Naval Lint

[looseliam]

Well, I can talk about Naval jelly.
Wait, I'm not suposed to tell.

 

[gmoney]

I thought naval jelly was a rust remover!

 

[cynicus]

That is "navel," not "naval." Are you old enough to remember SNL and Emily? "Oh. Never mind."

 

[dolphwasser]

First of all, navel lint is associated with the navy because it has a higher resistance to salt water and was used to knit sailor's socks in the first world war. Secondly, navel jelly is not a dessert, it's a condiment and only meant to be spread on toast, much the same as toe jam. Hope that answers your questions!

Oh dear! I'm so embarrassed! I've been spreding my navel jelly on Triscuits and my toe jam on toast. (Butt jam, on the other hand, I reserve for bagels.) I feel so gauche!

 

[nwdavis]

Oh dear! I'm so embarrassed! I've been spreding my navel jelly on Triscuits and my toe jam on toast. (Butt jam, on the other hand, I reserve for bagels.) I feel so gauche!

I'm familiar with all the above, but what is Vegemite?

 

[hotdog1846]

Hmm, lint ...

*mind's eye turns back to his early career days writing lots of code*
*runs over to his trusty Solaris box*

hotdog1846@schroeder:~:1005:$ man lint

NAME
lint - a C program checker

SYNOPSIS

lint [-#] [-###] [-a] [-b] [-Cfilename] [-c] [-dirout=dir]
[-err=warn] [-errchk=l] [-errfmt=f] [-errhdr=h]
[-erroff=t] [-errsecurity=v] [-errtags=a] [-errwarn=t]
[-F] [-fd] [-flagsrc=file] [-h] [-Idir] [-k] [-Ldir]
[-lx] [-m] [-Ncheck=c] [-Nlevel=n] [-n] [-ox] [-p]
files


DESCRIPTION

lint detects features of C program files which are likely to
be bugs, non-portable, or wasteful.
^C
hotdog1846@schroeder:~:1006:$

OK, but I'm not sure what that has to do with the Navy...

 

[Ramindra]

For info on navels, belly buttons, innies and outies, lint and everything else you need to know about such things, you should go to

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/lint/facts.htm

This site is an absolute hoot!

 

[Rand]

The Incredible World of Navel Fluff

Part 1: The Collection
Featuring the world's biggest collection of one person's
navel fluff (lint), as certified by Guinness World Records.


Some people gaze into their navel for inspiration: I look into mine and see navel fluff. Also known as navel lint, it is that fascinating fluffy substance that forms mysteriously in the belly buttons of special people.

I've been collecting navel fluff (just my own) since 1984, and upon learning of this, people usually ask "Why?". To this I answer "Why not?". In my mind, the worth of any collection depends on the following factors (in which my collection rates well):

Uniqueness - millions of people collect stamps and coins, but as far as I know nobody else collects navel fluff. That makes my collection unique!

Rarity - the navel fluff of Graham Barker is produced in very limited quantities by only one person and is not easily obtainable by others (not that anyone would want to).

Completeness of collection - I've been collecting my navel fluff consistently for around 20 years and have seldom missed a day's harvest. This makes my collection almost complete, a bit like having the full set of a country's currency.

Good condition of items - like uncirculated banknotes or stamps, my navel fluff is in mint condition. When harvested, I remove any body hair from the fluff then store it immediately in a jar, where it remains uncontaminated.

As you can see, when judged by the standards applied to other collections, my navel fluff collection is of great worth, even priceless. Now cast your eyes upon the photo below and behold the unique sight of my priceless collection.



In the beginning
It was on the 17th of January 1984 that I found myself under-occupied in a youth hostel in Brisbane. The night was steamy and stormy - too wet outside and too hot inside to do very much, and my attention drifted to my belly button. There it was ... fluff! I must have seen it before that night, but this occasion was the first time I ever picked it out and wondered about it. I thought if I started collecting it, I'd eventually have enough to stuff a cushion, and so I stored my first piece of navel fluff in an empty film canister. The collection had begun.

I've read that if you do something every day for three weeks it becomes an ingrained habit, and thats what happened with collecting navel fluff. The ritual of removing fluff from my navel and putting it in a jar prior to my daily shower soon became a habit, and now that I've been doing it so long it would be a shame to stop. As the photo shows, the volume collected is disappointingly small, and I doubt I'll ever have enough to stuff a cushion, but it may be handy for something one day.


Where does navel fluff come from?
Michael Biesecker wrote an interesting article on navel fluff in the 19/4/95 edition of Technician, accessed via North Carolina State University library. In it he discusses the widely held belief that navel fluff forms when very tiny pieces of fibre break off the inside of clothing. These tiny fibres gather in the belly button and amalgamate into balls of lint.

He observes that the colour of navel fluff varies amongst different people, and that those who habitually wear clothes of a similar colour tend to produce fluff related to that colour. However, those who wear a variety of colours usually end up with fluff of a grayish blue colour similar to the lint found in the lint filters of clothes driers. This colour is most likely an average of all clothing colours worn.

Those with hairy stomachs tend to generate more fluff, as abdominal hair is alleged to assist with dislodging fibres from clothes then collecting and channelling them into the navel. Also those with larger bellies often experience greater volumes of fluff - possibly due the tendency of large stomachs to possess deeper navels, thus a larger space for the lint to lodge in.

But how does it accumulate in the navel? Dr Donald E. Smith remarks that navels may possess a moist and sticky secretion that catches whatever lands nearby. On the other hand, Dr Bhupendar S. Gupta, whose doctorate is in the study of textile fibres, attributes the accumulation of navel fluff to the stomach's "microclimate" - where the flow of air between clothing and the abdomen carries small lint particles that get lodged in the navel.

Probably the best investigation into navel fluff was conducted by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki of the University of Sydney. He devotes a whole chapter to it in his popular science book "Q&A With Dr K" (Harper Collins Publishers 2001). The role of abdominal hair in dislodging and channelling clothing fibres is confirmed, but he also suggests the type of washing machine can also play a role. Apparently top-loading machines are not as gentle as front-loaders, leading to greater quantities of dislodged fibres, many of which remain in the clothing and cause greater accumulation in the navel. He also found that a well developed "snail-trail" - hair connecting the pubic hair to the navel - also encourages lint in the belly.