The Holé Story - The Mystery Of The Tiny Holes In Your Tops & T-shirts Solved

So what exactly is Holé and how did it start? Here's the "hole" story....

I was out on a walk with my daughter and it was an unusually bright, sunny day. I was wearing a black, jersey knit, fitted t-shirt and some jeans. My t-shirt started to "ride up" and as I pulled it down I could see the sun shining through this cluster of tiny holes at the front, bottom of my top. What the heck? What is that? So naturally, I googled "tiny holes in my top" and found a ton of forums and blog posts asking the same question, with no real answers. 

When I arrived back home I searched around in my wardrobe and found that I had these tiny holes in pretty much all my cotton t-shirts. I even had them in some light jumpers as well as silk tops. Seriously, what could it be? Moths? My washing machine or dryer? Was it catching on something? Why would these mysterious holes only occur in this area?

While I had my jeans and holey top on, I pulled it down only to realise that it hit right at waist area, right where my jeans button is. Then, I took a closer look at my jeans button and I could see that one edge of the button was jagged and a little sharp, like it had been filed on one edge? Then I went downstairs and stood by the kitchen counter and that’s when I realised that it was the button of my jeans that was causing these holes of mystery. When I leaned into the countertop the button rubbed on my top which then, rubbed on the counter and this friction caused these tiny holes. This was the start of my obsession to test my theory and find a solution.

Firstly, I had to prove that it was actually the button, so I went out and bought a selection of tops made from lightweight cotton. In my opinion my purchases ranged from very cheap to middle of the range plus a couple designer (ouch). I had to find out if the material or price made a difference.

Over the course of a few months I kept a diary of wears and washes and lived in jeans and t-shirts. I do not wear belts with my jeans and what I found was that these holes were definitely caused by rubbing from my jeans button and sometimes these holes occurred only after 20 minutes of wear. The main cause was leaning into something such as your kitchen counter, but it could be your desk, seatbelt, carrying your toddler (this is when I really started to notice the holes), carrying boxes or leaning and rubbing into anything, really!

I carried on with my research and scoured the internet and found that most people still have no idea what actually causes the problem and there are blogs inundated with some pretty interesting theories! Think bugs, sabotage, etc…the only solutions I could find were homemade: tuck in your shirt, wear an apron, use heavy duty tape to cover your button or get rid of your jeans all together and wear leggings! Give up my beloved jeans? Never!

My search to combat these tiny holes continued and I did some research on materials and ended up getting some samples made from silicone. My career in medical devices helped because most medical devices have an element of silicone or polyurethane due to its nonabrasive qualities.

The man who ended up making the samples thought I was absolutely nuts because they mostly manufactured bespoke silicone parts for aerospace and the automobile industry. After a few runs of samples we got it right and I started trialling my little button cover.

I bought more, thin, cotton shirts, leaned against my kitchen counter while I cooked and cleaned (more than normal in my previous testing phase I might add), carried my toddler and just did my general day-to-day while living in jeans and t-shirts. Well…it worked! I didn’t get any holes that were caused by my jeans button.

Once I had perfected the size of the button cover I worked on a name in collaboration with a local branding agency and this is how the name Holé was born! Pronounced, hoh-lay – an exclamation of approval or delight when you prevent small holes from appearing in your tops. Let’s face it, who wants holes in their tops if their not actually meant to be there?!

If you are plagued by tiny holes in your tops and you are a jeans and t-shirt person then the Holé button cover is your answer. Say goodbye to those mysterious holes and save yourself a fortune from chucking away your tops and tees that you’ll only wear a few times. 

Holé is unisex, comes packaged in two colours – black and transparent (2 of each), ensuring it does not alter the appearance of jeans or trousers. This product is durable, washable, and made to last.

Holé is easy to put on and just pops over your jeans button – it is designed to fit a typical jeans button anywhere from 14-22mm in diameter.

 Please feel free to contact us: info@holebuttoncover.coma