Why is belly button fluff usually blue-gray?

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The discussion centers around the phenomenon of belly button lint, particularly its color and the reasons for its accumulation. Participants note that belly button lint often appears blue, which is attributed to the accumulation of fibers under pressure, despite the lint itself being primarily white. The conversation highlights a perceived gender difference, with men experiencing more belly button lint than women, possibly due to differences in body hair. An experiment is proposed to investigate this further, involving subjects wearing different colored shirts and bandaging their belly buttons to see if it affects lint production. Some participants share personal experiences and humorous anecdotes related to the topic, while others suggest that the study lacks credibility without photographic evidence. The discussion also references a systematic survey by an Australian researcher, which provides insights into the composition and behavior of belly button lint, including its migration patterns and the factors influencing its quantity based on body hair characteristics.
wolram
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What colour is yours? mine is always blue even if i wear a white tee shirt
"This is belly button fluff", do women get it? where does it come from?
 
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The best I can tell, it seems to be a lint accumulation. Women don't seem to get it (it fascinates us that men do), and all belly button lint seems to be blue for some reason. It's a true mystery of the universe. :-p
 
At the moment I have no belly button fluff. However, in the past I have had belly button fluff, though I couldn't tell you what color it was. It might have been blue. Maybe it has something to do with stomach hair channeling fiber-rich sweat into the belly button, which could explain why women do not get it so much.
 
The lint is actually white, but it appears to be blue due to the fact that it accumulates under pressure.
 
I am about to start an experiment, and need volunteers to help, i propose a
50 ,50 test where 50% of subjects swath their belly buttons in a bandage,
and 50% wear red tee shirts, if the BF is still found to be blue then it
must be some mysterious agent at work.
Please sign up below.
 
:eek: Under pressure? jeez I'd hate to be around when that stuff blows
 
By Ivan
The lint is actually white, but it appears to be blue due to the fact that it accumulates under pressure.

Do you have the maths to prove this? :biggrin:
 
Ivan Seeking said:
The lint is actually white, but it appears to be blue due to the fact that it accumulates under pressure.
Speak for yourself, Ivan. I'm pretty sure that the rest of us guys here don't wear girdles. :-p
 
But what about my experiment, i need at least 10 people.
 
  • #10
I'll do it, as long as I'm not the only one.

Incidentally, I had a shower this morning (cleared out my belly button), and have been wearing a red t-shirt all day long. No fluff yet, but I'll wear the same top tomorrow and post my results.
 
  • #11
brewnog said:
I'll do it, as long as I'm not the only one.

Incidentally, I had a shower this morning (cleared out my belly button), and have been wearing a red t-shirt all day long. No fluff yet, but I'll wear the same top tomorrow and post my results.

What a heroic stout fellow.

Im going to wear the bandage.

I still need 8 more please.
 
  • #12
you might want to ask zooby, I'm sure he's more than willing...
 
  • #13
yomamma said:
you might want to ask zooby, I'm sure he's more than willing...

Thats not british sir, one does not volunteer a second, so if you are unwilling,
the ram of wol will chase you until you submit
:biggrin:
 
  • #14
wolram said:
Thats not british sir, one does not volunteer a second, so if you are unwilling,
the ram of wol will chase you until you submit
:biggrin:
Don't you mean the ram of wool? :-p
 
  • #15
honestrosewater said:
Don't you mean the ram of wool? :-p

Well maybe, i have had a hard day, but watch out for him he can give you
a wicked but. :biggrin:
 
  • #16
wolram said:
Well maybe, i have had a hard day, but watch out for him he can give you
a wicked but. :biggrin:
I already have a actually, nevermind. :blushing:
 
  • #17
honestrosewater said:
I already have a actually, nevermind. :blushing:

A wicked butt to a wicked butt :bugeye: :biggrin:
 
  • #18
lmao
well I figure I'm high up in the field of Button Fluff - I love the magical stuff (oh boy my third poem of the day).
I have to excavate buttons daily in search of this mystical fluff.
So far I have come across white, blue AND redish-orange fluff (he wore a blue shirt that day so don't ask) :bugeye:

I have never had the fortune to produce fluff myself what with being a girlie and all that.

But I will certainly volunteer himself for the Fluff Formation Feory
 
  • #19
Day 2.

