merino/smartwool sweaters
 

I got 100% merino wool no-sleeve base layers for christmas. So I read that ideally you should wear the merino wool sweaters/base layers directly on your bare skin. (Now usually I wouldn't wear sweaters directly on my skin). Are you guys actually wearing them like that? I guess it would be ideal for sweat absorbing. But you do end up washing them constantly (or dry-cleaning it) - which is not ideal

Can I get some feedback on what others are doing.

Thank you.

Yes, right on your skin. I have a thin merino long sleeve base layer, like an undershirt. Then another regular wool sweater goes on top of that. I machine wash them cold once a week and hang to dry or low tumble dry for 10 minutes. They don't smell so you can easily get away with washing them once a week and cold wash with wool specific detergent is fine. If you want to prevent excessive stretching during wash (spin cycle in particular) put them in a net bag. No need to dry clean them. People wore wool for thousands of years before dry cleaning was invented :D I'm just not sure if sleeveless will work as well as long sleeve for winter.

Adam

Yeah, wear the wool up against your skin. As Adam said, wool doesn't attract odors like cotton or polyester does.

I actually just wash my wool by hand in a sink with a little bit of laundry detergent and cold water if it needs it, then hang dry it. I've never dry cleaned anything.

I have a variety of smartwool clothing. Most of them I find comfortable next to my skin, and all of them I acquired with that intention. I use them for skiing, biking, backpacking, and etc.

I wash them as needed, without regard for instructions. Because of my lack of care, some of them pill. They are base-layers, and I am okay with this. None have shrunk significantly, and none have exploded, vaporized, or otherwise been damaged. A few socks have gone to wherever socks go to.

I also have a pair of smartwool armwarmers, which I absolutely love. I find I need arm an extra arm layer more often than I need an extra torso layer.

I wash my Merino wool baselayer once a winter, maybe twice. If you hang it to dry after use it will not smell. Wool is magical in that way. What will eventually happen is that the salt from your sweat will make the fabric feel brittle. That's when you know it needs a washing. :)

Indeed... too funny!!! :)

I wash my wool stuff whenever it starts to feel crusty. Sometimes that means once a year and other times it's once a month. Wash cold, hang dry or lay flat unless the care instructions say you can toss it in the dryer.

Merino wool is miraculous. I've had some long-sleeve polo shirts and some turtleneck shirts made out of it. I can wear it outside in 30ºF, without a jacket, and I can wear it outside in 60ºF without being hot.

It not only wicks sweat away, it seems to wick the smell away. I can wear the same merino wool shirt against my skin several days in a row without it getting stinky.

And unlike some wools, it really does stand up to machine washing.

Don't stop with the sweater. I got the merino long undies for Christmas and they are just fantastic. I do wash em once a week (gentle cycle) and they are holding up just fine.

The claim about wool not smelling -- is that your own personal opinions, or is it shared by others? Just curious. I've known people who claim that their sweat doesn't smell, and they were wrong. Just because they can't smell it doesn't mean that others can't.

I've heard this many times myself. Sort of tested it myself once when a group of us went on a week long cycling trip. We hung our base layers up on a line we strung and the next morning you couldn't smell anything on them. Not even after the week was over. That was a lot of sweating in those garments. We took showers when possible, but never washed our clothes.

I've been using the same set of wool sock liner and sock for a 1/2 dozen rides over the past couple of weeks and I have checked them and then come up rosey everytime. I guess I'm not sweating much in these cold temps.

I sleep in my smartwool shirt and long johns. They're the best.

How to care for wool garments:

Don't:

- wash in hot water (anything above room temp)
- dry in hot dryer
- hang until it drips most water off (if it's heavy from water it'll stretch while hung, threads may break)
- use any fancy, strong detergents (Tide!), bleach, any of those scented add-ons people add to final rinse
- let it spin for too long unless in a net bag (it'll stretch)
- dry in direct sunlight
- hang on heaters to dry
- wash with other items, wool should be washed with wool only
- use too much detergent

Do:

- wash in cold water by hand or in washing machine on gentle cycle but put the wool items in net bags
- let drip water off before hanging by leaving it at the edge of the sink, tub or lay in a basket
- alternatively lay flat on a towel
- alternatively tumble dry for 8-10 mins on lowest setting to let it get back into shape then hang to dry
- use wool specific detergent or the most plain, mild detergent you have, plain hair shampoo is good
- use a fan to speed up drying (airflow not heat!)
- store in ziplock bags for long-term storage

Adam

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

The only smell from wool is the usually 'wooly' smell if you ride in the rain a lot. Wet wool smells like wet wool; a little bit like a clean dog after a run in the rain. Dry it back out and that scent is gone, along with anything else. I sweat a lot, and I know for a fact that I stink when I sweat; I don't need anyone else to tell me that. My poly jerseys need washing after a single day's commuting during the summer. I wash my wool baselayers and jerseys once every couple weeks without any stank problems. During the summer I do sometimes need to wash a wool jersey after a single ride; like a 200 or 300k in decent heat and all my gear is crusted in salt stains, or after an Accelerade misfire.

