Hello, my name is Lisa. I'm live in Ontario, Canada. I have the same problem. For as long as I can remember I've been rubbing cloth like material between my fingers. It's a real big problem. I will do anything I can to rub. I'll find anything I can to rub.. It all started when I was a baby and slept over at my best friends house and her mom gave me silk.. now I'm 28 with 3 of my own girls. They don't do it themselves, but it drives them crazy when I do it..

Wow! I too picked at fuzzy blankets and left little balls of rolled up fuzz every where! Then the car seat cover, and hair bands before that it was silky pillowcases , and it morphed into a certain kind of scarf or knitted hat, I pull the *yarn* out and basically twiddle it in my fingers, there are small pieces of blue acrylic yarn everywhere ! I bought 3 of the same scarfs 2 summers ago just to tear up! In the car, on the couch and in bed... and in my pockets! I'm 42 and I don't have a problem with this addiction... I do have a touch of arthritis in the first joint of my pointer finger due to the constant rubbing. Other wise it calms me down, makes me feel good, and as long as I can keep finding the soft yarn scarves , I'll be fine. I'm not even embarrassed about it... my kids and boyfriend accept me, other people either don't notice or think its just a piece of yarn that I'm just messing around with. We all call it *mommies woobie* or *my blue thing* :-) I never knew anyone else did this! How cool !

Ou should apply for My Strange Addiction. They will provide help and they are casting right now. Email [email protected]!

http://isitnormal.com/story/label-rubbing-750/

I just thought I would search this "problem" and this forum came up... I didn't realize that others did this too. I am shocked.

Mine started when I was a child and had a blankie with silky/satiny edges and I would run it between my fingers and toes and on my lips and under my nose. I felt so comforted and it continued all these years (I am now 30).

I have found that lately I will be up all night rubbing the cotton sateen sheets in between my toes, constantly. I will find the edges under the blanket and spread my toes to get the edges through as many as possible and rub them. My husband is always asleep when I do this. I am finding it almost getting worse with time and age.

When I was a bit younger (teens/20s) I wouldn't have any blankets that would have a silky edge to avoid this complusion. If I went to a friend or siblings' house, I would see a blanket that did and wrap myself in it to rub it between my fingers and on my lips when people weren't looking. I felt like such a weirdo.

I have tried socks when I sleep to avoid it, but it gets too hot and I take them off and then compulsively rub again. For hours and hours and hours... choosing rubbing over sleep.

What is wrong with me? I know I have a mild case of OCD. I have to arrange things certain ways at home, work and at restaurants and have other quirks. I am also an itchy scratcher all the time.. finding scabs, imperfections, scalp scratching and picking at myself and others.

I am in awe that so many others have this same problem and this is probably 1% of the actual number of people that deal with this.

Been doing this since I was in middle school I think... take a soft piece of fabric, create a bubble and then rub it btwn my fingers for endless amounts of time (it seems)... I may be nervous but I genuinely enjoy soft things and I only do this with soft cotton and cashmere scarves

I have done this for 22 years and its like it's a drug it relaxes me the more I do it the better I feel. Ppl wonder why I do it.I don't know it started on my baby blanket they to my windbreaker jackes and I still today can not stop. Can any one tell me what it is?

Hello,
I have this same habit. I like to touch or rub soft fabrics like cotton or hemp. For the last couple of years I have had a favorite scarf that I touch a lot. Right now I have a scarf made of hemp. I go to sleep with it by my side and sometimes use it to cover my eyes like an eye mask to keep the light out but also because it feels soft on my face. It has many practical uses! Keeping warm, eye mask and softness.

I remember that I used to use a pashmina/cotton scarf when I was in uni. I wore it all the time. People used to say they never saw me without a scarf, even in summer I would still take one around in my bag. I had different colours in the same fabric.

I think I stopped for a while when I was living overseas.

I also like soft sheets like organic cotton. I usually wrap my legs around them and find a soft section for my feet to touch.

I don't think its such a bad habit. At worse it can mean that I don't get out of bed early in the morning because I find it so comfortable to feel the sheets on my legs and feet.

I will also find myself placing my scarf against my lips/chin/cheeks on my face because it feels soft. I have even sometimes found myself wanting to touch my boyfriend's neck over and over - the skin is so soft.

Yes I also touch the inside lining of jackets and/or the side of t-shirts.

I do this usually at the end of the day when I get home from work. Its relaxing to have a rest or sit on the couch and read and touch my scarf.

