Are you bobbly? I am. Or, at least, I was. Because now I have a fabric shaver. And yes, they actually work.
In fact, I have five. Because I wanted to see which fabric shaver was the best. I bought the following debobblers, all of which are best sellers on Amazon.
Please note: this article contains affiliate links.
Philips Fabric Shaver 500 Series
Philips Fabric Shaver 1000 Series
They already have thousands of reviews. You'll probably buy one. But which one?
Spoiler: it's this one.
How did I test?
Most of the fabric shavers worked fine. But there were subtle differences. I took my old, bobbly fleece, and split it into four zones for a fair test. (You may have noticed there were 5 shavers, but I only tested 4 - I'll get to that).
I was looking for the following:
- Performance: how well did the fabric shavers debobble, and how quickly
- Design: is it well-made, user friendly, and pretty
- Power supply: is it battery powered or usb charged, and are batteries included
- Extras: spare blades and other features
- Price: the price ranges from £6 to £25, but most were around the £15 mark. Note: these prices were accurate as of 5th Jan 2025.
Best fabric shavers in the UK
Philips Fabric Shaver 500 Series
| Performance | 5/5 |
| Design | 4/5 |
| Power Supply | 3/5 |
| Extras | 0/5 |
| Price | £15.99 |
The Philips is the best fabric shaver I tested. It shaved fabric the best, and the quickest. That's why it's the best.
I did agonise over this decision. The Philips is not perfect. Most notably, it comes with batteries, rather than a rechargeable USB connector. In 2025, this feels like driving around using Barney Rubble's feet instead of an engine.
But… it's better.
In a speed test against second place, it wiped the floor. It debobbled a sleeve in under a minute, compared to one minute 30 for the Gaiatop. And ultimately this is the main thing. I don't want to spend my whole life debobbling. Who does?
Even though the other fabric shavers had more features, including a charger, I kept finding myself coming back to the Philips. It's also clearly well-built. I don't really care about brands, but I could feel that this one was ‘proper’, whereas some of the others felt flimsy. It was easy to empty, and it sounded aggressively powerful.
I bought five fabric shavers, but I'll be using this one, and you should too.
Gaiatop Fabric Shaver
| Performance | 4/5 |
| Design | 4/5 |
| Power Supply | 5/5 |
| Extras | 3/5 |
| Price | £14.99 |
A close second place. The Gaiatop excels in a number of categories. It shaved well, though not brilliantly. But it has USB C charging, and a display which shows you the battery charge. I did find it a bit more fiddly to empty, but that is very much a first world problem.
Price-wise, it's comparable to the Philips. And you definitely get value for money. If you hate batteries, you should get this one. But if, like Clarkson, you value speed and power, get the Philips.
Popchose Fabric Shaver
| Performance | 3/5 |
| Design | 3/5 |
| Power Supply | 3/5 |
| Extras | 4/5 |
| Price | £14.99 |
There was a lot to like about the Popchose. It comes with a bunch of extras, including a little brush and two spare blades.
Unfortunately, this feels like lots of cherries on a pretty ordinary cake. The performance wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. And I couldn't help but be a bit annoyed by the charging port, which is a micro USB rather than USB C. So your phone charger won't work, unless you still have a phone from before the Credit Crunch.
No reason to get this one when you can buy the Gaiatop.
Philips Fabric Shaver 1000 Series
| Performance | 2/5 |
| Design | 5/5 |
| Power Supply | 5/5 |
| Extras | 3/5 |
| Price | £24.99 |
It's very pretty. It is egg-shaped. It looks like the sort of thing you'd find in a fantasy novel, under a dragon. All of these are good things.
Unfortunately it doesn't work very well. In fact, it works quite badly. It's also by far the most expensive.
I would avoid buying this one, unless you want a nice ornament for the mantelpiece. In fact, you can have mine. £20, collection only.
Homeeasy Fabric Shaver
| Performance | 0/5 |
| Design | 1/5 |
| Power Supply | 0/5 |
| Extras | 3/5 |
| Price | £7.99 |
Well. It didn't work. Or, at least, it did work. But only on easy, low-rise bobbles. This is what happened, the very first time I tried to shave a bobble.
It jammed. And I'm sorry, but I don't want my fabric shaver to be selective about which bobbles it shaves. I want my fabric shaver to be a warrior, slap on its helmet, unsheath both swords, and stride into battle like Russell Crowe trying to win his freedom.
Also, it might be cheap, but it doesn't come with batteries. Come on. That just pisses me off. Avoid.
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In summary: buy the Philips 500 series. Or buy the Gaiatop, if you don't want to deal with batteries. And please get in touch if you find a better one!
Jack, Founder of Ruler of London