BURN holes usually are limited to cigarette burns that are snuffed out quickly. In cellulosics, high heat of an iron or other source may scorch the fabric before it burns. With cigarettes, in synthetics, the edges of the burn will appear sealed and smooth, whereas with other fibers the edges will be more ragged and ashes will be in evidence. If most apparel fabrics really catch fire, and the fire is not extinguished promptly, they will burn completely and if a person is wearing the clothing, they will be burned. See Fabric Flammability.
Knits tend to snag.
Torn or snagged holes on some clothes can be patched with iron-on tape sealed to the backside that is obtained at notions counters. Abrasion is loosely defined as rubbing the surface of a fabric. In normal wear and in washing and drying fibers in fabrics wear against other surfaces and against each other. In so doing, they literally rub each other out. The softening treatments attack the fibers and make them more vulnerable to the usual abrasion of washing and tumble drying.