Mystery holes in my shirts!

For the last three or four years, I have been finding holes in my shirts. They are mostly thin, cotton shirts, and the holes are appearing in the same spot almost every time (bottom, front, near my belly button). I am running out of money buying new shirts all of the time. Where are they coming from?

My Quest to Solve the Mystery

Since discovering the clusters of tiny holes in my shirts, I have heard many theories as to what might be causing them. My husband thought it was the seat belts in my car, and I thought it might be my washing machine. My friend said that she thought there was no way it could be the washing machine because the holes are always in the same place. It was beginning to get expensive, and frustrating as I was going through this endless cycle of buying shirts, finding holes, and buying new shirts to replace them. It was particularly frustrating when I bought a new shirt that I loved and it seemed as soon as I washed it the first time, it had holes in it. That was agony.

But, it seemed that no one had experienced the same agony as I, until a few weeks ago. At a birthday party that I was attending, the hostess and I were casually discussing her purchase of a new washing machine, when she told me that the reason she bought it was because she thought that it was causing these strange holes in her t-shirts. I couldn't believe my ears! I thought that I was the only person to be experiencing the "mystery of the holey shirts", and it was beginning to drive me crazy. But, finally, there was someone else who was experiencing the same thing. She hadn't had the washer long enough to determine if it had been the cause or not, but it got me thinking. If there was someone else, another person being driven crazy by the mystery of the holeyness, then there must be others out there.

So, I decided to do a Google search, and to my amazement, up popped 10,300,000 results! Of the links that I chose, most just repeated the same old, tired thoughts that had been running frustratingly through my mind for a long, long time (washer, drier, seat-belt, zipper on my jeans). A few of the links presented new theories, with many commenters chiming in with their rebuttals and opinions. This is really an epidemic!

Of all of the theories that I saw; from moths to jean buttons, and even shirts getting pinched by dumbells at the gym, the theory that made the most sense (in my case, anyway) was my kitchen counter. Many people were coming to the conclusion that they were leaning against their granite counter tops, which were causing the button of their jeans to rub through the shirt and against the edge of the counter, which caused the holes. There were a few people (seems that these commenters and posters are mostly women, by the way) who did not have granite counter tops, but the majority did.

Because I do have granite counter tops in my kitchen, the holes are located exactly where the counter hits my belly, and I realized that I do spend quite a bit of time leaning against the counter in my kitchen doing dishes and cooking, I decided that this was most likely my problem. It just makes the most sense. But, in order to find out for sure, I need to test the theory and try to prevent getting the holes. This needs to be done either by not leaning on the counter, or wearing something to protect my clothes from rubbing on the counter. I am more aware now, but most of the time it is done out of habit, and I don't even realize that I have been doing it until it's too late. So, I have decided to wear a thick apron. I bought a nice quality, canvas apron in navy blue, and I love it! It makes me feel all "nineteen-fifties housewife" and stuff (yeah-right). Now, if I can just remember to wear it each and every time every time I am in the kitchen....

It has been a couple of weeks, and I have not noticed any new holes. But, it is still too soon to tell. I hope that there is someone out there who can benefit from some of this information, and/or who can tell us a story about their own experiences regarding the secrets of the mysterious holes.

It has been a little over two weeks since I began testing my theory, and it seems to be holding up! I have not seen any new holes since then. My next move will be to buy an awesome new unholy shirt and keep my fingers crossed, and my apron on...

I'll let you know how it goes!

From what I have been reading on other websites and forums, it seems that the subject of the quality of our clothes has come up. Some have said that the quality of the shirts available to us has gone down. The fabric is thinner, and therefore, it stands to reason that this may be part of the problem. One of the questions that I had with the counter top theory was - if it is the counter top, why did the holes begin to appear in the last 4 or years or so? I have lived in the same house for 17 years.

This would answer that question. If the quality of the shirts that I purchase has dissipated in the last 4 years, they may wear down more easily than the shirts that I owned previously.

It may also be the stores that I purchase my shirts from now. I have noticed that the holes showed up more quickly on the shirts that I bought from Old Navy than on my Nike t-shirts, although almost all of my shirts eventually show these holes.

Could it be that the quality of the clothing that we buy in the US (and even around the world) has declined in the past few years? I have been living in the same house for 17 years, and didn't have this problem until fairly recently.

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