Why is belly button fluff

I don’t get belly fluff. I had always thought it was just because of the type of clothing next to my skin and because I shower regularly.

My former husband used to and he had hair surrounding his belly button. I used to marvel at this phenomenon.

Surely the shape of a belly button has some influence on fluff collection. 

ArchaeC said:

My former husband used to and he had hair surrounding his belly button.

I have a hairy chest / belly and the hairs actually spiral around the belly button. It acts as a vortex of a kind and I notice that when I wear soft cotton tops that the material is almost scraped by the hairs and releases fluff that slowly migrates towards the belly button.

When I wear a less soft material (eg gym t-shirt) then there is no fluff to release and I don't get any build up.

It seems a design flaw to me - the belly button is a bit of a vulnerable area for infection to enter the body and it acts as a trash collecter for the belly area. It work this way with both a bit of a pot belly and also with a six pack.

Iain said:

It seems a design flaw to me

I would agree. Some humans have belly buttons that stick out but mammals such as the mountain gorilla have just a slight indentation that marks where the umbilical cord had been. Marsupials don’t have belly buttons because the cord breaks off when they are still in the pouch and they are underdeveloped. 

Iain said:

It seems a design flaw to me

I would agree. Some humans have belly buttons that stick out but mammals such as the mountain gorilla have just a slight indentation that marks where the umbilical cord had been. Marsupials don’t have belly buttons because the cord breaks off when they are still in the pouch and they are underdeveloped.