Sweat doesn't smell indeed. It's the bacteria that lives and feeds in sweat that produces bad smells. For some reason this doesn't happen with pure wool. I sweat a lot, I'm Eastern European (with some extra pounds around my waist), we sweat like there is no tomorrow and I know I stink, nobody needs to tell me that My base layer is drenched after my commute and I don't wash it for the entire week and it doesn't smell at all. If I wear a cotton or any poly stuff it'll stink after the first ride and first dry, you can smell it on the whole office. You can put your face into my merino base layer and you will only smell the fabric. Then I wear a thick sweater on top of my base layer. I sometimes don't wash it for weeks. I wear it everywhere else too and there is zero smell.

My cotton or synthetic socks can be used as biological warfare after a hot day. If I wear wool socks I can wear them for several days without any consequences to living organisms around me.

But it has to be pure, 100% wool. Any addition of cotton or synthetics will make it stink.

Adam