“A Mtupa”, for that is how some people shorten my surname from primary schools days, “one of these days please write about how to remove fluff from jackets,” said Herbert, a colleague who passed by my desk when I was writing last week’s piece.
“That is a good idea, but how is it done?” I asked him.
“It’s simple, just use sellotape,” he replied.
This was enough information to keep me going. Enough to serve as a starting point for my research for this week’s piece.
I looked around for information that could open my eyes in this effort of acquiring knowledge for the benefit of other DIY enthusiasts.
What motivated me more was that the value that goes away when a piece of garment develops these lint balls from clothes. This is common in jackets and woollen clothing such as sweaters.
The lint balls may get worse to the point of making you to discard a piece of clothing because it looks untidy.
This week’s project will help us save such clothes from early retirement.
In this project, you require the clothing that has lint balls, a table, a pair of scissors and a roll of buff tape.
The first step is to lay the piece of clothing on the table. Then take the roll of buff tape and unroll it. Unroll a length that can go round your fingers minus the thumb while the hand is in flat position. Then roll the buff tape over your fingers in reverse—allowing the sticky side to be outside.
Then, using your hand that has been covered in masking tape, move it over the areas that have the lint balls. The lint balls will stick to the buff tape. Repeat the process until the buff tape has been saturated. In that case, cut another piece and follow the same procedure once more.
I hope these tips, adapted from wikihow.com, will restore your clothes to their original glory.
Dear reader, you may also consider using the small comb to remove the lint balls from woollen clothes. The other method will be to use a simple shaver to ‘shave’ the lint balls which stand way above the cloth. Care must, however, be taken when dealing with the shaver as pushing it down too hard may damage the cloth.
It is my humble wish that this week’s entry will save you from the bad feeling of wearing a jacket or sweater with lint balls.
Wishing you a week full of activity, remember, if you want it perfectly done, do it yourself.
