Monica Knits

Nowadays many manufacturers sell clothes shavers. These are a necessary evil for knitters and knitwear lovers. They do a great job of refreshing your knitwear, particularly elbows, cuffs, collars and other high wear, high friction areas. My two favorite sweaters both need an occasional shave to rejuvenate them: one an acrylic shawl collar jacket in an unusual green blend, and the other a long cashmere/angora turtleneck sweater. I've also had a couple of pairs of socks that benefitted from a shave now and then.

If you knit a lot or enjoy knitwear, then a clothes shaver is a must have tool. Although mine has performed well for a number of years, there are some design shortcomings. Read more ... to find out what features I like and which ones fall short.

Features to Consider in Purchasing a Clothes Shaver

1. Dual power: battery and AC adapter.
2. Electrical cord length.
3. Size of shaving head.
4. Design robustness.
5. Availability of replacement blades.
6. Will it be used for travel?

What I Like

• Light weight and compact.
• Uses batteries or AC adaptor.
• Adequate size shaving head.
• Adequate capacity lint reservoir, easy to empty.
• Comes with protective cap.
• Good grip and clearance for fingers.
• Gentle on the clothes.

What Needs Improvement

• The adaptor cord is too short at 71" long (just shy of 6'). If you use the shaver at your ironing board, you will be twisting and turning and constantly moving the knitwear if the cord is too short.
• The power cord wire diameter is too small; the cord is easily pinched at the connectors.
• The on/off switch contacts wore out quickly. This means I have to keep the unit in the "on" position and unplug it to disconnect. Otherwise I have to fiddle with the on/off switch for quite a while to find the "sweet" spot of the switch. On/off switches should survive more cycles. The on/off switch is located where you could inadvertently hit it with your thumb, while using the shaver.

Summary Some knitwear and yarns will pill, and others will act like lint magnets. Pilling occurs on both inexpensive and expensive yarns and garments, natural and synthetic, though not all. A few yarns and garments will behave impeccably throughout their lives, like good children, but for the others a clothes shaver is an indispensible tool. When this unit ceases to function, I hope there will be a model available that has a longer, more robust cord and switch that can sustain more duty cycles.