My husband and I have noticed the t shirts are thinner. We stopped buying old navy a few years ago cause of it. Old navy socks after a few washed the elastic is bad. I wear mostly jeans.
Sometimes I wear yoga pants they have no buttons. My husbands holes are by a shirt pocket in the back or top or bottom. My lilly jeans ripped after I went back to persil with in two months like they were dry rotted. I think the detergents are breaking down the clothes and they are made cheaper. I am seeeking a detergent that will not break down the clothes no optical brightner.
I was making my own soap with fels napa and borax and washing soda. I didn't use it long so I can't say if that is better. I have never found stink bugs in my closet just at windows sills. I separate all the jeans and undoes and t shirts into different loads towels also. We use all natural soaps like california baby and cleary natural body soaps. So I don't think its chemicals from body washes. Any other ideas? Is it hard water? Is it detergent? Is it manufacturing? Lower on the list countertops, seat belts, bugs.
It happens in summer and winter so coat or no coat zippers. We have five kids and this is getting crazy expensive. I don;t want my family walking aorund with holes. My son came home from school and said everyone t shirts are like that. I said great!! Never ever come across this before What are Stink Bugs? I've not heard of them in the UK?
Presume you've tried hanging moth prevention things in wardrobes etc. How very strange, I doubt its the washing powder or machine at all. Has any one tried putting these questions to any of the bigger laundry manufacturers I am sure they will have seen it all.
We have never experienced this I'm afraid. I'll go off to google what eats cotton? Well, I live in Spain and since moving here I've had the problem of little holes in cotton Tshirts, always in the same place, around the waist. I don't have rough edges to my kitchen worktops, my house floors are all marble and it's not the seatbelts in my car as my partner doesn't have this problem and we share driving.
I'm at my wits end over this as I'm afraid to buy new stuff. So: it's not counter edges, belt buckles, carpets or detergents. Hubby and I both have experienced this. Both of us have shirts that have holes behind the neck and around the belly button and below. Hubby rarely is at the counter.
When did clothing become so delicate and fragile that they cant hold up to simple household chores? I don't know the answer as to what is causing it, but I sure would love to know!
Read the story at the following link. Why is everyone so convinced that it could not possibly be the fault of the manufacturer? Abrasion does not create small holes in clothes, it causes wear and thinning. And if the clothes haven't even been washed yet, how could they conceivably be affected by wear? I have had this problem many times recently with clothes from various manufacturers.
One of my daughter's dresses had a series of HUGE holes all through one tier of a multi-tiered dress. I would suggest that the problem is moth damage to the fabric prior to being sewn at the factory. The reason why it would occur on specific parts of the clothes is that the pieces are laid out and cut in a row in exactly the same way.
If one area of the fabric that was exposed for longest at the factory happened to be the part that was used for this area of the clothing, this is the pattern one would see.
Sometimes the holes probably don't show until the clothes have been washed a worn a few times - when the weakened fabric finally tears. Don't let it come out of your own pocketbook!
We all need to return these clothes to the store where we bought them immediately and demand a refund. This is the fault of the producers not belly button bugs - come on, people! Now that I see how common this problem is, I am that much more determined not to put up with it. One more thing - many people have posted on the web that they have found the culprit to be kitchen counter tops or some other abrasive surface that they are leaning against. I find this hard to believe. I've been cooking for years that this only began happening in the past 5 or so.
All my older shirts are fine. If these holes are from factory moth damage, it is likely that they are showing up more in areas of high abrasion. The weakened fabric tears more easily in those places because it endures extra wear. This is the manufacturer's problem folks. It makes me angry that we are so willing find any way to blame ourselves even when it doesn't make sense. I wish we could identify the country or origin that this is most commonly a problem with.
Or perhaps the country that the fabric was manufactured in an almost impossible task. I am wondering if anybody can help me. The water is terrible here. It has high levels of iron and manganese. We also found thru formal testing that chloramines were present.
Now, I'm not sure if they are naturally occuring or if someone shocked the well with a strong chlorine mixture. There is no chlorine odor in our water but it smells like iron.
