You can safely handle your film with cotton gloves ONCE THEY ARE DRY. Until then, only handle them with bare fingers or non-powder coated nylon or rubber gloves but hold them by edges only. Never touch the image area of the negatives especially when it's wet. They are soft and delicate when they are wet. You can easily damage them.
As to your current problem, soak in water for a while, let those fibers fall off on their own in water, then photoflo....
You can sometimes get away with very gentle rubbing with your bare fingers under water but you are taking risks when you do this. It's a last resort type method.