So, you have a favourite cashmere cardi, a really cosy one. The elbows are thinning a little, but there's plenty of wear in it. You notice a few bobbles on the sleeves and reach for the battery-operated-de-fuzzer-thing. The one that came with a plastic shield that fitted over the whirring part that you apply to the fabric. You know, the bit you chucked in the back of the drawer because you couldn't see the point of it.
Turns out the point is to stop the woolly thinness from being sucked into the whirring part. The part that rips holes in tender cashmere.
Iron-on patches to the rescue. Not exactly good as new, but better than the hot water bottle cover it is one day destined to become.
Note to self: stop being so gung-ho with power tools. It'll end in tears.