Having worn the same red t-shirt for two hot, sweaty days in a row has provided me with a number of conclusions:

- The study needs to be run for a longer period of time. I have produced absolutely NO fluff since I started the experiment yesterday morning.

- Wearing the same t-shirt for two days in a row in this weather (with no interim shower or bath) is a sure way to make a young, active male smell absolutely rancid.
 
  • #20
brewnog said:
Day 2.

Having worn the same red t-shirt for two hot, sweaty days in a row has provided me with a number of conclusions:

- The study needs to be run for a longer period of time. I have produced absolutely NO fluff since I started the experiment yesterday morning.

- Wearing the same t-shirt for two days in a row in this weather (with no interim shower or bath) is a sure way to make a young, active male smell absolutely rancid.
:smile: :smile: :smile: :smile:

A miniscule amount, and the bandage chafes, i have a red middle.
 
  • #21
I'm going to have to pull out, I smell so bad that I need a bath and a change of clothes.
 
  • #22
brewnog said:
I'm going to have to pull out, I smell so bad that I need a bath and a change of clothes.
Never fear, it doesn't seem that bathing eliminates belly button lint anyway. See if you acquire any from the towel. I know my towels leave fuzz all over the bathroom (if I put out red towels, I have red "dust" on all the fixtures, and if I put out blue towels, it's blue "dust" etc.) This still isn't explaining why men acquire belly button fuzz and women don't. This still mystifies me.
 
  • #23
Moonbear said:
Never fear, it doesn't seem that bathing eliminates belly button lint anyway. See if you acquire any from the towel. I know my towels leave fuzz all over the bathroom (if I put out red towels, I have red "dust" on all the fixtures, and if I put out blue towels, it's blue "dust" etc.) This still isn't explaining why men acquire belly button fuzz and women don't. This still mystifies me.

This requires close inspection of the female belly button, maybe they are not
as deep as mens, i need data, please send belly button dimesions, sticky outs
need not apply.
 
  • #24
wolram said:
This requires close inspection of the female belly button, maybe they are not
as deep as mens, i need data, please send belly button dimesions, sticky outs
need not apply.
Maybe the hair surrounding your belly buttons acts as a lint trap?
 
  • #25
Moonbear said:
Maybe the hair surrounding your belly buttons acts as a lint trap?

Ok in the interest of science i am going to shave around my belly button,
henceforth BB, i will start with a BB centric metric of 10mm, as BHs are prone
to the posited hawking radiation, henceforth HR, i will have to monitor for HR induced re foliation, in tandem with this test, i will run a monte carlow stimulation
I predict a 90% +5%- 3% drop in lint production.
If my predictions are outside error bars, a new science is indicated.
 
  • #26
wolram said:
Ok in the interest of science i am going to shave around my belly button,
henceforth BB, i will start with a BB centric metric of 10mm, as BHs are prone
to the posited hawking radiation, henceforth HR, i will have to monitor for HR induced re foliation, in tandem with this test, i will run a monte carlow stimulation
I predict a 90% +5%- 3% drop in lint production.
If my predictions are outside error bars, a new science is indicated.


This study isn't going to have any credibility without photos.
 
  • #27
brewnog said:
This study isn't going to have any credibility without photos.

You are a sadist :biggrin: I will have to take a poll, for or against, inflicting
sights such as these to the GP.
 
  • #28
wolram said:
You are a sadist :biggrin: I will have to take a poll, for or against, inflicting
sights such as these to the GP.


What's your GP got to do with it?


Ohh, general public? Getcha.
 
  • #29
wolram said:
You are a sadist :biggrin: I will have to take a poll, for or against, inflicting
sights such as these to the GP.
I'm going to have to first request a description of your abs before I vote. If a 1 is a beer gut and a 10 is a tight, toned 6-pack, where do you rate yours. Just to give this scale a little more reference, we'll say a 5 is a reasonably flat stomach, but no definition to the abs at all yet. Anything over 5 is acceptable to share, under 5, and we'll take your word for it. :biggrin: If it's a 5, I'll have to confer with the sisterhood.
 
  • #30
I say go for it. You half to take risks in the name of science.
 
