What causes those tiny holes in your t-shirt?
Have you ever noticed those pesky little holes - located right about where your navel is - in your favourite t-shirt and wondered how they got there? Theories on the Internet include silverfish and moths as the culprits, but it doesn’t add up, as why would these critters choose to chomp away on that particular part of your t-shirt? Other theories include the rough-and-tumble of the washer or dryer. A work colleague suggested that using his t-shirt to unscrew twist-tops has led to the little holes appearing in his t-shirts.
Another theory includes your t-shirt constantly rubbing against the button on your jeans or pants, and the constant friction leading to the t-shirt deteriorating in that particular area. The same has been said about belt buckles rubbing against the t-shirt, ultimately causing the holes to appear over time.
However, individuals on forums discussing this strange phenomenon claim to have little holes in their sport t-shirts, which they don’t wear with a belt, or jeans with a button.
So what is most likely causing these annoying little holes?
Two commonly accepted theories include friction from the car seatbelt and the t-shirt rubbing against the kitchen benchtop (if your benchtop has a square edge, probably not so much of an issue if your benchtop is curved). The seatbelt theory could also explain why holes may be appearing in your children’s t-shirts near their belly button, as the benchtop is probably a little high for them.
One way to overcome the rubbing against the kitchen bench is to pop on an apron whenever you go into the kitchen to prepare food.
Another suggestion was to simply tuck the front of the t-shirt into your pants before preparing food or washing up dishes in the kitchen (otherwise known as the ‘front-tuck’). It might be 'so 2016', but it could save your t-shirts in the long run.
