How do you remove rolled-up balls of yarn on fabric?

I've been using a body pillow for a while now, but after a long time, there are now small balls of yarn or something stuck to the cover of the body pillow near my feet. I can pull them out easily, but there are so many of them and there are so small it would be very time consuming. If anyone knows what I'm talking about, is there an effective and easy way to remove these small balls?