You should also post this on the other (very active) thread on holes. The holes are driving people crazy and this would interest them very much. Here is a link that might be useful: thread on holes

Wow, this is so interesting!! Nice to know I am not alone :) I have had holes in the front around the belly-button area for years, and it was driving me crazy!! I kept wondering where they were coming from, and I finally noticed that the shirts were getting the holes at exactly the level of my counters which have a rough-ish tile edging. I do a lot of dishes and cooking so I figured that must be it! My kids that do dishes also get these holes (and some of us are as skinny as a rail, some are not). I also get shredded fronts on my aprons, too, so I am pretty sure it is the counters rubbing that's causing this (for us anyway!). I only noticed them once we moved to this house almost 8 years ago. I tried using a tile sander to smooth down the counter edges and I don't know if it helped much, but I thought it was worth a shot. Oh, and out of curiosity, I checked my DH's t-shirts as well, (he never does dishes!) and he has a couple holes in some very old shirts, but overall his are in good shape. Weird. Anyway, no matter what is causing this I am relieved it's not just me! :D

Okay, these holes are not from bugs, or washing machines or, granite counters. They are caused by the little, sharp, protrusions on the brass zipper made by the holes cut in the zipper pull and folded outward. Some persons have a more pronounced belly (of course, I'm not one of them). When we lean against something with our favorite shirt out, regardless of the material of the shirt or the counter, our stomach presses the sharp zipper pull into our nice shirt and grinds it into the granite or even formica, and voila, the mysterious holes. When your shirt is tucked in, the shirt is behind the zipper and the zipper placket is completely smooth, so no problem. Persons who are not leaning against the counter with their shirt out, will not have this problem. I suspect taller or shorter persons will not have zipper destruction either.So it seems like if one is a short person doing the dishes, your shirt is going to be ruined.Housework or lab work in the nude would be the answer.

I'm on the other side of the coin from Roc. Up until two years ago I only used traditional top loaders. I never had problems with wear and tear or pilling. My issues were I believe it takes hot water and longer time in solution to clea n things like bedding, towels, kitchen towels, and grungy clothing. I spent a lot of time and energy literally running myself ragged boiling big soup pots of water to dump in the washer...considering I have a few young kids in the house I could not risk turning my hot water heater up. My system worked but at a great deal of inconvenience. I also shut the washer off midway thru the wash cycle for a nice long soak. I decided....actually some of the members in the laundry forum decided enough was enough and I needed a front loader. I have found after my first load in my front loader enough was definitely TOO much. I LOVE my front loader. Nice HOT HOT HOT water and lots of time in solution but in a gentle way. I won't go back to a top loader now that I've experienced a front loader. Pretty sure I'm way off topic...as usual. LOL