The water, for some reason, is eating holes in my son's cloth diapers. It is mostly the cotton prefolds. For some reason, the microfiber inserts are fine. There is also a lot of blackish staining on our light colored clothes, towells and the diapers as well. Dark clothes seem to be fine, although my husband did a load of laundry last week and several garmets came out with what looked like bleach spots. We don't use bleach anymore because it oxidizes the iron in the water.
And I never used to use much bleach when we lived in town. My hubby thought I was crazy at first. I am also starting to see some holes in my hubby's Tshirts and some towells. I have this problem in almost every top I wear. The top of waistband right above the button hole area is a corner of fabric that is stiff, sometimes curls forward. Also it is an area where one frequently sprays stain treatments. It happens mostly on knits, they are stretchy therefore maintain snugness against that pointy area.
Now what is a solution? I don't think it has anything to do with laundry, maybe another article of clothing that is rough.
I would think about something around the home or your job that you lean against that is making the holes. I make sure my zippers are closed and my bras snapped. I have nothing with Velcro on them. Maybe it is those cloths that have the little hooks all over them.. Sorry I have forgotten what you call them. It has to be the washing machine, I just discovered this thread after posting about just purchasing a TL Speed Queen washer. I have read elsewhere that the speed of the spin cycles and pushes thin materials into the holes of the drums and this causes the tears.
One must definitely rule out countertops as last I checked our 4 month old cant do dishes yet and a lot of her clothes have gotten holes in them only after washing them. I guess we'll find out if our old FL was the culprit as we just purchased a TL machine. I think it is a combo of fine spray of bleach or related cleaner, or battery acid is a possibility. While changing or checking oil in the car some fine particles of the corrosive powder sometimes on the battery terminals can inadvertently get on a mechanics or your clothing, be transferred to a seatbelt Bd go invisibly unnoticed until it eats away tiny holes.
I have some friends that were having this issue. They thought it was their laundry detergent, so switched. Then thought it was their washer or drier, but have since bought new. Now they believe is is the ogee edge on their granite. They noticed the upper square portion wasn't as polished as another friend's counter and believe that to be the cause.
They are going to see if they can get someone to come polish it better. I'll post the outcome here :. I have had the holes in shirts problem for years.
I think my problem is part of two habits I have. I pull my shirts to stretch them out a bit because I don't like them to be too tight in the waist area and I lean on the counter when I do my makeup and dishes. I have worked to change my habits and always place a hand towel on the counter when I do my makeup to lean on it to get closer to the mirror and I try not to stretch at my shirts.
I have noticed a considerable difference since changing my behavior. Just seems to work for me. Used to happen to me also. It stopped when I stopped washing anything with zippers in the same wash load. Don't understand why it was always at the waistline though. But it hasn't happened since I made the change years ago! I've been reading all these posts and some of them are quite entertaining.
Yeah, I know, I could be out in the garden, but it's raining okay? But that rain is another topic I plan to discuss because we've been getting a lot of it and my tomato leaves are curling. Back to the holes in shirts. I get those holes too, right at where I lean against the sink to wash dishes, etc. I use bleach water to wipe down all the formica counters after all is cleaned up. I honestly think that's it. Machine drying will shrink and spoil it.
Rayon is best ironed when damp or wet. You can spray water onto the garment while ironing or iron it just before it is completely dry. You will need a sharp needle and a thread the same color as your dress. Make sure to use a thin thread. Turn your rayon dress inside out. This is the best way to sew by hand. It hides your stitches from view on the right side of the dress.
To fix the hole, make your stitches just slightly away from the hole. This ensures that you have a stable stitch. Stitching directly on the hole can cause your stitches to hold loosely and come off. Sew to the end of the hole, making small firm and tight stitches. In the end, finish sewing slightly beyond the hole to make a firm knot with your stitches.
Confirm that you have properly sewn the hole in your rayon dress. If this is so, cut off the excess threads if there are any. This helps to keep your dress neat and repair stitches invisible. Rayon easily shrinks when washed.
This is why it is best washed with cold water and by hand. It also requires a mild detergent to wash. You may unknowingly machine wash and dry your rayon dress which causes shrinkage.
How will you unshrink it? You will add a tablespoon of baby shampoo or hair conditioner to about a liter of water. Soak your shrunken rayon garment into the water for up to 30 minutes. Get it out of the water then leave it to dry. For the best results, let it air-dry. While the garment is still damp, try and stretch it back to its original size.
