I keep reading about how wool doesn't stink like synthetics. My experiences with this have been mixed at best, but I definitely have not found wool to be stink free. My observations are:
1. My SmartWool socks smell worse than my synthetics (UnderArmor low cut sold in a 4 pack) on tour. Both are pretty comfortable. Wool has a small edge for comfort when it is cold.
2. I remember that in the old days my PolyPro underwear was the most foul smelling stuff in the world. It stayed that way too even when fresh out of the wash.
3. With the exception of some of my Jerseys, most of my newer synthetics seem to be relatively stink free.
4. I don't find wool sweaters to be any better than most of my synthetics for their smell and actually give the synthetics the edge.

Of the stuff I used on the TA, the Smartwool socks were the worst for smell. The synthetic Performance and Nashbar jerseys were in second place for stinking. My synthetic sweater had no odor that I noticed. The synthetic socks had very little odor. The same for tights and shorts (all synthetic).

Most of this is based on last years TransAmerica. Conditions were record heat much of the way for 10 weeks.

Am I weird on this one or do others find the non-stink properties of wool to be overrated?

I'll wear a smartwool midweight long-sleeve during chillier rides, and I find it far less smelly than anything else I wear. Just me though.

I find it depends on the wool. I use a crystal deodorant to avoid aluminum in the traditional antiperspirants, and I have found overall that synthetics generate more odor than natural fabrics like wool, silk or cotton.

Among wools, the stink factor is minimal with merino, but greater with cashmere.

Go figure!

I wore a silk Cabelas undershirt on a camping trip last year for 3 days straight. No stink. I never had that experience with synthetic.

I'm a knitter and really, really want to love wool. However, I've noticed the stink issue too and I generally live in technical fabrics every day. My smartwool and handknit wool socks are fine until they get the least bit wet and then they reek horribly until a thorough (not sink) washing. The only wool item I have that avoids the wetness-related wool stink is a very hefty handspun vest that I made out of some lanolin-soaked 'mystery wool'. When that one gets wet it creates a hefty radius of lanolin odor, but I find that smell less nasty than the normal wet wool smell.

I've also noticed that the wool stink issue isn't so obvious to yourself as it is to others. It doesn't seem to pick up the sweat smell quite as much as synthetics but it definitely absorbs the BO. My guess is that some property of it makes it absorb your own personal odor really well which makes it seem less stinky to you but it packs a knockout for others. I don't know if it's the general crustiness of the people or the wool, but the wool jersey wearing members of my local brevet club definitely have an odor that makes it hard to draft behind them. On our tandem, I definitely prefer BF (the captain) to be wearing synthetics unless his wool is perfectly clean.

I also find synthetics much easier to wash frequently and have dry very quickly, so that also is a factor in the stink issue. One of the properties of woolies that people like is that they can hold a lot of water without feeling wet, the downside is that they just plain hold a lot of water. It sucks for trying to pack damp items away when you're ready to get moving.

Some new synthetics have anti bacterial "stuff" impregnated into them to reduce smells. It washes out after a while I think and don't know if it can be re -washed in. Maybe you can treat wool like this too.

For me this is probably part of the problem, since in 10 weeks on the road, stuff got a real washing maybe 5 times. The rest of the time it was a sink washing or even a cold water spigot washing.

Yeah, but after the weather has dried out you can always hang the stuff out to dry on the rack. Still it is nice that some of the synthetics can be wrung out to almost dry especially with consecutive rainy days.

One funny thing on our TA was when I thought we were at our rankest (100+ temps and no shower for several days) and apologized to the lady at the ranger station. She gave me a warm smile and said "I think you smell nice". As far as I could tell she was serious. Kind of boggled my mind

Not all human smells are bad smells -- remember pheromones!

For me it's around the 3rd wearing of a smartwool top that I can start to smell it. Good as new post-wash though. 2 tops/wk is good for me, 3 would be luxurious. Pretty much the same for underwear. The socks honestly for me they get crusty enough to wash before I can really notice what they smell like. I guess I go through a lot of puddles.

