The real cause of the little holes in your t-shirts is …

One of life’s great summer mysteries – that seems to come up more when we’re wearing thin fabrics.  How is it that shirts get those little holes around the waist?    For years I thought I had a bug problem, and blamed microscopic insects for eating my shirts through summer.  But it turns out it is simply not the case.  

It’s not moths eating your finer fabrics nor silverfish in your cupboards and no amount of  camphor or store bought moth preventer will cure it.  

The problem is your jeans or pants. Yes, folks! It is that simple. Your jeans are damaging your tops.

The small holes are caused by your tops sitting on top of the hard surfaces of your jeans, in which you bump up against tables tops and counter tops.  Seatbelts too rub on the similar point of your shirt and if they have hard edges can do damage in a similar way. Small threads break in the tops from the rubbing of everyday life and when the tops are washed the threads pull back. It is even worse if you use a dryer as the threads contract further.

You can do your own experiment – wear a shirt for a week untucked from your jeans then take a good look at it for small holes around the top area where it covers the button region of your jeans.  Put it in the washer and dryer and you’ll see the holes widen quickly.  

Or wear a shirt for a week, and tuck the front of the shift into your jeans – you won’t get holes.

The solutions to this problem are:

1. Wear pants with no buttons i.e. exercise pants, leggings, and similar.

2. Tuck your shirts into your buttoned pants at the front (even if you don’t tuck the sides and back).

3. When you wash your shirts, try to resist using the dryer as it adds to any damage that has been done.  Hang your shirts instead.  

Have you had problems with holes in the front of your shirts?