Sometimes I would wear my scarf to work or when studying but I found it distracting because I would always start touching it and kind of mellow out/chill out so much that I would stop concentrating on my work. Also its hard to type when you are touching a scarfe.

I try not to do this when I need to work.

I do know when it gets too much, or when I have been doing it too long. So I try to tear myself away from it. The feeling just changes from being contented to frustration and annoyance and I know that I need to break away from it.

But yeah I will sometimes be walking down the street just touching my scarf.

That is OCD. You can get help from a doctor or psychiatrist. Medication and counseling combined is often helpful.Hang in there, knowing you need help is the first step in getting better. Best wishes

Wow! I can't believe how many other people do this! I feel a little more normal about it. I've done it for as long as I can remember. I used to actually suck my thumb and rub the fabric between my top lip and index finger... I'm 31 and quit sucking my thumb LONG ago, but now I still have the strange need to rub fabric between my thumb and index. Thin cotton, rayon, silk, nylon, Acetate... I think thin cotton is my favorite. If I am shopping or browsing and find clothing made of the right fabric, I will buy it. Most of my wardrobe consists of "finger rubbing suitable material". I love long skirts from India. Anyway, I consider myself relatively "normal". XD HA! I'm sure it is mostly a sensory thing. It has never posed a problem in my life and most people don't realize I even do it. I've never gotten sleepy from it, but as a child I couldn't fall asleep unless I was doing it. If it is causing problems in your life, then maybe you should ask your GP to refer you to a therapist. Don't feel bad... we could all use a little therapy for something! :)

I have never heard of anyone else soothing him or herself with a pillow corner rubbing between fingers. I have been doing it all my life (32 now). I do not use the top of my fingers but he base of the finger, the sweet place where the two fingers meet. :) It produces instant endorphins rush in my brain. I've never thought of it as something bad, on contrary. My mother and my husband always found it to be sweet. I never bothered me, really, and I do it at home before sleep and in winter with a handkerchief folded in my pocket while walking. I turned up pretty fine, finished medical school, and I live with no other compulsion or addiction. I enjoy it and it helps me release tension and soothe myself before sleep.

Hi my name is mel I'm 31yo and like all off you, I have been doing the rubbing thing between my fingers since I was born!(says my mum and dad) My dad says its nervous tension, and I do find I do it a lot more when I'm nervouse. Sometimes I wouldn't even know I was nervous until I realized I was rubbing. I find I also feel relaxed when I do it, even though I do it so hard and so much that I create little splits on the sides of my fingers.(only when I'm stressed)they hurt sort of, but it's a nice kind of pain, (only when I'm rubbing) but if they get to bad, I resort to rubbing with the other hand or the other side of my fingers. I'm not worried about it, it feels good, and I find it helps me get to sleep too. I find also it makes me Tune Out, like meditation, my mind seems to slow down and centre, my breathing become relaxed and slow and it's so relaxing that I tend to find a strange kind if peace! Now that to me can not be a disorder, well not for me, and it's nice to know there are others who have this similar little habit:) I admit the knuckles on my pointer and middle fingers are slightly calloused from 31 years of material rubbing ha ha but other then that it has caused no harm, only good! So I say enjoy this little uneque gift, many people have other little strange nervous habits that are far worse then you could imagine.
Oh and I just have to say, that thin cotton material is my favorite, I twist it into a little triangula shape and rub the little point a lot of the time. Satin was my favorite when I was little:) sometimes I even rub the little point I make across my face, over the tops of my fingers and even on the inside of my legs. My parents and friends think nothing of it. And really if it's not hurting anyone or damaging you in any horrible way, if it makes you feel good... It must be good for a good reason!!

Dear Mel, my rubbing friend :)

I am glad you think positive about our little habit as well. I think it is rather cute, especially when I imagine myself as a child rubbing my little fingers onto a little point. I also make triangular shapes... they are the sweetest :)

Many kisses from Croatia!

I have it tooo

I have it tooooo

I have done this since infancy. My mom says it started when I got hold of a pair of her silky panties while she was doing laundry one day. As a kid, I carried around a "silky," which was a square cut from my mom's old satin nightgowns. I'm now 31 years old, and still happily rubbing away. If I wear a skirt with a satin lining, it is hard to keep my hands off it, ha ha.

I have an old satin bathrobe that I never wear... I just keep it around to rub. I usually only do it at home, while watching TV, surfing the net, or going to sleep. I do usually pack it surreptitiously in my carry-on bag any time I fly, though. Flying stresses me out a lot, and having my "silky" to rub is so calming.

