This planet might be billions of years old but every day a new mystery appears. It is no surprise that we can’t solve all of them but human curiosity doesn’t let us rest. There numerous things out there that are beyond the understandings of a human mind.
However, all mysteries have a base of logical reasoning behind it. If you dig deep enough, you would be able to find the truth. There are a lot of things that we need the answer to.
Above all, we want to know the mystery behind the holes in clothes that appear out of nowhere. We all have been there. It doesn’t matter how much of good care you take of your clothes, they just appear out of nowhere.
It could be anything including your favorite t-shirt or even bed sheets. From time to time, you must have noticed the small holes start appearing that sets you off on a row of head-banging.
We have spent a lot of time trying to figure out the exact reason why those small holes appear, yet there is no simple answer to that. One minute you could be happy that you manage to buy a really good t-shirt for a cheap price but next thing you know there are small holes in it after wearing it for one time. In most cases, you get what you pay for.
If you are buying a cheaper fabric then there are chances that it was not designed to withstand any form of pressure.
It can be frustrating, as it happens on day-to-day occurrences. But what is the main reason behind it? Are you secretly biting your clothes in sleep? Does your cat like to nibble on your shirts? Is it the angry guy that you cut off on the road?
Well, as it is stated above, there is no simple explanation for that. However, this mystery has been debunked a long time ago.
After doing careful analysis and research, we have come up with the list of some possible reasons that are causing small holes in clothes to appear.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the main reasons why you randomly find holes in your clothes.
Low-Quality Fabric
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to you. In the majority of the cases, the cheap fabric of your shirt is the main reason behind the holes.
Those holes might not be there when you bought them, but they will appear out of nowhere in a matter of days. The poor quality material is not designed to provide extra durability; instead, it is designed to give you the experience for a cheaper price.
Those shirts are often bleached heavily and they go through an abrasive dyeing process. Needless to say, these shirts tend to be less durable, as the quality of the fabric is just not good enough.
This is why you have noticed that some people like to stretch the clothes a little bit when they are out shopping. The reason behind that is that in the poor quality of the fabric, the threads will not be able to hold the fabric together and they will easily tear off.
Similarly, in the good quality fabric, the threads will hold the fabric together and will not let the lint to appear.
It is always a good habit to develop when you go out shopping for clothes; inspect the fabric thoroughly.
You need to stretch them a little bit and check if the loose threads have started to form lint. If they do start to appear, then it is a low-quality fabric and you should avoid it.
Washing machine
When you put you put your clothes inside the washing machine, they are going to be spinning at a high speed. The small holes on the side of the drum could be real trouble if your drum ribs are not tight enough.
What happens is that the small holes in the drum could be the reason why the buttons get stuck inside them.
When the washing machine is doing what washing machines do—that is spin around; the buttons can get stuck into the tiny holes on the drum. When they do get stuck, it can cause the fabric to stretch, as a result, small holes and lint start to appear on top of it.
If you want to avoid that then make sure your drum ribs of the washing machine are tightly screwed. Otherwise, it keeps going to happen and will ruin more clothes.
If you are not a technical person then you can call in the professionals to help you fix your washing machine.
Bugs
This might be the darkest fear for most of us. There different kinds of pests that can start living inside your closet and they bit on the clothes.
Usually, moths are the ones that cause the most trouble. This is why it is important to clean your closet from time to time so you don’t let them stay there for long.
If you don’t clean your closet routinely then moths are going to keep their larvae inside your clothes and when they do get hatched, the sight is not pleasant. No one wants to wear clothes that are infested by moth larvae.
There are some home remedies out there that can kill the moths inside your closet. You should buy some lavender and keep it in your closet. Not only they smell great but they kill the moths for you. If you don’t lavender then you simply use a bar of soap, it should do the trick.
If the problem is bigger than you anticipated then it is time to invest in moth repellents. They are quick to do the job, and the only caveat is that they smell really bad. Make sure that you have your nose and mouth covered when you are using the repellent so it doesn’t go inside your body.
Another home remedy for killing moth larvae is that you can always put your clothes inside the freezer. Moth larvae need the warm temperature to hatch. If you freeze them, the cold is going to kill them before they hatch.
Always remember to clean your closet once or twice a month; it will stop the pests to crawl inside. It is easier to stop them from entering your closet than to get rid of them when they do start living inside the closet.
Other clothes
This is the most common cause of small holes in your clothes. When you dump every in the washing machine, there are a lot of buttons, zippers, bra straps, and other abrasive things that can harm delicate fabric.
The easiest solution for this is that you need to buy some washing bags and put your bras and zippers in them. As for the clothes that have buttons; just turn them inside out before putting them in the washing machine.
Similarly, if you are wearing a shirt that is made out of cheap fabric then your belt hooks will keep on pressing against it. As a result, the fabric starts to tear off and small holes start to appear.
Understandably, one does not keep track of the times when your belt hook is pressing against the shirt. You could be washing dishes or lifting some heavy objects that could make your shirt stuck in the belt hook. Even if the holes are not visible at first, but the damage is already done. It will only take a few days before you start seeing those holes.
First of all, you should not buy clothes that have that much poor quality of the fabric. Not everyone has a big budget when they go out to shop for clothes, but if you keep on buying cheap products; in the long run it is going to cost you the same.
You will be too busy replacing your clothes after clothes, as you had bought a better quality fabric so you wouldn’t be doing that right now.
When it comes to clothes, you need to apply the rule of thumb; that is, quality outweighs quantity. You could have twenty different shirts that are made out of cheap fabric, but they are going to wear off way sooner than five shirts that are made out of good fabric.
Conclusion
These are most likely the reason behind mysterious holes in your clothes. You need to test out every single possibility and check if it works for you.
Another thing, if you are going to go out to buy some new clothes then you need to pay more attention to the fabric. You need to gently stretch the fabric and check if lose threads have started to form lint.
In most cases, you could almost feel the good fabric just by touching. It is always better to invest your money in better quality products than the cheaper poor quality ones.
Bonus: How to fix a hole in a t-shirt?
How To Fix Holes In Clothes Without Sewing?
Clearly this depends on the degree of damage and the type of fabric, however, there is a product called “Bondaweb” in the U.K., which is a mesh of glue attached to silicone paper. There are other brands in the US I’m sure.
- Cut a patch of fabric in a similar or lighter weight than the damaged one.
- Following the instructions on the pack, iron Bondaweb onto one side of the patch.
- Remove the silicone paper from the patch and place it on the reverse of the damaged garment taking care to join the edges of the tear neatly. Press with a hot iron and a damp cloth according to the directions on the Bondaweb.
- Trim away any excess patch. The fabric can usually be laundered even without sewing.
Watch this video demonstration for step by step instructions:
