“What Working On The Same Spot For 41 Years Does To The Floor”: 50 Pics Of Worn-Down Things (New Pics)

People across the net share the interesting effects of time and use on everyday items. While not intentional, the incremental, tiny changes add up, creating a sort of organic, new art. So get comfortable, settle into your favorite chair, and scroll through. Upvote the most interesting examples and be sure to comment your thoughts below.

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A Black Shirt Of Mine That Got A Solar Tie-Dye Job After Years Of Being Crammed In The Back Of My Car

My Parents' Cat Always Follows The Same Path Through Their Garden

Generations Of Bunnies Have Worn A Perfect Groove In My Neighbor’s Fence

Time really doesn’t treat everyone and everything equally. By one’s late forties, it’s easy to see what people have “aged well” or “aged poorly,” while in objects, certain materials hold up a lot better than others. A car, left in a field for decades will inevitably begin rusting down into nothing over time, while plastic and glass, unless there is some significant force, will be around for centuries.

Countless Hours Of Wind Moved The Chains To Get This Piece Of Art

23 Years Ago, My Girlfriend Was Given 2 Identical Stuffed Peter Rabbit Toys. One She Kept With Her At All Times (And Still Does), The Other Was Stored Away

Family Heirloom Watch That Was Passed Down To Me. Traces Of The Family Photo Carried On The Back Are Still Visible

Physicists and other scientists call this particular phenomenon entropy, as new matter or energy is never created, but everything slowly breaks down over time.Originally used in thermodynamics, most people know it from everyday occurrences in nature. Mountains get shorter, cliffs erode and dunes are slowly washed away.

A Stop Sign In My Town Is So Old It’s Becoming A Metal Band Logo

400-Year-Old Wooden Staircase In Prague

A Broken Tube TV In My Work Has “Game Over” Burnt Into The Screen

Sometimes the combination of patterns creates a sort of emergent art piece, as colors and shapes are formed. Human beings have an amazing ability to find beauty in the most random collections of things, so it’s not surprising that many of these images were wildly popular on the net before being gathered here.

Organ Keys From The 1850s

Years Of Graffiti (Oakland, CA, 2012)

The Stirring Pattern Formed Over Time In My Coffee Cup

Other examples are more about satisfying human curiosity. From food items stashed away for decades to years of dust creating rug-like layers, most people might find these sorts of edge cases interesting, as we tend to not encounter them on a daily basis. It might be a great way how to satisfy that childhood curiosity of “What if?”

Today On My Walk I Found An “Army Man” Embedded In The Sidewalk

You Can See My Weight Loss Progress In My Work Belt

The Art And The Artist 11 Years Later

As Geoffrey Chaucer wrote, “Time and tide wait for no man,” which is a good lesson to remember, regardless of what you do, time will pass. An older form, “And te tide and te time þat tu iboren were, schal beon iblescet,” has been attributed to an11th-century manuscript, but regardless of authorship, the idea stands. Most people prefer to not think too much about aging, but it’s unhealthy to deny the fact that we will age.

Four Leaf Clover My Great-Grandmother Found In 1922 In Her Diary

Tree Ate A Road Sign

My Mom’s Purse Was Stolen In The 80s At A Hiking Trailhead. Today Someone Found It. The Leather Was All Destroyed, But She Is Getting Some Cool Keepsakes Back

So the images here also can be seen as quasi-educational, showing precisely how time (and tides, for that matter) wear things down. If you start to look carefully, you’ll find examples in most parts of life, from paths etched through grass where people want to cut a corner, to certain buttons in elevators being pressed significantly more frequently.

Decomposed Jeans I Found On The Job Yesterday

Moss Growing On A Sign, But Only The Parts That Illuminate

All The Layers Of Paint On The Berlin Wall

Many of the examples here focus on paint, from graffiti to interior design. While each layer might seem tiny, just a millimeter thick, these pictures show just how quickly they add up. Jerry Seinfeld had a bit describing how repainting his apartment always made him nervous, as he could feel it “closing in” around him.

Reinforced Concrete Dissolved By Years Of Dog Urine

500 Old Singles vs. 500 Brand New

Not the exact same colors, but this definitely shows the difference use over time makes!

I’d Been Looking For A Replacement Blanket For My Favorite Wamsutta Comforter. Top Is The One In Use For 40+ Years. Bottom Is The Replacement

Madrid

A Gift Bag My Mom Has Been Reusing For 39 Years

It’s Safe To Assume Which Pocket My Husband Prefers To Keep His Phone In

One other fringe benefit is it’s a good way to see what products and brands know how to pass the test of time. Sadly, a lot of modern products are woefully designed and break down after a few years, if not a few months of use. Lists like this help separate the actually quality items from cheap copies.

I Work At A Mini Golf Course. These Golf Balls Have Been Stuck In A Stream For So Long They Became Smooth

The Well-Worn Groove On This Step At Westminster Abbey, After 800 Or So Years Of Visitors

My Dad Found A ~20-Year-Old Banana In His Coat Pocket

The last decade of mass smartphone use has been a great way for people to document all these interesting and curious findings, to such a degree that there are whole internet groups devoted to it. The “Mildly Interesting” subreddit is one such example. So if found that this list wasn’t enough,Bored Pandahas got you covered, check out our other list of stuff thattime left a mark onand this article about things that got really,really worn down.

An Elderly Customer Came In Today With A McDonald’s VIP Card

Wooden Dog Sculpture In The Local Park Got A Little Mycology Make-Over

My Husband’s Decade-Old Computer Chair vs. New One, The Same Model, I Am Suprising Him With

Same Size, Make And Model Boots, 1 Year Wear And Tear Of Working In A Mine

I Work In A School That Was Built In 1917. These Are The Stairs From Students Walking On Them For Over A Century

My Mother-In-Law Plays A Lot Of Yahtzee. Bottom Row Are Her Favorite Dice

Found A Go Pro That’s Been In The Ocean For Roughly 2 Months, It Still Works

Finally Got A New Phone Cord At Work

Eiffel Tower’s Stairs Are Slightly More Worn On The Inside Because Of People’s Fear Of Heights

Years Of Paint Build-Up I Chipped Of An Old Trestle At Work

The Door Handle To The Restroom At Work Is Marked By Wedding Rings

A Customer At My Work Paid With A Series 1934 $100 Bill

The Way The Sticker On This Shampoo Bottle Has Worn Looks Like A Letter Tornado

My Dress Shoe Sole Has Worn Out To Make It Look Like It Has An Eye On The Bottom Of It

The Wall After Countless Swipes With Key Cards

Went Back To Office Today Since I Started Teleworking From Pandemic

What Working And Sitting On The Same Spot For 41 Years Does To The Floor

After 4 Years Of Wearing This Sweatshirt To Work, A Completely Different Imprint Has Started To Appear Under The Original

My Old Next To My New Clogs

New vs. Old $20 Bills In ATM Dispenser

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25 Years Of Burn-In On An Old Pacman Arcade Screen

Asphalt Over Tiles In A Waco, TX Parking Lot

1990 vs. 2020. My Dad’s College Hat vs. My Future College Hat

Store Clerk’s Counter

I Didn’t Realize How Faded My Headlights Were Until I Changed Them (2008 Peterbilt)

A New Keyboard Cover Just Came In, I’m A Writer With A Bad Habit Of Hard Typing

This Door Keypad. Passcode Is 2929

The Sun Has Changed The Meaning Of This Sign

The Staircase On This Ship Where You Can See That The Majority Of People Step Down Left Foot First

My Husband’s Work Boots. Brand New And Used About 4 Months. Yes, That’s The Steel Toe Showing

I Work At A Whole Animal Butcher Shop And Finally Replaced My Primary Boning Knife After Three Years

“Don’t You Dare Try To Upsell Me Sir. Just Do The Damn Oil Change”

Two-Decade-Old Nalgene vs. The New Replacement

This Clock Has Been Around My Office For More Or Less 20 Years. It Is Disintegrating On The Sunny Side

1995 Zippo, Before And After. One Day It Will Look Like It Did Before The Sanding And Polish