We are finding small holes - maybe 1/4" across - on my husband's t-shirts (both underwear-type Ts and clothing-type Ts) and on the cotton lining of my, ahem... unmentionables. It only happens to all-cotton knits that aren't "beefy".

It occured to me that perhaps they were getting snagged in the washer because I do have some chips on the enamel of the wash tub. But wouldn't I be seeing holes and snags on other garments? I'm not.

We did a Google search about cotton-eating insects. Now DH is convinced that we have crickets eating the laundry, but I've assured him we do not have crickets in the basement. Spiders, yes - crickets , no. (We had crickets in the basement of the house I grew up in, and they don't hide for a year. You do see them - or a corpse - eventually.)

Is it a body oil thing? The holes on the Ts are very random, they can be anywhere on the shirt and don't show up in the same spot on every T.

I generally do laundry once a week so things can sit for 5 or 6 days. I have a TL, use All detergent, and only occasionally use bleach if that info means anything.

So what do you say, laundry experts? Any ideas on solving the mystery of the holey cottons?

Nicole

I usually, 80% of time get the holes at waist level, that is where you tend to rub against say a rose plant in the yard. Now the trap is set, what has happened is one tiny little thread has broken. when you wash and tumble dry the hole is born. Tucking in your shirt will do it.

A tiny bit of chemical splashed on cloth can eat through the thread, or dry on it only to be re-activated in the water and eat a hole causing one to think it is the machine. I recently epoxied the garage floor because chemicals were eating holes in the cement, half inch deep.

Holes are just inevitable. You can even buy a new shirt with a thread already broken. I am getting much less fraying in the H-Axis then I got with the agitator, which I would mostly notice around the collar.

Are the holes only in natural fibers (like cotton) and not in poly? If so, then insects are not a bad hypothesis, though more likely moths than crickets. Try moth balls (which repel many insects, not just moths) in or near your dirty cloithes hamper. - DR

Thanks for your feedback... Nicole

I read about those clothes moths and they creeped me out - I don't think that is my problem because the holes don't seemed so irregularly shaped. However, I'm heading down to the laudry room to go double check!

Thanks again, Nicole

Since the last time I did laundry, I've found five pairs of underwear with mysterious holes! I am completely baffled, particularly because they seemed to appear so suddenly. These were some of my favorite pairs, too. In case anyone has any more advice on the subject, here are some facts:

*Holes are only appearing in cotton or cotton-lined underwear. Some pairs were under a year old, some were a few years old.

*Holes are completely localized in the most unmentionable of unmentionable regions. In one case, the holes appeared in the cotton lining, but not in the cotton outer layer! (You can see why this is getting spooky.)

*The holes don't look chewed - more like something in the fabric had a reaction and just dissolved. I've been using the same bottle of concentrated laundry detergent for months.

*No moths in the laundry or mice in my drawer, although there are probably mice in the house. (I am a college student living in a house with 11 other people, go figure.)

Any advice would be greatly appreciated; this is absolutely the weirdest phenomenon I ever hope to have with my laundry.

My wife and I just noted this in some of her garments. I too said simply it was a snag, and so she threw another shirt at me- and these holes are the size of a quarter.

It does indeed look as if the fabric has just dissolved.

We don't use alot of chemicals around the house but I'm going to grab an old tshirt and test them all.

Before I get to that, I have to say that I felt so validated when I came across this discussion, because I have been experiencing this phenomenon in my home for the past couple of years as well. And like many people, I also assumed at first that something in the laundry had snagged the clothes, but even after controlling for that possibility (by thoroughly inspecting the inside of the washer and dryer and washing all zippered items separately) the holes kept occurring. Besides, as someone pointed out above, if there were something sharp in the machine, it wouldn't be only one item in the whole load of laundry getting snagged. And these are clearly not snags--the edges of the hole don't fit together as if the fabric had merely been ripped; there's actually a hole, as if someone took a scissors and cut a piece out of the garment. And the sizes are inconsistent. Some are tiny pinholes, others as big as a coin. It happens only in the all-cotton knit garments, like t-shirts. Anyone who suggests this is chemicals or snags is not understanding what we're describing, because I really don't use harsh chemicals in my house or laundry, don't use bleach, and this is happening mostly with clothes from my daughter's closet (and she is most certainly not coming into contact with cleaners or chemicals, as they are kept well out of her reach). Furthermore, if I ever had contact with such chemicals it would be an infrequent occurrence, while the appearance of these holes is quite regular, so that doesn't really add up. It's also quite sudden; a shirt I just bought my daughter five days ago and which she wore only once came out of the laundry last night with an enormous hole in the middle of its back as well as several smaller holes in other places. There was nothing in that load of laundry that would have snagged it, and no sharp surfaces in the washer or dryer. Plus, I think I would have seen a hole like that when I put the shirt into the hamper, as I usually inspect her clothes for stains before throwing them in. It occurs to me that this is true most of the time: I don't notice these things when the clothes go in the hamper, but I notice them when they've been cleaned and dried.