Then leave it to dry completely. Once it is dry, confirm that it is back to its original size. This will help to reduce the remaining shrinkage and get it back to its original or near the original size.
Rayon easily absorbs moisture from the atmosphere which causes it to become longer. You can use the iron-on-mending fabric available in stores for this same purpose.
This fabric comes with adhesive on one side. The disadvantage is that this method is not suitable for synthetic fabrics like polyester, nylon or even rayon or use with ultra caution. You will have to ever so lightly stretch the hole as you press so that the loose threads will adhere to the interfacing underneath.
Use a pressing cloth between the fabric and iron to prevent press marks. If the tear is longer without too much depth you can use the fusible interfacing underneath and then use joining stitches to join the edges together as in a butt seam. Use a very closely matched colour thread to stitch this. You can use zigzag stitches to butt the seam. If you have a long tear, another option is to keep the fabric edges right sides together and sew them together as if it is a seam.
This works better with patterned or textured fabric as the seam will not be very visible. You will have to stitch very close to the fabric edges and even closer near the tips, like you are sewing a dart. Now open it up and press. Finish the fabric edges with fray check sealant or small whip stitches, otherwise, before long the tear will open up again. Sometimes you cannot bother to sew or the rip is in an area you simply cannot sew, like in a sofa, car seats. The mending glue can be used to mend seam rips like that of a ripped open pocket.
You will have to keep the area tightly clamped overnight after a generous application of the glue and not wash it for a day or so for proper adherence. There are special fabric glues that can seal the small tears on fabric almost invisibly.
A waterproof layer is formed by the glue as soon as it is applied on the fabric surface. This can be a solution for repairing small tears when you have no option to use any of the options given above and below. If the rip is on a seam, you can machine stitch easily enough — just sew the seam with a straight stitch remembering to anchor thread with back stitches at the starting and ending so that stitching would not get undone.
Here are the 19 ways to sew a seam. If your seam is anything other than the normal variety you will need to read the post.
But what if you are in a place with no sewing machine in sight — just take out your sewing emergency kit -thread your needle and make a ladder stitch. Ladder stitch is a pretty cool hand stitch which makes your stitching invisible. Check out the posts on the 17 best ways to sew seams , flat fell seam used on jeans, shirts etc, How to sew a ladder stitch , 9 basic and easy to do hand stitches and invisible stitches for more details.
When you say Invisible mending, it is invisible darning that is at the heart of it. Darning will replace the fabric fibers which are missing. Learn more in detail with step by step instructions about Darning here.
You can use hand sewing needle and thread or a sewing machine with a darning foot to make the darning stitches. You can also use decorative stitches like an arrowhead stitch or other filling stitches to cover the rips and tears. You can find instructions to make this stitch here.
Best clothing patch is fabric taken from the garment itself. Self-fabric for the patching can be taken from anywhere there is excess fabric like a wide turned hem, facing, extra-wide seam allowance. With clever invisible stitching, no one will be the wiser about the hole after you have done patching. Calico patching refers to patching fabric with a similar cloth as the base fabric. Print patching involves patches which have to be matched and is done on patterned and chequered fabric.
This is a method of machine darning. My favourite method of sewing the clothing patches involves combining darning stitches with the patch.
Keep a correctly matching colour fabric of the same weight or a knit fabric under the hole, use your free motion stitching skills or straight stitches or zig zag stitches and a matching thread — run the stitches over the hole stitch from the top just like the thread is woven in the fabric- till you are sure the whole hole is covered.
If it is a matching fabric it will look almost invisible. Sometimes a whole section of the clothing is replaced with another piece of clothing Patch — others will never guess that this was done because you wanted to mend a tear.
They will just think you are fashionable or quirky, depending on the way you have sewn it or the way they look at it. Ready made patches. You can also buy the ready made assorted clothing patches available at stores. These come in sizes like 5 x 5 inches and can be applied easily enough.
You just need to iron on them. I have shirts that are years older then my Loft ones that have no holes. I bought 3 tee shirts there recently and I wore 2 of them and the first time I washed them I got holes in that area! I called the store manager and told her about it and she refunded my money over the phone. I was ready to buy a new washer and dryer until I found this article!
