The Type of Sweater That's Least Likely to Pill

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(Image credit: Szymon Brzóska/The Style Stalker)

Sweater pilling: We all know it, we all hate it, and we’ve all heard various means of fixing it once it’s already occurred. In fact, we even shared an easy, 30-second way to de-pill your sweaters, which got us thinking: What about prevention? What kinds of sweaters don’t pill? Or do they all?

Naturally, in search of answers, we turned to our favorite place: the internet. What we found—in this Wall Street Journal investigation of sorts, as well as almost every online fashion forum under the sun—was that while the majority of sweaters will pill (no matter the quality or price), the least likely material to do so is merino wool. This is because merino wool "tends to be strong and when used in a tightly wound sweater would be less likely to pill,” according to WSJ. The good news here is that merino wool sweaters are not only easy to find but also available in a range of styles and price points.

Scroll through to shop our favorite less-pill-prone merino wool sweaters below! 

Up next: These are the best spring 2020 trends, period.

Editor-at-Large

Since starting as an intern back in 2013, Nicole Akhtarzad Eshaghpour has held several roles here at Who What Wear, and she is currently Editor-at-Large. It was a less expected route, seeing as she was graduating from business school at USC when this all began, but it has turned out to be the best one for her. Fast-forward to 2024, and she's moved to NYC from her hometown of Beverly Hills and spends her workdays a little differently from when she was an intern starting out. Currently, she focuses on a weekly mélange of shopping content. As far as her personal style goes, she's largely drawn to classic pieces and neutral basics but will always make an exception for something colorful, printed, or bejeweled as long as it's deemed worthy enough. After all, the only thing she loves more than a good party is dressing up for one. On weekdays, she can usually be found at home eating something delicious for dinner and trying to force her husband to watch Summer House.