It is shared by my wife, and she can smell almost anything on me. She will smell it before I will though.

Bacteria doesn't flourish in wool, and that's what makes the stink. That said, I find that smartwool does indeed pick up a smell, albeit it's not the curdle your nose locker room stench. I'm assuming that it's just the body oils and such.

merrino wool is magical stuff. i bought a pair of merrino socks. After a 12 hour day at work, my sox are generally classified as toxic waste.

These things?

Nothing.

Couldn't tell they had been worn. So, I threw them on the next day and went to a 35 mile ride. Afterwards, I washed them just for the hell of it.

Pure f'n magic!!!!!

There is no other explanation.

There is an explanation, and it has to do with the shape of the fiber as seen under a microscope. I read about it in a 1974 issue of National Geographic that was lying around a B&B I was in.

I think the synthetics are getting close, but they're still not there.

Yes, it really doesn't smell. Mind you, it varies from person to person, and my sweat really smells less than the average person's sweat. I've had this verified by impartial people. I also sweat less than others, for some reason. I'm also eastern European. I don't know why this is. Anyway, I can wear the same shirt for three days and not shower, and the shirt still won't smell. But I'm at the extreme end of this odd spectrum. Your mileage WILL vary.

+1 on next to skin -- very comfortable.

Me too.

Tempting, but I don't think my wife would allow it. It has me wondering if I really need to wash my merino stuff once a week, though. Maybe I could get more usage between washing.

The one knock I have on wool, merino or otherwise, is that it does not get along with velcro. You gotta be careful to keep them separate, especially in the dryer.

Agreed with what everyone said, merino wool is wonderful material. I use it as a base layer. With everyday use I wash it once every 3 weeks. When I just use it few times a week and not everyday ,I've gone longer then a month without washing it. I have synthetics also but merino just feels nicer against the skin.

Next to skin works, but putting a silk-weight baselayer like powerdry in between the wool and skin works better!

I bought a 100% merino wool sweater from Costco for 19.99USD like many others here. I don't wear it directly next to my skin, but over a synthetic or silk baselayer. I used the same sweater since it started getting cold in November and have not washed it yet. I liked it so much I bought another; same style and same color. I wore the new one once or twice.

Now I can't tell a difference between them - I can no longer tell which one I've only work two or three times and which one I've been wearing all winter without washing.

I have a merino wool short sleeve undershirt that I love wearing under my Sporthill zone 3 sweater. The merino tshirt is soft, warm and lightweight. I'm afraid I'm rather abusive to my clothes and tend to wash all of my bike clothes in hot water and machine dry them (but not
bone dry -- I take my gear out when they are still damp).

The merino shirt as well as my wool socks are great at resisting stinky sweat.

I need to buy more wool tshirts.

I think it would be nice if they made garments out of 90% merino wool and 10% nylon. They would be more durable and stretch resistant. I find that 10% or 15% nylon does not detract from wool's desirable qualities. My socks are 85% wool and 15% nylon. They last for years.

The Performance Foscoe wool long sleeve base layer is 85/15 wool/poly blend. There's also a few Pearl Izumi wool garments which are 85/15 or 80/20 blend, or the PI Wooly Mammoth jersey uses ThermaWool (96/4, wool/spandex).

I have a top and bottom base layers that are 80% wool and 20% something synthetic and they start to smell after 2-3 uses. I don't use them for daily commuting any more. They hold shape better though.

Adam

Yeah, polyester probably introduces its bad qualities into the wool. That's why I specified nylon, not just any synthetic. It's like adding fishing wire. That stuff doesn't hold odors. Polyester does.

Though I will say there seem to be many types of polyester, and that's what so-called "fleece" is made of. It is approaching wool lately, getting better. It's light, and it stays warm when wet. But it doesn't breathe as well yet. Maybe it will one day. It can also hold a greater variety of colors than wool can.

Better yet, putting an actual silk base layer next to your skin, then layering wool and cashmere over it will make for toastiness, breathability and comfort. Natural fibers seem to work better than synthetics so stick w/ silk, wool and cashmere. Cotton will hold on to sweat and won't keep you warm. Synthetics will stink like hell. Synthetics w/ odor control like silver threads or whatever wear out after a few washings and will stink like hell.