Tiny holes in shirts where belly button is (Page 5)

I live in Melbourne Australia and I too have the exact same problem and can't believe how many others do. Surely such a common problem must have the same solution...... but what is it???

Thank goodness for google! It finally dawned on me to google this issue, and loh and behold I am not alone. This is a new phenomenon and as far as I know, has only happened to my t-shirts in the last 2 to 3 years and - very significant - happens only in front in the belly area. It is not from my clean bellybutton(which is mostly covered by my pants), not from bugs, not from my countertop, not from chemicals, and not from my seatbelt which fits much lower. At first I thought it was my cat, but then I figured that it must be a market conspiracy to have us buy more and more t-shirts. Seriously! We all have bought all kinds of other Chinese crap that did not live up to the performance we expected. The holes develop ONLY in the belly area, and again, this is significant. There must be a nasty little machine that tampers with our t-shirts at the end of the manufacturing process and punctures tiny holes invisible to the naked eye into every shirt that slides down the conveyer belt, and once we stretch and put the shirt on and wear it the holes become visible. I just bought several expensive James Perse shirts and one after another developed these holes after only a very short time. It seems to me that I am on the right track and this is the answer, since this phenomenon is so widespread.

Ok I have been thinking about us all having the same problem and the answer to our problem should be the same. Therefore what do we all have in common, something we all have regardless of what we drive, what we wear, where we live or how tall we are etc.... we all have belly buttons so this is where I am going to start in finding an answer.

The exact thing happens to me!!!!! I have thrown away so many tops. I thought it was my seat belt so I bought a sheepskin to wrap around... no luck. Yesterday I wore a brand new, never been washed tank top from White and Black. Really good quality, and a thicker t shirt material. I was very careful while in my husbands care with him to not let the seat belt over my tummy. I put my top over the seat belt. By the end of the day a hole!!!! This makes no sense and it doesn't seem to have an answer.....ugh... so frustrated!!

OMG! I have been complaining about this for the last several months! I had the exterminator check things out and he said it is NOT bugs. Moths leave a distinctive mark, and he check for other cloth eaters...nothing! I thought it was just my Target tanks, but now I also see the holes in my tees from Chico's.It is almost always on the white and gray shirts. My husband says it is from the button on my jeans...this is the craziest thing ever! I am so glad I'm not the only one!

I, too, have the tiny holes bottom center on my most delicate jersey shirts. I thought it was my seatbelt, but i don't drive very often. My husband has them too, on some of his white tee shirts in the same place. I'm so glad we are not alone!

My latest theory is that they are caused by a combination of two or three things, based on what I've read here:

1. Cheap, poor quality imported cloth that has been treated with chemicals
2. Some sort of chaffing object like a seat-belt, or in my case the long strap of my bags that I like to wear across my front. Possibly even the dials on the stove that hit this spot.
3. Acidic alloys in the metal from jeans buttons, belts, and the buckles on my bags.

This never used to happen so it must be caused by the increasingly poor quality of cloth. I have noticed it particularly in tissue cotton and cotton-modal blends from gap, J. Crew, and velvet, which are made to feel thinner and lighte than normal. It has not happened to any of the cotton jersey tee shirts made by Uniqlo that I own, and I have had those for over three years. They are thicker and probably not treated with chemicals.

Thanks for all of your comments, they have made me feel less alone and less crazy! I hope my suggestions are helpful for others.

I can't believe how many people are having the same problem! I'm so frustrated as well! So many of my shirts are becoming ruined lately. I agree it seems to be the thinner cotton shirts. I haven't had this problem all winter. I thought it could be my seatbelt too but there are days I've noticed them and I hadn't been in the car. I recently thought it could be when I do my make-up since I tend to lean against my sink to look in the mirror. It doesn't seem rough but my husband suggested to cover it with a towel first and that has seemed to help! We got a new vanity recently and I never had this problem before that.

I too have noticed holes in the front of my shirt, but only within the last 6 months. I've read all the post and have to add my two cents. Nothing new has changed in my home or work environment. My home is 13 yrs old, my granite counter tops are original to the home as is my washer. The cleaners I use are the same. My car is 10 yrs old and it's not the seat belts, Chevy by the way. I'm not over weight and my pants fit just fine. I do not fold my shirts, I iron them and then hang them. Holes do not appear in my husbands shirts even though we share the same walk-in closet. My son, however, recently discovered a hole in his shirt in the same location. His shirt is thinner as are all of mine. His shirt is a month old. Mine are anywhere from one month old to two years old. I wash all our shirts seperate from clothing with zippers and I wash them in cold water. What I found is that all shirts involved are made of Cotton, Rayon, Polyester, & Modal or a combination of them. They are made in China or Indonesia. Perhaps we need to start posting what the items are made of, where it was made, and what store it came from. Then possibly we can find a link. What about detergent. I have used Tide for 17 yrs. How about you? Could they have possibly changed the ingridents?

