Have you ever noticed the little holes that form in your t-shirts over time? You most likely have because it seems common these days. I don’t recall having this issue a decade ago but, maybe I didn’t hold on to my t-shirts for as long then, as I do now. In this article we will go over some common causes of this issue as well as some small things you can do to try and alleviate it.
There are some causes of getting holes in your t-shirt that are so obvious that we wont get into here such as, a sharp object going through your shirt or insects, like moths, nibbling on your clothes. If that were happening you would probably be aware of it so we will discuss less obvious causes.
I mentioned earlier that I never really had this problem most of my life but did start noticing it more in the last decade. I do tend to keep my shirts longer these days and that stems primarily from having such a hard time finding cotton t-shirts that I like. But also, I’ve always worn heavyweight cotton t-shirts. I only started wearing lighter weight t-shirts in the last ten years and that’s when I started having this issue. So, I would say the main contributing factor to developing holes in your t-shirt is the weight of the fabric. It makes sense, the thinner something is, generally the less durable it is as well.
Washing and drying
Unless you’re a ten-year-old kid who loves sliding into 2nd base on your belly, then washing and drying do more to wear out your clothing than anything else. This is pretty evident whenever you clean out the lint tray in your dryer. All that lint used to be a part of your clothing. When you wash your clothes they are subjected to abrasion, chemicals and heat.
Agitation of the washer is constantly rubbing your t-shirt against all the other clothes in there and any zippers or buttons that may be on those clothes. This may not seem like much but I recently had use of one of those newer style washers that have lots of settings and digital displays and that thing would practically tie my clothes into knots so, there is a lot of movement happening in there. (By the way, just a little tip for you, don’t ever buy an expensive programmable washer/dryer set. They are garbage. You are far better off getting a cheap washer/dryer set. The cheaper ones are far more reliable and far cheaper to repair if needed. You can spend the money you save on more high quality premium cotton t-shirts!)
Chemicals: The bleach and detergent you use to clean your t-shirts can cause damage as well by weakening the fibers. This is just a normal result of how detergents work. Not much you can do about this but there are some detergents that are supposed to be gentler on clothing than others so you may want to try those.
Heat causes damage in a couple of ways. Heat in the water can increase the chemical reactions happening with the detergent, making your clothes cleaner but also causing a little more wear also. The expansion and contraction that happens in the fibers of your clothes as they heat up and cool down also causes additional wear. If you wash a garment weekly you can imagine how this would affect it over time. Using cooler water to wash your t-shirts can help with this as well as drying on a cooler setting. However, always be mindful of the care instructions that come on your garment since that’s how the manufacturer suggests washing it.
Abrasion
We’ve all worn that new t-shirt for the first time only to catch it on some random, sharpish, object later that day and get our first hole in it. Lame. That’s not really abrasion but, there may be other things you are doing to your shirt that are damaging it that you don’t notice. Wearing a belt may cause excessive wear by rubbing against your t-shirt all day as you walk, stand up or sit down. If you’re a mechanic that leans over a fender or on a bench as you work or if you do building maintenance and occasionally have to climb over rafters to take a look at that a/c unit up in the attic again, you're causing friction to your favorite cotton t-shirt. All that friction can have an effect. You may not be putting holes in your t-shirt but you are definitely wearing it thin, which can lead to those holes. Even if you don’t wear your t-shirts for work, frequent use can have a big impact on your clothes and most of us probably don’t really think about how much we use and abuse our t-shirts.
Fabric quality
The reasons above have a steady and compounding effect on your t-shirts. For the most part its unavoidable, you have to wear your t-shirts and you have to wash them. But let’s be honest, the main reason there are holes in your t-shirt is because you are wearing a cheap t-shirt. That’s ok. That’s most t-shirts in the world. Most people don’t want to spend more money than they have to on anything, especially these days. That’s the trade off though. You save some money on your purchase; the manufacturer saves money on production. They do this in several ways, one of which is the quality of the fabric. There is a lot we could talk about here but to keep it simple it mostly comes down to the fabric weight and how tight the weave is. Both of these affect the overall durability of the t-shirt, the lighter the weight and the looser the weave, the less durable and more susceptible to wear a t-shirt will be. It’s pretty obvious and I’m sure you knew I was heading in this direction. Most likely the first thing you say to yourself when you notice these holes in your t-shirt is, “What a cheap piece of s***.” That’s what I would do. One more thing that prompted me to start my own t-shirt company.
Speaking of which, if you’re tired of seeing those holes in your cheap t-shirts and you’re ready to invest in a quality product that is not only durable, but comfortable and will look good on you, then check out our high quality premium cotton t-shirts. I won’t say they are the best t-shirts in the world (I haven’t tried them all) but they are the best I’ve ever worn, by a long shot.
