As a wee one, my parents had a velvet chair. If I rubbed my hand “with the grain”, it was very soft and smooth. However, if I rubbed my hand “against the grain”, my body would get a jolt, like I was being tickled by a thousand people at once or my funny bone was being hit. I haven’t felt this chair in a long long time, but if I concentrate, I can trigger that feeling and send shivers through my entire body.
Is this normal? What causes this? Do you get this feeling from anything besides velvet?
shameless bump… poor thread title or does nobody know? Maybe I am not asking the right questions?
I’ll bump too. I’ve never heard of this before, but I want to hear more.
I don’t know if it’s normal or what causes it but I have experienced what you describe. I’ve had it happen with velvet but not every time. However, I get the exact same feeling if I grit wool between my teeth. When I was kid I’d often wear wool mittens when playing pond hockey and would sometimes pull a chunk of ice off them with my teeth if it was affecting my grip and it would happen then. It literally sends a shiver up my spine when I think about it. It doesn’t happen every time with velvet and the sensation is not as intense but definitely the same feeling.
Touching velvet always causes me to have the same jolt as touching cotton sheets with freshly cut fingernails or hearing fingernails on a chalkboard/plastic foam against plastic foam/etc. I think it’s some sort of a sensory overload, but I do not know what it is exactly.
I had this exact same thing as a child; I had no word for it, except to say “fuzzy” with a kind of disdain.
Wow - finally someone who feels my pain.
I cannot touch anything that’s “flocked,” velvet-textured, or made out of microfiber. The sensation of the fine threads of fabric brushing against my skin just drives me insane…it’s far worse than “nails on a chalkboard” or any other unpleasant sensory experience that is not pain. I feel this way about the interior of the vast majority of cloth-upholstered cars, with a few exceptions - the 1990 4Runner I used to have had seats that were made of a rugged and somewhat rough cloth that was not at all fine or fuzzy-textured, and I never felt uncomfortable in it. My current car, a 1999 Camry, which I only drive because it was given to me for free or else I’d have gotten something else, has fine-textured cloth seats and while I’ve gotten more or less used to them by now, I wish they were either made out of the same stuff the 4Runner’s seats were, or leather.
my exact reaction upon finding this thread (being directed to it by a friend, rather)!
my whole family makes fun of my aversion of:
velvet
cotton balls (in pill bottles)
velour
microfiber
one year, my mother bought my infant daughter a blue velvet easter dress!! i couldn’t pick her up in my arms while she was wearing it. i routinely have my wife remove cotton balls from pill bottles. when my kids find an item that has any of the above, they try to sneak up on me and touch my skin with it.
i’ve always described it as the tactile equivalent of hearing fingernails on a chalkboard. i don’t know if there’s a “cause” for it, but i’m glad to no longer feel entirely “alien” about suffering in the same way.
that “seinfeld” episode about the man with the velvet cape, or george talking about wearing a suit made entirely of velvet??? i hate it!
I like your Username, **Dilton Doiley,Philosopher King **.
Yeah, a similar effect for me when I rub velvet against the grain; I feel a chill-like sensation that’s similar to the nals-on-chalk reaction. Same thing with corduroy. No problem with microfiber, though.
I’ve never heard of anything like this before, and I have no idea what’s wrong with you people. 
I can’t stand rubbing my hand across a linen sheet. I can’t rub my hand across the bed to smooth wrinkles. I can lay on sheets, fold sheets, do “it” on sheets, etc., but rubbing my hand across it gives me chills.
My wife thinks I’m nuts. Of course, that’s not the only reason she thinks I’m nuts. 
I almost replied to this when it was 0-reply thread, but I felt too weird. Yes, velvet gets me to. The absolute worst example was one of those travel neck-pillow things, you know, the kind of U-shaped thing you put round your neck to sleep on aeroplanes, in cars etc? It was covered with a horrible synthetic velour. I put it round my neck and the first time I rested my chin on it - GAAH! :eek:
I’ve always had this problem. Velvet is definitely the number one offender. As a child, I was unable to tie my own shoelaces because of the cotton they were made out of. Imagine, a 12 year old requiring her parents assistance to tie her shoes! Also, it took years to be comfortable enough touching denim material to actually wear jeans. I grew up wearing leggings and skirts. Other offenders:
Cotton Balls (including the kind in the top of a pill bottle. I always need assistance to get into the darn bottles)
Silk (had a boyfriend that had to stop wearing silk shirts so I could touch him)
Laundry fresh out of the dryer (have to lube my hands up with lotion before folding clothes)
Etc. and so forth.
I’ve been told our problem is called Tactile Hypersensitivity Disorder, but I can’t vouch for any accuracy on that.
Question for the OP and those who are similarly ooked out by velvet: What about sticky stuff, like if you have to handle Scotch tape?
I don’t have a problem with velvet, but the sound of metal utensils clattering together gives me the kind of jangling in my nerves that normal people have to chew aluminum foil to get.
I remember reading somewhere long ago that one hypothesis for the fingernails on the chalkboard reaction stemmed from our neanderthal days, and the screeching sound nails make on a chalkboard was similar to some kind of “death call” or some other sound that was either related to imminent danger or death. My poor recollection of this story probably isn’t helping to clarify, but perhaps it’s linked to the velvet reaction?
Actually, he talks about wishing the whole world were draped in velvet :eek:
I have a similar reaction to suede. I hate to touch the stuff. Cotton balls also creep me out.
Nope. I’m fine with tape of all kinds, as well as microfiber and suede. Velvet and corduroy, on the other hand … ick. Sucked in my pre-teen days, too, because corduroy pants were in fashion, and Mom loved it; for back to school shopping, she loaded up on the cords for me. I had a corduroy high school jacket that I wore a lot. I had to be careful when I put it on; I could handle it for the most part, if it touched my fingernails and rubbed at the very tips of my fingers … again, kinda’ like nails on a chalkboard.