Holey up here in Northern Canada too I'm thinking its my belt. Or the seatbelt rubbing on my belt. It only happens to the shirts that I wear with jeans none of my 'comfy' tops that I wear with yoga pants, etc. and none of my pjs. Getting frustrated! Wore a brand new shirt today (GUESS brand, also noticed one of my other GUESS brand shirts is riddled with holes!! Both made in China, both cotton/modal blend) and already have 2 new holes right near my belt buckle area. >:[

I thought I was going mad! Afraid to bring this up to anyone other than my husband because I thought I was going mad, another friend has just said she has the same problem and here you all are with the same issue. I'm relieved! I was getting so annoyed with this happening to all my tops.

Started out with just my clothes in that same area - I don't wear belts and nothing rough on the top of my jeans, but the point by the button does stick out so I thought it could be this but also thought it could be hot fat splashed when I was cooking. It did happen A LOT more when I was pregnant and now reading through all your posts I think I know why! It isn't to do with how large your belly is - but how much it touches other things. With a huge preggers belly my tummy was always up against something and more often than not it was the kitchen work top. Since having my 2 kids and now back to my slim pre-pregnancy weight it is still happening. However I lean on counter tops A LOT! I'm not sure its the material of your work top, but that you're actually leaning against it and a combination of the friction/what you're wearing and if there are any cleaning chemicals or food/anything else on the work surface that your eye can't see that is causing it. It is all casual tops for me (which makes sense as I remove my formal work clothes as soon as I get in from work). As I thought it could be cooking related I had started wearing an apron more in the kitchen and found that it has helped a little.

However I've not totally ruled out seatbelts as it's also friction in the same area that could have previously come into contact with cleaning chemicals or anything else I've leaned on. Also my husbands clothes have now started to get small holes in them - all over. (Mine are still in the same one place). So it's all a bit weird and have now also considered the possibility of Silver Fish (we live in Australia) as our walk in robes are open plan and right next to our open plan bathroom. Best intentions with the fan don't always happen, but I will ensure that fan is always on and buy something to spray/hang in our wardrobes as well, just to cover all bases!!

Suffice to say I shall be watching what I lean up against and when having a coffee/glass of wino for a chat with friends/cleaning the dishes/cleaning the work tops/leaning over to help the kids sat up at the work top in the kitchen and just general leaning up against the counter, I shall now make a huge effort not to do so!!

Good Luck everyone! It's a very common problem and you're not alone!

Same problem here! : ( So frustrated!!!! Let's all post the brand names that don't have holes. I've noticed that all my shirts made in Cambodia do not have holes.

I've had the same problem for over a year. Tiny holes in my shirts hanging in the closet. They ALWAYS appear in the same are around the belly button. The holes are not being caused by seat belts, counter tops, belt buckles, etc. As a matter of fact, I have brand new tops hanging in the closet with the same results!!! Frustrating. I saw another website where one lady's husband pulled everything out of the closet and he thought carpet beetles were the culprit. They feed on pet hair, and they suggested vacuuming regularly and removing everything from closet to spray bug killer around baseboards. That's what I'm about to do!

Thank goodness for google! It finally dawned on me to google this issue, and loh and behold I am not alone. This is a new phenomenon and as far as I know, has only happened to my t-shirts in the last 2 to 3 years and - very significant - happens only in front in the belly area. It is not from my clean bellybutton(which is mostly covered by my pants), not from bugs, not from my countertop, not from chemicals, and not from my seatbelt which fits much lower. At first I thought it was my cat, but then I figured that it must be a market conspiracy to have us buy more and more t-shirts. Seriously! We all have bought all kinds of other Chinese crap that did not live up to the performance we expected. The holes develop ONLY in the belly area, and again, this is significant. There must be a nasty little machine that tampers with our t-shirts at the end of the manufacturing process and punctures tiny holes invisible to the naked eye into every shirt that slides down the conveyer belt, and once we stretch and put the shirt on and wear it the holes become visible. I just bought several expensive James Perse shirts and one after another developed these holes after only a very short time. It seems to me that I am on the right track and this is the answer, since this phenomenon is so widespread.

