Today marks the 23rd anniversary of that fateful day in 1984 when I began collecting the lint from my navel each day. I’m still collecting it, and still hold the record for the world’s largest collection.

The main collection is sealed and stored in a safe place, with my daily harvesting being added to a separate small container. In recognition of my collection’s birthday I have transferred the past year’s lint from the small container to the main collection, together with the lint from the tiny container I carry while travelling. An updated photo of the collection is now on the Navel Fluff page.

This small container I add to each day (pictured) is noteworthy. Just when I thought everything that could be made from clay had been made, this turns up! It was very kindly sent to me by Brenda Beasley of South Carolina, who is herself a collector (of statues of liberty and related paraphernalia; see her website). It’s perfect for storing tiny balls of lint - I wonder if its makers ever imagined it would be used in gathering the world’s largest navel lint collection.