably the best thing to do to remove the pills is to get one of those sweater shavers and use it.
I think that, when drying a queen size flannel rag quilt, the lint filter should be cleaned out several times during the drying cycle. This is especially true if the fabric was not pre-washed.
Probably the best thing to do to remove the pills is to get one of those sweater shavers and use it.
#8
Power Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Western Wisconsin
Posts: 12,930
The dryers at my laundromat do not have lint filters I can clean.
Flannels pill for a couple of reasons. One is that a lot of flannel pills no matter how you handle it. It is probably the exception these days to buy flannel that doesn't pill. There are only a couple of brands posters have mentioned that can be relied on not to pill. The other big cause of pilling is having the flannel rub against other fabrics (and even against itself). This is probably what happened to the OP. Using the largest front-loading washer you can find helps, because it minimizes how much rubbing of fabric occurs during the wash. Top-loading machines with central agitator posts are probably the worst unless you never let the machine agitate (stop the machine and hand-agitate instead).
I'd invest in a sweater defuzzer.
#9
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 155
Thank you everyone for the great advice. I did take this quilt to a laundromat and like someone mentioned, the dryer didn't have a lint trap for me to clean. Then when I got home, I shoved it into my dryer with a couple dryer sheets, that helped a little bit. I will stop on my way home today and buy a couple lint brushes. I will try that first and then maybe save up for a defuzzer LOL Thank you everyone. I appreciate all the great info. I read online somewhere at one time to put vinegar in the wash and it won't catch lint, but I can't remember where I read it or how much vinegar to use. :-) Have a fantastic day everyone. Rachel
#10
"I just made a queen sized flannel rag quilt for my grandson's 3rd bday. He just got his first big boy bed and his mom wanted it bigger so he would have it for years. "
Wow queen size is pretty big for a 3 year old. A lot of the flannels do pill, that is the reason I stopped making the rag quilts.
Wow queen size is pretty big for a 3 year old. A lot of the flannels do pill, that is the reason I stopped making the rag quilts.
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