where does belly lint come from?? and like how does it get there??
2006-08-07 11:29:37 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Beauty & Style ➔ Skin & Body
The real question is "why is it always blue?" No matter what I wear or the sheets I sleep in, it is always BLUE.
A colleague of mine and I in the aerospace industry got into a discussion on this topic some months ago. His conclusion is that it must come from the inside. My cubemate protested that it must correlate with the color of clothing you are wearing, just like dryer lint correlates. I then insisted that my dryer lint is always grey to blue also, mostly just to confuse him. I have seen it red once or twice.
Regardless a heated, inconclusive discussion ensued.
A Wikipedia article claims lint tends to migrate upwards from the underwear. This might explain why it is consistently one particular color. I have a hard time believing this since all my treasure trail hairs point downwards. Much like the slipperly slope down into the center of the carnivorous pitcher plant, these hairs should impede upwards progress and assist downwards motion. Perhaps the mechanical action of a shirt rubbing against said hairs results in a more complex mechanical transport model.
The same article claims that most fabrics have some blue fibers in them, resulting in blue belly button lint.
I have also noted a greater production rate of lint when wearing flannel.
I close with one more observation. I never had belly button lint until I began to seriously approach middle age (I am 39.) Until about 5 years ago, I had VERY low body fat and thought lint was an urban legend.
Now I am around the normal adult male 18-20% and have a little pad over my abs. Now I also have belly button lint. There may be a correlation here. I wonder if the National Institutes of Health would provide a grant to study the origin of belly button lint.
2006-08-07 12:29:39 · answer #1 · answered by Mr. Quark 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
just like the rest of your body, the skin in and around your belly button dies and produces dead skin cells. the lint is a bunch of dead cells that haven't had the chance to be brused away like it would be on the rest of your skin.
2006-08-07 11:48:05 · answer #2 · answered by 3 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it just happens
2006-08-07 11:41:03 · answer #3 · answered by Shan 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have no idea because i dont get it...? yeahh!
2006-08-07 11:33:14 · answer #4 · answered by laxplaya1357 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