On a ride yesterday, I noticed a spot on my shorts where the fabric felt rough. After washing, the problem became much worse, and there are major areas of damage on both the front and back of the shorts. The following picture shows a close-up of a section of the shorts on the front near the chamois. If I look at the shorts closely, it almost seems like there are short little threads of elastic sticking out.
I've never put the shorts in the dryer, and I'm not aware of anything I've done wrong. Is this sort of damage common? Are there any mistakes in care or handling that are likely to have caused this, or is it a manufacturing defect?