Lint (material)

Lint is the common name for visible accumulations of textile fibers, hair and other materials, usually found on and around clothing. Certain materials used in the manufacture of clothing, such as cotton, linen, and wool, contain numerous, very short fibers bundled together. During the course of normal wear, these fibers may either detach or be jostled out of the weave of which they are part. This is the reason why heavily used articles, such as shirts and towels, become thin over time and why such particles accumulate in the lint screen of a clothes dryer. Because of their high surface area to weight ratio, static cling causes fibers that have detached from an article of clothing to continue to stick to one another and to that article or other surfaces with which they come in contact. Other small fibers or particles also accumulate with these clothing fibers, including human and animal hair and skin cells, plant fibers, and pollen, dust, and microorganisms.