My boyfriend knows about it and doesn't mind. I don't think it's weird. I don't do it in public (usually... ) and don't HAVE to do it. It is not a compulsion. It doesn't interfere negatively with my life. I don't drag the bathrobe around with me when I'm out of the house.

I used to suck my fingers as well, when I was a kid, but stopped long ago. So now it's just the rubbing thing. I find that if I don't have something suitable to rub, I like to keep my hands busy with sewingm or fiddling with something like my keys or a pen.

Just hope it doesn't give me carpel tunnel, ha ha. It is nice to know I'm not the only one out there who does this!

This is so cool. I started doing this when I was a kid, don't remember when. I sort of like paper too if it is folded in half and not creased. I like the feel of the folded side between my fingers. Sometimes if I am reading I like the pages of the book too if they r sort of cool. My fav are the silky edges on the old blankets from when I was a kid. I am 56 now. Sort of loose tract of time. With the book thing I will have a hard time concentrating and reading the book because of it which really bothers me. When I was in 4th grade I thought it was so cool I told this friend to do it and it would feel good. She did it and looked at me like I was from Mars. I thought then maybe I better keep this to myself. No one else has ever seemed to notice me doing it.

Luv you all!!
Denise

Ok, so I'll be brave... While 'doing this thing that I do' and wondering if I'm the only one in the world that does it, I decided to 'google' it, and I came to discover that there are actually hundreds of other people with my same 'habit', though each of us has our own unique 'style' shall we say. It was a wonderful enlightenment for me, and it struck me that there are probably thousands of peopl... e with little ideosyncracies that they may be hiding or feeling shameful about. I say we should all EMBRACE our UNIQUENESS! So, here we go... As a very small child, I had a soft green blanket with satin ribbon around all sides. I found comfort in rubbing the satin against it's own grain, as it made a 'zipping' feeling and sound. For as long as I remember, I have sought out certain pieces of satin fabrics to 'rub'; award ribbons are my greatest preference, and I would fold and rub them until they were nothing but thread (which is why I do not have any left from my childhood acheivements). I do not do this in public, and have not shared it with anyone other than significant others. None of them have thought me 'weird' for it, rather they found it endearing, thankfully for me. I even had a close friend that would bring me samples of silky fabrics, but my preference is for a particular thread count, (as I have learned is very common, some people prefer cottons or flannels, which would do absolutely nothing for me.) I have several small pieces of my "softie", (cut from various nightgowns) and always have one under my pillow, and usually one near the sofa for movie watching time, lol. It is very soothing to me when I am nervous or upset. I am not ashamed of it, as it is part of who I am, and it does not interfere with my life or anyone else's. I am curious about other people with my specific 'habit' and wonder what they call their own "softie" or the action of rubbing or twiddling it... (?)

Ever since I was a baby, I have done this with the satin edge of my baby blanket. Almost 23 years old, I still have my blanket and always use it to "twiddle" when I need to relax, unwind, and most importantly, get drowsy so I can fall asleep.

It's a mixture of feeling the sharp point of the folded fabric as well as the cool feeling of the material. If the part I'm rubbing on my fingers gets too warm or "dulls down," I move to a cooler section of the lining and fold it for a new, sharp point. Sometimes I feel the need to rub it over the outline of my lips as well.

In school I would also fold up paper and run my fingers over the most folded corner. The sharp feeling of the corner on the underside of my knuckles was the best!

It's so great to know that I'm not the only one in the world that "suffers" from this, but really, it's a behavior that isn't hurting me. If anything it helps with my anxiety and makes me fall asleep faster than I would if I didn't sleep with my blanket still. My mother, father, and sister are the only ones that really know that I continue to do it. For some reason I was always ashamed of having my friends or roommates in college see me with my blanket in general, much less rubbing my fingers all over it.

It's a habit that I'm 99.9% sure I will never kick even if I get married and have my own family down the road. Seeing the comments from older "twiddlers" gives me comfort knowing that it's okay and not detrimental if I continue to do so for as long as I live. We are all very truly unique! :)

Alas I'm in the same boat - can't honestly remember when I started but all I know is it doesn't have to necessarily be labels - corners of my bed quilt and pillow cases(generally where there's stitching) also seem to give me the sensation of comfort. I definitely agree it compulsive, hell just sat here reading this page I was mauling the crud out the silk label on my shirt xD. Mostly Ive been lead to believe it's a comfort thing but also I think it may have something to do with boredom, it seems to be a way for me to engage my mind through sensations. That's just my opinion however.