I've come to the conclusion that the moths (or whatever they are) may very well be living in the hamper rather than in my closets and drawers, which was my original thought. And the more I think of this, the more it makes sense. I read that the clothes-eating moths are mainly attracted to dirty clothes, especially those that have sweat and/or urine on them. Where are your dirty clothes? In your closet or in your hamper? And I hate to be indelicate, but this would explain the tendency that some people have pointed out other postings; that when they find these holes in their underwear, it's only in one particular area. #1: the thin, cotton liner in ladies' undies is a little thinner material and easier to chew through than the rest of the underwear, and #2: that's where there would be a higher concentration of perspiration and traces of urine, which are the very smells and flavors the moth is most attracted to).

And if these laundry-eating pests are indeed living in our hampers, where the dirty clothes are all balled together, things that have traces of sweat or urine are pressed against all of the other clothes, which means other clothes can end up soiled with these substances even if they weren't when they went into the hamper. Obviously then, the longer the dirty clothes wait around in that environment, the more opportunities the moth (or other pest) has to eat them, so if the wash is done every day or every other day, there may be less incidence of holes. I generally wait until the hamper fills up before I do the wash, and this would give the moths lots of time to make holes--and also explain why there are holes coming out of the laundry that weren't there going in.

I think I will wash the lining of the hamper (and buy some bleach for this task, since I don't usually use the stuff, but it seems appropriate here) and then put some sacks of moth balls at the bottom of the hamper. This will, I hope, have the effect of protecting the dirty clothes that get thrown in, and the added benefit is that the moth ball stink is only in our dirty clothes. When I take the clothes out of the hamper it will be to wash them, at which point (I hope) the moth ball smell will be removed.

So anyway, that's my recommendation, people: attack the hamper, since that's where the smells and substances are that are the most attractive to moths. Try to clean/disinfect that area to kill existing moths, and then, if you don't want to use moth balls in the hamper, at least try to wash more frequently, giving less time to the moths to snack on your dirty clothes (which is the kind they find most irresistible). And ladies, try spraying just the crotch of the underwear with Spray-n-Wash or Oxy Clean, or some other pre-treating product before you throw it in the hamper. This may neutralize the bodily scents on that part of your undies and the moths probably won't want to eat cloth that has a soapy product on it. Pre-treating will also ensure that this part of your underwear gets extra clean, because as we all know, sometimes even after things go through the wash they may have a trace of a smell -- if you overload your washer your garments may not be getting sufficiently clean, which means you might have items in your clean clothes drawer that are still moth bait!

Since I've just come up with this hypothesis, I haven't yet tested it, but I'll be doing so at once. And I'd love to find out if anyone else tries this and gets any results.

We determined that it is mice that are making the holes. We've seen a few mice in the apartment, but have been unable to catch any of them. All of us keep our dirty laundry in typical (holey) laundry baskets on the floor. (Not anymore, though!)

We dont all use the same laundry detergent, and there's nothing wrong with our washer or dryer. We definitely don't have moths or other bugs in the apartment, so the only logical explanation is the mice. I've also read in other places that cats and dogs tend to do the same thing.

I think sometimes the fibers are weakened when a garment is worn, and then the washing/drying process breaks the weakened fibers, so the holes "appear" after washing. But if the holes are not completely random on where they appear, then I would suspect the cause is not the washing process. If the washer or dryer had a rough edge causing the holes, then they could appear anywhere, not concentrated in one area.

