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There’s a good chance you’ve seen quite a bit online about the Philips GC026 fabric shaver - it has nearly 60,000 5-star reviews on Amazon, with its fans gushing about their clothes’ “new lease on life” and sofas that look “good as new”.
So does the Philips GC026 fabric shaver really live up to the hype? We used the popular device on a variety of goods and fabrics and created this in-depth review to help guide you to buying the right fabric shaver for you.
Here’s a quick summary of what we loved about the Philips GC026 and what we think could be improved:
Here’s what’s included in the box when we opened our brand new Philips GC026 fabric shaver:
The Philips GC026 fabric shaver comes with a 2-year manufacturer warranty. What does that cover?
Does the Philips GC026 fabric shaver make a lot of noise when in use? We measured the device in a room with 30dB ambient noise level.
All in all you probably wouldn't describe the Philips fabric shaver as “quiet”, but you don’t really need it to be. It’s also quieter than other shavers we’ve reviewed, such as the Beautural 719NA-0001.
The Philips fabric shaver’s packaging is easy to open and, for the most part, made of recycled or recyclable material. It does, however, include more single-use plastics than other devices we’ve reviewed.
The packaging includes:
We tested the Philips GC026 on multiple sweaters with varying amounts of pilling, a sofa and a hat to see if it really lives up to the hype when it comes to revitalising fabrics. Short answer: yes, it really does!
Our knitwear and sofa had a moderate amount of wear and pilling. The Philips made short work out of all of it.
Our old hat had very obvious pilling from over three years of use and perhaps less than ideal storage conditions. The first pass of the Philips fabric shaver took off at least 80% of the pilling and lint on the hat. After that first pass we had to take a closer look at the fabric to spot any remaining bobbles. After a subsequent pass with the Philips our hat looked almost good as new.
We went from seriously thinking about chucking it into the donation bin to having an almost good as new hat.
Our first impressions of the Philips were that it was made of relatively sturdy plastic - just don’t expect it to survive a high fall unscathed.
The device is well-designed in general. Its size and shape is easy and comfortable to hold in the hand, reducing fatigue and strain if you’re shaving larger pieces of fabric like a blanket or sofa. It’s also easy to turn on and off.
With its larger surface area, the Philips shaver worked quite quickly so using it on larger articles of clothing or a sofa wasn’t an arduous chore. The multiple hole sizes on the blade guard also helps it work more efficiently than other fabric shavers as it can remove both large and small bobbles in one pass.
Adjusting the blade guard is easy. Twisting the guard changes the height between the guard and the blades, which allows you to work on more delicate fabrics such as wool as well as heavier, sturdier knits.
The biggest downside to the Philips fabric shaver is what happens after you’ve refreshed your knits. The biggest con with this device is that while the lint container holds a large amount of fuzz and is easy to remove and replace, that large size makes it more difficult to clean.
Simply tipping the container over and shaking it will get the majority of the lint out, but there will usually be a little bit left at the bottom. To help with this, Philips included a small brush you can use to sweep out the leftover bobbles. However, this brush isn’t long enough to reach all the way to the bottom of the container.
The other downside is that the easy-to-hold shape isn’t the most stable when you set it down on the counter. It tends to rock side to side if you put it on its back.
Are any of these “problems” real issues with the Philips GC026 fabric shaver? No, not really. Does it really matter to you if there’s a bit of lint left in the bottom of the bin or if you need to store it on its side when you put it away?
Probably not. It’s not something that bothers us, anyway. A fabric shaver isn’t something we plan to keep out on display in our home.
So, is the internet’s favourite fabric shaver worth a purchase? Yes, it is absolutely worth buying. It works incredibly well, it’s pretty quiet, won’t take forever to finish a job and works on all sorts of different fabrics. Plus you can get it in three different colours. It is more than worth its £13 price tag (depending on which colour you want. We got blue).
We highly recommend the Philips GC026 fabric shaver for anyone who would want to help keep their jumpers, upholster, blankets or any other fabric looking refreshed and in good condition.
Our editors have independently selected and reviewed all of the products you see here. The reviews can contain links from affiliates, which means we may receive a small commission on editorially chosen products purchased through our links.