OMG!! I have the same addiction something with a child. I have researched the on the Internet. It's a brain connection that some people never lose. When ado baby suckles his hands reach out to feel human hair. It calms us down and releases certain happy hormones. Certain people never lose this connection. Their brain simply does not outgrow it. Brain surgeons can simply touch a certain part of the brain with a metal instrument a person will begin to suckle and their hands will search for something soft

Sorry... continued.
The reason why it makes you tired is because of the natural instinct connected to it. If you are unknowingly suckling, you may be swallowing large amounts of saliva that may make you nauseous. Everyone has this instinct locked in their brain. Most people outgrow it, but a certain percentage of people never do. It's not something to be alarmed about or embarrassed about. You should relax and simply use it as a tool to help you get to sleep. Curcumin or Turmeric may help the nausea if taken on a daily basis.

Well first there is nothing to be embarrassed about. It soundslike you are suffering from a Clinical Depression and need to have antidepressants or of course what only a doctor can decide. I would not put this off any longer. I suffer from bipolar disorder and I wish that I had not waited so long to seek medical attention. Call your family doctor and please don't be embarressed he/she will be caring and understanding.
Jane

I googled this topic because I have had this this "problem" since I was a small child. I call it a "pilling" addiction. Since I was a toddler I would pull strands of fabric from my baby blankets and roll them between my fingers. It would give me comfort. My family tells me stories that they would look on the floor beside my crib and see all these little "fuzzies" laying on the floor. I have done it my whole life. I am now 51 yrs. Old. It has been a bit embarrassing over the years with my husband, children, and my siblings teasing me a bit. I can stop doing it for lengths (sometimes for many months) of time, but when I am stressed or in need of self-comforting, I revert back to it. Right now I have a few strands of fabric from a cotton throw in my pocket. I bet I spend up to several hours a day rolling this crazy thing. It gives me an undeniable degree of comfort. I am also a compulsive overeater. I no doubt have OCD to a great degree. You are not alone. It's an odd thing, but I can think of worse addictions!

Me too and I'm 51. I love it and still do it! It doesn't hurt anyone or myself and OMG it's my own thing!! Glad there is someone else out there! Keep snapping and enjoy!

P.S. My little brother made me an award once. "the international cloth snappers award" LOVED IT!

I do this too since I was a kid I'm 29 and only my family and girlfriend know I usually use basketball shorts they are the best as a kid my parents called it my woogie I started with my moms silk bath robe but now use basketball shorts I do it all the time even cut small pieces to take with me to work. Wow it's so funny to find other people that do it too lol :) I now refer to this as paying with my shorts.
Oh also if I machine wash my shorts they're not as good I always must hand wash them

Oh and ill never stop rubbing my shorts by the way it's sooo relaxing I can not enjoy watching TV without them

Less nicknames and favorite materials, more reasons and science please? Any medical experts out there that can shed more light on this?

Is it damaging?

Carpal Tunnel
Tranquilizing
Loss of memory
Escapism

So glad I'm not the only one! When I was a child I used to suck my thumb and rub the tag of whatever stuffed animal was my current favorite between my fingers. When I rubbed the tag down to the point of there being nothing left, I'd find a new favorite toy with a new tag. Eventually I stopped sucking my thumb. And for a while stopped with the tag rubbing. Throughout my early teens, however, if I found a piece of fabric small enough to fit in my pocket, I'd rub it between my fingers until it was rubbed down to nothing and could go several months without doing it again. But when I was 21 I was raped and for a few weeks did nothing but lay in bed. While in bed I found a tag on one of my comforters and began my tag rubbing again. Ever since, I can't seem to stop. I'm now almost 24 and I rub my "tag" every day. The one I currently use is a tag off a play pin (I used to work at a daycare). I've had this same tag for over a year. If I misplace it, I find myself becoming very upset. Even throwing things while searching for it. If its not where I thought I left it, my heart starts pulsating and I get tears in my eyes. One time I unknowingly left it at a friends house. I couldn't sleep for days. I bought a spool of ribbon and cut a piece the same size as my "tag" and tried to wear it down so it would feel the same as my tag. Luckily, my friend knows of my strange behavior and love of my "tag". When she found it she returned it to me. Everything I've read about this type of behavior has suggested that it is a mild form of OCD. While my case may be different due to the increase in the need to do it after I was sexually assaulted, the compulsion is the same. I am under the impression that it shouldn't be viewed as a "problem" unless it interferes with your day to day life on an extreme level. Just remember to surround yourself with people who are loving and understanding and won't judge you for your love of tag rubbing!