  • #31
Moonbear said:
I'm going to have to first request a description of your abs before I vote. If a 1 is a beer gut and a 10 is a tight, toned 6-pack, where do you rate yours. Just to give this scale a little more reference, we'll say a 5 is a reasonably flat stomach, but no definition to the abs at all yet. Anything over 5 is acceptable to share, under 5, and we'll take your word for it. :biggrin: If it's a 5, I'll have to confer with the sisterhood.

Due to Moonbears ambiguous specifications, and, "hidden agenda", i have to
abandon the experiment, even though the specs could be within the 6 to 7
range ,the margin for error could be -50% to +50%.
 
  • #32
Belly Button dimensions...


http://www.kia-glitz.com/images/custom/monkey.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #33
*Kia* said:
Belly Button dimensions...


http://www.kia-glitz.com/images/custom/monkey.jpg
:smile: :smile: :smile:

wolram said:
Due to Moonbears ambiguous specifications, and, "hidden agenda",

Hidden agenda? What hidden agenda? I wasn't hiding anything; I thought it was blatantly obvious what my agenda was. :biggrin: Thankfully, Kia came through for us. :approve:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #34
Moonbear said:
:smile: :smile: :smile:



Hidden agenda? What hidden agenda? I wasn't hiding anything; I thought it was blatantly obvious what my agenda was. :biggrin: Thankfully, Kia came through for us. :approve:

So you like my belly button?
 
  • #35
wolram said:
So you like my belly button?
Better keep it shaved though...that could get scary with some belly fur added to it.
 
  • #36
Is *Kia* wolram's missus or something?
 
  • #37
hahahaha daughter!
 
  • #38
*Kia* said:
hahahaha daughter!
Yet you still seem normal. :confused: :biggrin:
 
  • #39
Really gosh darn - must work harder :smile: :-p :biggrin:
 
  • #40
*Kia* said:
hahahaha daughter!


Close. At least you didn't choose to have him around, so it's not really your fault or anything!
 
  • #41
brewnog said:
Close. At least you didn't choose to have him around, so it's not really your fault or anything!
You are just, SO crule i am wounded beyond redemstion, i hope you all have
a good 5th of november.
 
  • #42
*Kia* said:
hahahaha daughter!
Welcome to PF daughter of wolram!

You know your dad is quite well known and respected here!

I look forward to more of your posts.

(oh, and you get a free fish...you might want to pass that up though, it's about 6 months old)
 
  • #43
Moonbear said:
Better keep it shaved though...that could get scary with some belly fur added to it.

Alright now stop that! You made me spit out my coffee.
 
  • #44
*Kia* said:
hahahaha daughter!

hihihihi hahahaha daughter of Wolram. :smile:
 
  • #45
My dog is growling like crazy @ the monkey!
And hi Kia, daughter of Wolram!
 
  • #46
Ivan Seeking said:
hihihihi hahahaha daughter of Wolram. :smile:


Don't rub it in, the poor lass probably gets mocked enough as it is!
 
  • #47
Ivan Seeking said:
Alright now stop that! You made me spit out my coffee.
You and Evo should start a support group for that. :-p
 
  • #48
Oh my, I use "LOL" in forums more often than, I am sure, is acceptable, but blow me down with a feather, I actually did a genuine LOL or two reading that. (I'm sure there are too many comma's in that sentence :bugeye: )

My "intelligence" does lay in a different direction to that of my dear daddy (but then he has had a little longer to acquire his knowledge) and the razor sharp wit is definitely far from as honed.
 
  • #49
Yes, watch the fur. It not only helps hold in the fluff, but once a friend placed a butter mint in a chap's navel, and it became quite a sticky situation.
 
  • #50
Wouldn't you know, wiki made a page on this, navel lint.
A fellow from Australia (Karl Kruszelnicki) made a systematic survey regarding belly fluff and these were some of his findings:

* Navel lint consists primarily of stray fibres from one's clothing, mixed with some dead skin cells and strands of body hair. The rotting cells can create unpleasant odors.
* Contrary to expectations, navel lint appears to migrate upwards from underwear rather than downwards from shirts or tops. The migration process is the result of the frictional drag of body hair on underwear, which drags stray fibres up into the navel.
* Women experience less navel lint because of their finer and shorter body hairs. Conversely, older men experience it more because of their coarser and more numerous hairs.
* Navel lint's characteristic blue-gray tint is likely the averaging of the colors of fibres present in clothing; the same color as clothes dryer lint.
 

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