Conair's Fabric Defuzzer is a must-have for everyone's laundry room. I tested this little gizmo out on the sweater that I wore the day I met my fiance. It was horrifying to look at: the sweater was covered in lint and was pilling awfully. I couldn't wear it like this, but I couldn't bear to part with it for sentimental reasons.The Conair Defuzzer is battery operated. No real point in telling you this, except to say that this device does not come with batteries. You will need to have 2 AA batteries and install them. Look for the sticker inside the battery compartment to know which end faces which way when you drop in the AAs.I did not adjust the distance controller when I used the defuzzer for the first time. I used the device "just out of the box" with its preset settings. You want to make sure you work with the garment laid out on a smooth, hard surface. I used the kitchen table. I began by making short, light strokes going down "the grain" of the fabric. I had to apply a bit more pressure because my sweater has a cable knit pattern that creates areas that are higher than others. It worked insanely well! I started to think about everyone in the house..... they all have closets.... they all wear clothes... Could I get others to give me THEIR clothes to fix? Yeah, it was addictive for the first ten exhilarating minutes. I watched as the defuzzer transformed my sweater from unwearable to wearable! I kept working in this manner, making longer strokes down the garment to remove the pilling and lint. If a section had a stubborn piece of lint, I didn't make a sweep over it, I gently but firmly pressed the defuzzer down on that spot until the offender was lifted off (about one or two presses did the trick.)My sweater has delicate, rope-like knit sections that give it a lacy look. I was uneasy using the defuzzer on areas this delicate. I couldn't wear a half clean sweater, though! I took those areas and laid them over the top of my open hand and very gently used the defuzzer to remove the lint.NOTE: You want to make sure that any loose threads are secured or avoided altogether, otherwise the defuzzer may accidentally pull the fabric and make it worse.On a heavily pilled garment, you'll hear the units motor starts to slow down a little bit. You may notice, as I did, that the unit is not working as well. This is the point where you stop, turn the unit off, and clean the lint out of it. There's nothing wrong with the defuzzer, it just needs the fabric remnants cleaned out of it. Pull down the detachable lint collector and shake it out. Grab the stuff that's blocking up the opening to the unit, too. There will probably be a lot stuck there.When you're all finished restoring your garment, make sure to clean the defuzzer out one more time. I used a q-tip to gently get the lint that was clumped up inside the unit. Next, go outside, turn the device on, and let it blow out any remaining lint inside that you couldn't reach with the q-tip. (Make sure you don't have the unit pointed toward your face. I didn't do that. I SWEAR I didn't do that....) Place the lint collector back on the device and wipe the outside plastic part down with a soft cloth before storing it in its original packaging and putting it away. You may want to remove the batteries as well, and store them in a plastic sandwich baggie, placing those in the box, too, if you think you won't be using the defuzzer for a long period of time.Overall grade: for the money spent, A+! Wish I'd bought this sooner!
