Merino wool clothes
 

Hi,

do you have any experience with merino wool clothing? Is it worth? Is it just a hype? How much the brand matters?

The few garments I've owned were given to me as gifts. They work(ed) well in many conditions, but I'm not sure I'd buy one myself. I don't sweat heavily so I can't evaluate that aspect. And I have no opinion on brands.

Socks? Don't wear any other kind, even for daily life. Other stuff is too icy for me.

I have several Merino wool garments, some for biking, some for other outdoor and daily use. IMHO, it's no hype. Comfortable to wear, sweat wicking, doesn't get smelly with repeated wearings. I wear wool socks year around.

Good stuff. I have 50/50(+) and 100% Merino socks and base layers and wear them hiking, camping, and biking in cool weather. Thin, lightweight, moisture-wicking, and comfortably warm. With hiking..year around for merino socks. Merino can be pricey, but if you look around you can get items at a reasonable cost. For socks, I have a bundle or two of "Fun Toes" (amazon) that I wear through the winter in all shoes, inexpensive warmth. Darn Tough socks are a standard in hiking socks.

Most thing that touch my skin in day to day lifer are merino, but I ride bikes with Lycra

Merino wool is the, um, stuff. Warm when wet, non-itchy, can be worn day after day without stinking (bacteria breed poorly in wool).

I highly recommend Darn Tough Vermont socks, and wool clothing from Rivendell- i think i have four of their long-sleeved shirts and two short-sleeved, and need a new pair of tights to replace the ones that lasted about ten years.

Yes, Yes, No, sometimes


On today's 3 hour training ride, it was raining hard and fairly warm at 72F. I cannot imagine riding in a lycra top in those conditions, my merino jersey was perfect. OTOH, it was 95F and 70%RH yesterday, I cannot imagine wearing any merino jersey in those heat index conditions.


Merino can be itchy depending on the fineness, which can range from 14-24 microns. That is where brand matters. Unfortunately, few brands give you enough information to know the quality of the wool.

Wool was much better than cotton in the old days, but now there are synthetic materials that are as good or better in terms of performance and comfort.

I do not think I have met a single long distance hiker or long distance endurance type cyclist who does not appreciate the performance benefits and comfort of merino wool socks. Not that they exclusively use merino or other woolen socks, but they often chose to wear them.

I'll wear synthetics. But they stink. Smell awful if worn multiple days.

For baselayers, I prefer alpaca or yak over merino because they have a finer structure and more of a hollow structure that traps more air. Obviously, wool is not as light as synthetics. Alpaca dries much quicker than merino and it makes my favorite winter socks. None of these are cheap but then again neither is Capilene plastic underwears.

I was gifted some Smartwool socks. They are great. Merino doesn't smell. For bike commuting and touring, I only wear Merino socks. Smartwool is too expensive though. The Amazon Fun Toes mentioned up thread sound good as well. The founder of this Merino wool dress shirt company boasts that he wore the same dress shirt for 100 days - https://woolandprince.com/blogs/ever...could-be-on-us

For MTBing and more relaxed styles of riding I'm all for using merino, you really can tour with it without it stinking. I find synthetic jerseys start to smell after only a short bit of time and after 3-4 hours of riding in the summer either on trails or on tour they're awful. But merino is just comfortable and smells fine.

How does merino work for very hot weather and high UV? Like Arizona or New Mexico?

Middleweight wool jersey plus windbreaker or rain jacket will work in a very broad range of conditions. The knock on wool jerseys is they're heavier than modern alternatives, and tend to be floppy.

Thin wool baselayer is still pretty darned competitive with any other materials.

Wool socks are tough to beat for winter warmth.

I can't imagine anyone using wool shorts or bibs.

Merino is the wool of choice, afaik.

I like the socks. not clothing. Not as warm as synthetic pound per pound

Older synthetic jerseys did tend to stink after only one or two rides. Modern one don't.

The best socks I've found are bamboo with reinforced toe and heel. Comfortable, long-wearing, odor-free.

2c i started wearing wool underwear because probably of a rivendell blog post. Wear it every day, no stink chafe or bunching. Brooks saddle, no pad. Up to 200km and change or a few days tour. Also wear wool hiking socks most days.

Other fav stuff is the Paradox cheap merino long johns and long sleeve shirts from Costco. I think you can get a 2 pack of each for like 20 or 25 dollars CAD when it’s in season. Mostly use these for layering up on or off bike based on weather. Works good though.

I also buy Fun Toes. Even though they call them lightweight, they're really not and so I only use them as winter socks.

The thing with Merino wool is that they can have a very low percentage of Merino wool, and still use that term. I've seen some with only 10% Merino wool that were labeled "Merino wool socks".

There's a range of fabric weights available in wool. However, even the lightest weight wool jerseys are too hot for me above 80-85F. I think merino wool is great for 35-75F, so winter in your area. Riding is southern Arizona on an 85F morning? I don't care if it's a dry heat, I don't need anything more than a lightweight poly jersey.

UV? I've worn out exactly one poly jersey in some 25 years, and that one started leaking UV its last summer. I haven't experienced any sunburn below any other kind of clothing I've worn -- lycra, polypro, wool, or cotton. But of course I'm not a pop/rock star, so I'm not wearing anything to flash my audience. :)

Costco also sells everyday merino socks that are very nice. They'll be available in season (not now). Come in packs of 3 or 4..can't remember if they are a blend or 100%. I'm thinking they're 75-90%. Probably some spandex in there to hold their shape. They're replacing my Fun Toes, which I've worn, and worn out, for years.

Merino wool is good, especially if you are likely to get wet. A local mountain club tells hikers "cotton kills." Cotton is okay if you are dry, but in wet and cold conditions it offers little protection from the cold. A number of hikers wearing cotton jeans and sweatshirts have died from hypothermia when a sunny day turns cold and wet.

Effective but itchy/scratchy. Also expensive compared to other fabrics, at least in my part of the world

The brand means nothing other than a gigantic markup. When I was living in Japan Uniqlo had lightweight merino wool turtlenecks for about $20, those were my bread and butter for cycling and back country snowboarding.

I can wear merino wool for socks, hats and a neck gaitor I find even the best merino itchy on my my torso. They are fragile however, unless blended with around half polyester or nylon. I wear Smartwool liner socks for cycling in the summer, but they're blended with half nylon to make them durable, and from my experience they are durable and they retain the wool benefits, except softness. They feel coarse, but i like it that way actually. I might be able to wear some blends like that on my torso, but then we come to garment fit(I'm tall and thin), and the very high prices of such. Since I wash anything I sweat in daily, synthetics work just fine and they line dry quickly. If merino half blends were as available as all the synthetics in fit variety and cost, sure, sign me up. But they're not.

I have a TON of wicking clothes and so does my son and partner. Wicking polyester stuff is great for wearing, but IT STINKS - washing it with vinegar, etc.

We also ski and we wear the same clothes all season (merino wool) and we don't have to wash all season and they still don't stink. Now, granted, we don't get as hot, but we WORK on the slopes too!

There is no reason to wash wool as often (nor should you) but I'm a bit skeptical of the merino wool wicking stuff for fitness. I have a shirt and it feels GREAT, but since so much of it still polyester, I'm not sure how much less stinky it will be and of course it is PRICY.