What is causing those tiny little holes in your clothes?

You take a shirt out of your closet and you notice that it has a few of those teeny tiny holes. Sound familiar? You might think it was a hungry moth or perhaps it just the sharp edge of your belt buckle, but the culprit is probably neither.

So, who or what is the culprit then? Dutch magazine Libelle did some research in cooperation with the Textielmuseum (Textile Museum). The answer? The quality of the thread is to blame. A T-shirt is usually made of single jersey; in other words, a fabric made with one thread. If a thin thread breaks, it leaves a hole in the fabric immediately.

T-shirts that are fabricated with two threads will not develop holes so easily, but since this type of fabric is more expensive, many clothing manufacturers choose to work with only a single thread anyway. Holes that appear around your belly button probably are caused by a belt buckle or other sharp edges such as a table or kitchen counter. So be careful! Holes appearing in clothing is something many people experience, according to the Dutch TV show Radar (Avrotros) that investigated the matter. This caused an avalanche of reactions as even the experts that were consulted blamed the quality of the clothes as a result of “fast fashion” (rapidly changing collections).

Want to save this article for later? Pin it on Pinterest!