Yes, loft cotton tops are very thin and get the holes the most. The problem is a new one. Never had an issue until manufacturers started cutting corners and apparently using much cheaper, or considerably less durable materials. I can literally start out wearing a t-shirt and within an hour or two, see the abrasion from my jeans button area rubbing that area raw because the material changes color from the friction.
Then, boom…tiny hole. This is what I have to do? Are you kidding me? All price points and many brands suffer from this. No more disposable clothes, please! I have lots of tees both inexpensive and expensive. Many of them have these small holes near the belly. I only wear workout pants. I think there is a new breed of cloth eating insect. I have noticed on my dark T-shirts that there is a very fine cloud present On the fabric where the holes start.
I also notice very tiny white specs are constantly present on my T-shirts. I would love to know if other people have noticed this. I noticed yesterday the black has a cloud present near the button of my shorts. Today, I noticed the white shirt with a small pin hole coming on.
I just received these like a week ago, and wore them times. Come on, and I can only wear it one time before I get a hole. Interesting… after reading the article I have come to realise the pin holes near my belly button are from wearing and over body bag. I wonder if you are wearing a handbag that sits under you arm?
Something is up. I bought several Old Navy t-shirts earlier this year, and most all of them have the tiny holes in the front now. I first noticed this happening to my jersey t-shirt material shirts in Okay, I am not going to address the issue of holes in shirts, but you mentioned the sticky residue that happens if you wash a band-aid with clothing. I retired a few years ago after teaching kindergarten and first grade for years so I had lots of times forgotten that I had a band-aid or sticker on my shirt or in my pocket.
It is a citrus oil based spray. It even removed the sticky residue after I had tumble dried a shirt! The spray comes in handy to get out oily or greasy spots as well. Thanks you! I am an elementary teacher and have small children. My solution for holes in my shirts is simple. Either make a buttonhole or cut a slit for a button hole at the top. Before fastening your jeans, put the fabric over your buttonhole with the longest part going up. After fastening your button, pull the piece of fabric over your jeans waistband and down over your button.
Presto, the offending area is covered up without wearing another shirt. Knits work well, or even light weight felt. I only wear certain shirts for work because I know this will happen!
Funny, the polyester work shirts I wear OVER my t-shirts never had this problem, only the t-shirts do. It is the lousy fabric they use now. Cheap and thin. Exactly, I agree, i also have my merinos getting holes and i think the buttons, zips , and rivets are much sharper than they used to be, and the fabrics are crap. Never had this problem years ago.
Finding holes in every top I buy after months is driving me mad. In that time I have changed washing machines, dryers and washing powder. Still it happens. When I google the problem I am told its my jeans, zips, metal buttons or belts. That is plainly not true because it happens to my pj tops and I tend to wear pull on leggings nowadays which contain neither.
If it was due to poor fabric or moths the holes would appear all over the item. It doesnt happen to my husbands tops so its not caused by a large belly. Maybe I have fabric eating bugs living in my bellybutton! This issue has nothing to do with jeans or friction on the bottom of the T. None of them make it to the next season.
This is horrible for the planet—all the Co2 released in the making, the dyes, the landfills. Not to mention my wallet. What can we as consumers do? Refuse to buy crappy products. My new t-shirts, anything knit actually, gets holes in the first few months or even washes. And why the belly button area specifically escapes me. I even got a hole in a LLBean fleece pullover. The type of pants appear to be irrelevant. Also, it is hypocritical of the merchants to manufacture inferior quality shirts to wear out quickly and induce customers buy more, and request a donation at checkout to plant trees as Eddie Bauer does in the name of conservation.
Ladies, none of the above has been the problem with all the holes in my tops! What is actually causing the holes is the zipper pull. Of course, standing in front of a countertop, etc. We need the manufacturers of jeans to put a different type of zipper pull rounded and smooth and also make the flap of denim fabric wider over the zipper itself.
In addition to the holes, many of my tops also pill only after a few wears, no matter how expensive they are. I think we women should revolt against this. My husband never has this problem with his shirts! I just found this site because I had to find out about theses little holes. There always in the same area for me at the bottom side and belly button area. It could be my washing machine? Not sure. But I think it because I have hairy stomach and chest which I shave a lot!