Joe

Can crickets really eat cotton cuz we get a lot that sneak in the house. That would totally suck if they did as I have always thought of them as harmless.

the best information i have been able to find on this subject is on the following website
http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page765.html
the "About Clothes Moths" section explains why the holes appear in particular locations and the site suggests/sells a variety of solutions.

the website does not specifically address a moth larva that only eats cotton items, but there are probably more varieties of these animals than anyone is aware of. the bug i have dealt with appears to be uninterested in silk and woolens, which made it difficult to diagnose. however based on these postings it's clear others have encountered the same species.

hope this helps.

We are getting the same holes everyone else is describing, but have yet to nail down the culprit. The holes started appearing sometime in the last couple of years. We are using the same washing machine we've had for 8 years...6 years holes-free.

We laid out the clothing that has been destroyed (at least those we hadn't yet thrown out)...and noticed that the effected items mostly belonged to my wife and kids. None of my clothes and none of our baby clothes had holes. They all go into the same hamper (moths?), get cleaned with the same detergent, get spun by the same washer.

The holes are on the front and back of the clothing articles...from just below the neck thru the middle and down near the bottom (can't be the seatbelt, unlikely to be countertop wear), but never the sides or shoulders (places we rarely if ever get stains). The thought on some of the back stains is that we may have treated one item, then laid another over the top of it on the washer to presoak...a common occurence for us.

We also noticed that about 1/2 of the items showed some slight discoloration (whitening) at and around the site of the holes...since OxiClean essentially releases hydrogen peroxide to bleach away stains, it seems conceivable that it would cause bleaching of the dye.

Anyway, we started using OxiClean a couple of years ago...and now use it almost constantly for all the food stains brought on by our young crew. We are going to stop using OxiClean for a month and see what happens. Curious if this makes any sense to any of you. If this works out, I'll next have to find a forum that can help with stain-removal tips!

If none of you are using it, it may quickly prove false.

Thoughts?

I have one blouse which has holes at the right side of the waistline. They are where I fasten my seatbelt when DH is driving.

But I have washed many, many other shirts and blouses in the same washer, same detergent, same everything. And the blouse with the holes never goes in the dryer. So I wonder if perhaps certain fabrics are more susceptible to the holes.

Some of the posters may very well have other causes, such as moths. I'm only referring to the small holes in the front at stomach level.

I have a few vintage shirts that were stored away for years and never worn. I have pulled them out and started wearing them. Not a single one of them have gotten any holes and yet all the newer shirts seem to get them. None of them are washed or treated any differently than any of the others. They are all stored in the same dresser drawer folded up neatly as all the others. I keep bars of lavender soap in my drawers to keep my linens fresh and discourage bugs.

My theory is one of 2 things or a combination of them.

1. Cottons are being milled differently than they used to be and the weave on shirts isn't as high of a quality as it used to be. With the cheap weave of the fabric, the cotton fibers snag and break easier than with the old shirts. I can see a huge difference in quality of the cotton between newer shirts and the old vintage cotton t-shirts. The vintage shirts seem thicker and the quality just seems so much nicer.

2. The modern day chemicals and surfactants are not the same as they used to be. With updating of surfactants and formulas over the years some of the newer products might be weakening fibers. Laundry detergents are not the same as they were years ago. The chemicals are not the same and they might be more alkaline than they used to be. Alkaline over time will weaken fibers. Anytime you go to a super low ph or a super high ph there will be negative effects with long term use.

I live in the same house that I grew up in. So, to say we have an infestation of something that we didn't have previously would be a moot point. Nothing has changed and we do not have mice or moths or anything else.

I just chuck it up to the fact that fabrics are not as well made as they used to be and the quality of cotton coming from various places in the globe can change the quality a lot. With the cotton in the lining of the crotch rotting out because lets admit it, there is moisture down there near those girlie parts. Let cotton remain wet (especially poor quality cotton) and it will fall apart.

So the poster that stated "panty hose theory" or anyone that mentions because of seat belts or kitchen counters rubbing or any other variation is correct in my theory because if the fibers are cheaper than they used to be any friction would cause them to break.

This is my observation based on vintage T shirts made with nice cotton compared to all of my newer T shirts made with cheaper cotton. If you put them side by side there is a HUGE difference in quality. This may because they might be growing one species of cotton that grows faster these days opposed to another species that is slower growing but better quality. Look at Egyptian cotton vs others!

It would be interesting to research cotton plants and the tinsel strength of each variety.

Just my theory and my 2 cents.