After reading all this cause I too am a victim! lol, I wear A t shirt un tucked, and when I am in the kitchen washing up, my belt buckle (the bit that actually goes through the notches, is perfect height with the counter, Im obviously leaning forward and putting pressure on that area, thus making the holes, as they are all in that area. i am going to start tucking in my top when washing up and hopefully, that will be the end of that. Obviously, some people are taller\smaller and work surfaces are different heights so check the area yourself to see if it matches up, could also happen at work if you work as a cashier or stand behind a counter lots. Hope this helps

Hi everyone. I've been stumped by this problem for a long time, and have spent hundreds of dollars replacing shirts. After close investigation, I finally figured out what is causing my tiny holes in my favorite t-shirts.

It is the metal rivet (button, snap thingy) at the top of the jeans. Something in the rivet eats away at the shirt. Most rivets have some edging on them, which may cause tears in fragile fabric.

I have been cutting circles on black smooth electrical tape and putting it on the front of the rivet. It works....no more holes!!!

It is a pain in the butt, though, to monitor it to make sure that the tape is still on and hasn't slid off of center. It is tape, so it can get dislodged with washing and taking off/putting on your jeans. The minute it's off....watch out, the holes will reappear.

Jeans that seem to do this are Gap, Eddie Bauer, Tommy Hilfiger and probably others as well.

I can't believe all the posts I've read on here - I have the exact same problem. I wear a new t-shirt once and it has tiny holes in the front at the bottom, just in front of my jeans button. It drives me mad but as other people have commented, it's only been in the last couple of years that it's been a problem. Don't understand what has changed???

IT IS NOT BUGS OR YOUR COUNTER OR YOUR SEATBELT. Someone said it earlier but no one seemed to listen...the copper from pant buttons oxidizes over time and causes an acidic compound to form (usually blackish first) and this easily eats through your shirt! Focus in which pants are the worst offenders, I bet they have copper buttons!

Oh my gosh....I can't believe all of you have the same problem I've been having for at least 5 years...and in different residences! It's only in lower front of the shirts! I just bought a brand new Calvin Klein top from Macys, wore it one time. I hadn't even washed it yet...took it out of my closet and noticed the holes! I can't take it back because the holes weren't there when I bought it... so frustrated. I keep wasting money and don't have any shirts! Why is this happening? I can't believe that no one knows what this is.

I was really skeptical and really surprised to see that there were so many people with the same experience as me. About 10 months ago I started noticing little holes in my t-shirts just at or below the belly button. I live in Istanbul and I don't drive, so it's not a seatbelt. I cook every night and have done for 10 years, but this is something that's just started happening. I thought it might be belt buckles rubbing against the shirts, but again, it's a recent thing. I don't think it's buttons on jeans because it started happening recently and I've worn jeans for a long time. Also, it's happened in a couple of thicker t-shirts. Mostly it's these thin GAP t-shirts though. It's amazing that no one can figure it out. Has the fabric changed in clothes? Probably not very likely. The holes are also below the belly, so that kind of rules out rubbing against the belly. Maddening. I hope someone figures it out!

This has been happening to me for ages and I thought it was just me until my neighbour told me she has the same problem. I had decided it was caused by the metal strip on the Gladwrap, Foil, etc packets, but I'll test out the seatbelt theory.

This has been happening to me for ages and I thought it was just me until my neighbour told me she has the same problem. I had decided it was caused by the metal strip on the Gladwrap, Foil, etc packets, but I'll test out the seatbelt theory.

It's been happening to me too - I'm in London, UK. Nearly every one of my T-shirt type fabric tops has lots of little holes below the belly button area.
It's only been going on the last 3 or 4 years. It's been driving me demented. I was convinced it was something in the house - probably the worktop - but we moved and it's still happening.
My husband and kids get the occasional hole, with me it's everything.
I'd love to know what it is. Before I go completely mad.......

i have the same problem too and i fumigated my house so that isnt the case of bugs.... i realised its from the buttons on the jeans also the top of where it never lies flat ... i started buying jeans with no buttons and leggings it solved the problem only now i cant wear any of the jeans shorts and pants i have i will only wear them with a thicker top.... i need more solutions???????

I have had this problem with only 3 of my soft t's, havent had it with anything made by american apparel but my other soft shirts have had this problem develop over time. like after a year or so. I live in NYC so maybe my shirts are deteriorating less quickly because I never sit in a car and never wear a seat belt. I do have a large copper belt buckle I wear everyday and by the holes appear exactly where the buckle meets my shirts when I sit down. I have also noticed some wear and tear where the belt buckle meets my cargo shorts, this is a much thicker material and the wear is no where near a hole. I am 6'5 so its not counter tops. Hopefully my reply helps someone to find an answer I'm convinced it's the copper.