Comments on: The Holey T-Shirt Mystery

By: Tania

Tania — Tue, 06 Dec 2022 07:01:59 +0000

If your holes are only in cotton, not blends, or if you see bug, beetle or moth around, or if it happens in one residence and not another, it’s a clear indicator of larvae feeding on your clothes. I was drawn to this page to find out why one area. It could be that secretions and sweat build up in this area, and attract the larvae. Or another theory is that this area gets stretched out and thinner and is easier for the larvae to eat.

By: DINA D

DINA D — Tue, 03 May 2016 20:14:00 +0000

If it’s insects why in the same area? Why not all the shirts? It’s just weird. I always cursed, because all my cotton shirts having holes and they are new. Tried cheap and expensive shirts, all the same. I feel it’s most probably the jeans and seat belt. It’s just annoying, I don’t like to wear shirts with holes.

By: Alice

Alice — Mon, 02 May 2016 15:48:13 +0000

Nope,
not the jeans,
not the buttons,not the belt,
I don’ t have grandkids yet,
isn’t the countertop,
I have been in my house 16years,
I have “eaten way” type holes, probably much like “use holes”, around 2-4mm
and ALWAYS in the same area –slightly below navel area ….often on my right side !?
I haven’t noticed new holes since I sprayed my closet against moths…will see this summer perhaps when I plan to buy a few new tops.
I have just laid down a periphery of Diatomaceous “dust “on my closet floor…. no other closet has had this problem- not any on my husband’s shirts.. .. .and I have tried to not put back anything which is NOT freshly laundered .. in the past, I had often rehung blouses only worn a bit ( no perspiration).
I am convinced it is from an insect.

For holes– or weak spots–to form, one must rub the same area over and over again–not my case .
A REAL Mystery !

YEs,Iwear almost exclusively cotton

By: Elena

Elena — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 06:36:18 +0000

I think the lickety-clip woman is right. It’s the way the nub on the button tab of jeans sticks out, combined with manufacture methods that are much cheaper and low-quality. Hear me out: Even if you wear yoga pants and not jeans, the belly area endures abrasion against counters, seat belts, cross-body purses… when the cotton is low-grade short fiber, ANY abrasion will wear a hole through pretty quickly. I’ve examined these holes with a light behind them, and they are all within a 3 square inch area and some are in their nascent stages, where the knit has thinned out in spots but the wear remains invisible until the last threads finally fray and a hole appears.

I don’t have granite counters, but my counters are steel, a hard surface. Any kitchen counter is a hard surface, when you consider hardware on your clothes combined with cheap cottons. That could do it.

Incidentally, I’m in my 50s, and this problem started when I was around 40-45. I lived in what I know now to be halcyon days, a happy place during happy times, blissfully ignorant and unaware of little holes in T-shirts, until the Aughts. This holy-T-shirt phenomenon is definitely a recent development.

By: Jonboy

Jonboy — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 14:46:11 +0000

Has to be from jeans/ belt buckles..work in the coal mines and almost only wear overalls and dont have this problem on any of my work shirts. Almost every one of my good shirts has this because i constantly wear (you guessed it) jeans and belts. I think its from rubbing against stuff with a belt on or even pinching the shirt between the buckle and the prong.. i grimmace at the idea of silverfish in fact im pretty sure ive never seen a silverfish.

By: Scooter

Scooter — Sun, 23 Aug 2015 20:13:00 +0000

It’s belts and zippers and buttons, OH MY! I’m a 4’10” bartender. I am CONSTANTLY tip-toeing to hand cocktails over certain areas of the bar where I am rubbing up against the freezer or the beer cooler or the wooden rail. Metal belt buckle + cotton + metal &/or wood = tiny holes. NONE of my PJ’s have this problem nor do any of the shirts I wear with skirts. Obviously the thinner/cheaper the material the less friction it takes to produce these tiny mystery holes. My husband is a foot taller and several of his T-shirts he wears with a belt & jeans have these hole as well. But his dress shirts & bowling style shirts have none.

By: Priscilla DePetris

Priscilla DePetris — Tue, 04 Aug 2015 01:44:19 +0000

I thought it only happened to me, and it all started about 5 years ago. Every top I bought would get holes in them, mostly in the front, some in the back. I think it is mostly cheap, too thin material that is causing most of the problem. I have bought Lucky Brand, Ralph Lauren, Guess, etc. and they all do the same thing. I have resorted to second hand shops now for tops, cheaper and if they get holes in it, oh well, I only lost a few dollars.

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 08 Jul 2015 13:06:00 +0000

I have this on 5 Ralph Lauren T Shirts, I’m going back to the outlet in Kent England on Friday to see what they will do about this, have tried to call them for 2 weeks but no one answers.

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 13:23:52 +0000

We moved to Florida eight years ago and that is when the holes in our clothing began. We have lived in three different houses. I saw a silverfish in the first house. I did not know at the time that it was a silverfish though. I killed it and thought that was an odd looking bug. There were a lot of new bugs I was encountering here in Florida. We built our house two years ago and we are still experiencing holes. I think they have moved with us from home to home. Time to exterminate.

By: Debra

Debra — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 13:24:29 +0000

Although it’s a bit suspicious that it’s always in the same area-below the belt line.