I think we need to return the merchandise as defective. I put on a brand new tee this morning and by 1 pm I can see holes start to form. Buy it wear it for a time or two, at first sight of holes exchange it. Continue doing so. The only thing that will affect the quality of the shirts is if they stop making profits from them. Do you ladies have granite counter-tops? But only when I wore my favorite leather belt. And diligently wearing an apron. After 5 years of patching annoying pinholes, thanks to this post and others, for me the mystery is solved.
I am just the right height to lean up against them at the belly button. My husband is taller, so they hit him at a lower spot, lower than the button or zipper pull on the jeans. As has been mentioned, this is a fabric problem. I never had holes in my shirts years ago, tucked or untucked and have been a jeans and t-shirt girl since jr high. Damned near 50 years ago. Not sure how to mitigate the problem since it seems to be relatively new, other than boycott t-shirts.
One store mentioned it had to do with the poor cotton quality coming from Asia. Can you elaborate on the moth larvae? I have about 20 cotton t shirt style shirts that have numerous holes on the bottom front of each one. I do believe something is eating them but I have not found any bugs.
I am at my wits end! Every new blouse I purchased this summer has been ruined. Looking for information. My thoughts have always been that the manufacturers weave material with a flaw in it, So we have to continually keep buying. If the fabric was rounded instead of coming to a point it would help a lot. You featured the Beltaway belt years ago and I bought two—one black and one blue—that are still going strong!
They are awesome! I wear them with jeans and dress pants that poke out beneath untucked smooth tops or when I lost some weight and the waistband was too wide. They work great and are barely visible and are so comfortable. I never got chance to thank you for this great product recommendation, but I always think of you when I wear them. Thanks a bunch. I have had to throw away dozens of tops some quite expensive ones , over the last few years, this problem now makes me want to weep with frustration!
The problem benefits clothes manufacturers, since we have to buy so many more products than otherwise! Reporting back, I have tried Shirt Guardian and Hole.
Neither of them works. The Shirt Guardian button covers fall off continuously so I gave up, even the Hole ones come off now and again. Even with the Hole, I still get new holes. Hi all, I was having a conversation with my mom about this. She jokingly accused me of possibly having belly button fungus, haha. Then, she noticed the same was happening to her shirts.
Anyways, she is a seamstress and concluded that this is done by the manufacturers knowingly or unknowingly. When they transfer the shirts in large bundles they either staple them or pin them together somehow.
By doing this it tears through the fibers breaking them and only after the shirts are washed is it apparent because of the fabric shrinking. Thanks for this awesome post, my Hole arrived today along with the repair iron on materials!
Really hope these solve my problems!! I have Calvin Klein camis that are YEARS old that I wear under lots of shirts and they have been washed and worn hundreds of times and look the same as when I opened the package. I have cheap Gap shirts that are ten years old — no holes. There has been a compromise on their knit fabrics. Also, I have bought down coats from EB in the last few years where the down works its way through the outer shell and looks cheap.
I keep buying new ones from them and the same thing has been happening. It is very very upsetting. They also have been out sourcing to the Philippians and when you have a problem with an order it usually gets unresolved.
This is very sad because it has taken me a very very long time to find tea shirts with nice colors that fit and look good. I think now I finally understand that it is not do to a moth in my closet. I do not wear jeans, have no belts and there are no buttons. I just wear stretch pants and it still happens so there goes the theory that it is the button or belt on your jeans. Time to shop elsewhere. Agree about Eddie Bauer. For me, the problem happens with cotton T-shirts and with synthetic tops made by Rohan I wear a lot of Rohan clothes.
On examination, the abrasion is on the outside. The solution may be to get a dishwasher. I think this is the case! Also when washing my hands at various restaurant sinks. I just do the half tuck. Ugh my shirts too — and in summer I wear linen shorts and still they get the pin holes. Eddie Bauer shirts and today a Pendleton t shirt.
I think crappy thin fabric. Really sad. Well, at least as it applies to men. I kept getting these pinholes on all my shirts and they would show up sometimes after the first time wearing a brand new shirt. I then realized the post on my belt buckles do not sit flush. Ironically, digging deeper, I was getting holes from regular daily activities, but the overwhelming majority came from my seatbelt pressing my shirt against the belt buckle post while driving.
Yes, I know.
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