I wear Patagonia Capilene and it's relatively stink free for about 3 days of use...then it's deadly

I like wool a bit better, and love Smartwool socks. Wool hats are great, just something about them I like

Having used quite a few synthetics I find they vary wildly in how they deal with odor. Some are great and some are so so. I really liked one particular generation of Patagonia Capilene and then the next got stinky fairly fast. Its hard to generalize without trying them out for yourself.

I have friends who switched to wool garments and found them stinkier than synthetics they had been using so they switched back.

I have bought some wool garments this year and like them, but I haven't been motivated to switch over completely and I'll probably not take any wool with me on my summer tours.

The biggest strike against wool, for me, is I can't use it to wipe my glasses off. It just smears them more. But otherwise I am all about the sheep.

It sounds like my observation that it is a mixed bag for both wool and synthetics wasn't far off. I had previously only read reports extolling the "stink-free-ness" of wool.

As too your Smart Wool socks, check the label for how much is merino wool vs.synthetic material. The more wool the less odor in socks in my experience.

I have been using 100% merino wool jerseys for 40 years with periodic deviation into synthetics. I have quickly returned to merino wool each time due to the synthetic odor factor. The recently available merino wool products have been a improvement over my heavier ones of the past. They have a wider temperature range and are easier to dry and wash. And luckily for me they do not stink.

Merino does not stink. Period.

Must depend on the wool. Icebreaker stuff (NZ merino wool) really is great like that. I don't wash it that much, and even still, it doesn't get that smelly. I could never ever go back to polypro.

Steve

I rode a century last Saturday with a merino wool t-shirt on. The temperature reached 29ºC (37º or 38º with humidex - that's around 102ºF for you non-metrics out there). I drank about 6L of liquids and only went to the bathroom twice during the ride. The rest came out as sweat. At the end of the day, I had salt rings/stains on my shirt and my skin felt the same way that it does after you take a swim in the ocean, because of the salt.

I wouldn't go as far as saying that my shirt smelled good, but it didn't smell bad either. It was just very, very dirty.

I was very impressed with the shirt. It was my time with merino wool.

Not just you. Anyone know if smart wool ever goes on sale? I'm looking for midweight bottoms to match my top.

Whatever I put on my feet gets stinky quickly. I have a Smartwool t-shirt and mid-weight long sleeve, however, that I have yet to stink up. I love them. They get washed very rarely, de-wrinkle quickly, insulate well, wick moisture, feel soft and don't stink. I can throw them in the wash with the rest of my clothes and they hang dry very fast.

staehpj1, try to think back on your tour as it relates to odor issues at hand. Based on my experience, pretty far along in my long tour my body odor became non-existent. I don't know if it was a matter of flushing out all the impurities or what, but by the end of my tour I had virtually no body odor. could this affect the results of your post?

Perhaps it's your shows that lack ventilation?

Yeah I've haven't found wool to be all that much better than synthetics in the smell department. I road my smartwool jersey to work three days this week, and by day three it smelled horrible. It was over 90 out though. If it was cooler I probably could have worn it longer, but the same would go for a synthetic shirt.

+1 on the Icebreaker merino wool! For cycling when I'll be stopping and mixing with others (cafes, shops, etc.), I'll take the wool over synthetic every time. I can easily go a week without building up an appreciable stink in wool; synthetics become unacceptably stinky in one day. Wool also regulates temperture extremely well.

What he said. I have 10 pieces of Icebreaker stuff. It is heaven-sent. Or at least sheep-sent.

yep, merino rules.

We both use it, and love it.

i used to use synthetics, but, yeah, they used to smell, even after washing.
with the merino stuff: even when we used it in Indonesia and it was soaking wet with sweat EVERY day it did not smell bad.
now testing the bamboo stuff, liking it so far, but not quite as good as the merino