You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
I bought a 'retro' wool cycle shirt a while back that was amazing in that I could wear it all day, leave it lying around for a few days and it still wouldn't smell, whilst if a wear a cotton t-shirt while just walking around then I will be completely minging by the the end of the day regardless of how well I shower or how much deodorant or anti-antiperspirant I use (and I've tried a bunch of different ones to solve this problem as it's bugging me - I hate being smelly)
So, can anyone suggest any modern clothing that has the same magical properties as wool? This is to cover standard t-shirts as well as cycling shirts and even dress shirts. Merino is great of course but I've only seen it in light under-shirts.
yep, but the point was that are there clothing types that also help with this problem? Always interested in other sorts of deodorant though
Bamboo.
Silver fibres.
Bamboo although I have a BH TecTee I bought in a sale years ago that is very good considering its plastic.
Silver fibres is a new one on me. Looks like Patagonia have something but I'm a little too scared to look at the price
Bamboo is a good call, might try that.
Also hang your washing out on the line. The UV in sunlight kills off the bacteria in the fabric.
Try a different detergent or try the Ecoballs, we use them and they're OK, although we also use Attitude Citrus Zest detergent about every 4 or 5 washes.
Rohan Used to have a silver thread in some of their shirts, and there's others including Polygiene.
Try a different detergent
Good idea. Use Halo on very smelly stuff but maybe should use it on everything.
As far as reducing BO goes it's really just merino IME. I've worn a merino top for 4+ active Summer days without it starting to smell unpleasant. It definitely started to smell different but not in a BO sort of way. Fabric with silver in them has some science behind it, and I've seen claims for clothing made from bamboo fibre, though most clothing labelled "bamboo" isn't bamboo fibre, it's just rayon derived from bamboo.
Also get a washing machine cleaning product and run a boil wash using it. We had a machine related problem where clothing developed a smell which we've now kept under control by cleaning out the lint trap regularly and also doing a cleansing wash every couple of months.
Merino works for multi-day use ime and is available in more than just tee-shirt styles if you look around. See Icebreaker's lifestyle stuff for example, though it's eye-wateringly expensive:
https://uk.icebreaker.com/en/mens-lifestyle
Smartwool too:
https://www.smartwool.com/shop/men-clothing-shop-all-clothing
Polygiene and similar anti-microbial treatments are much better than untreated synthetics - I wore the same Polygiene-treated Rab baselayer tee for a week without washing it and while it didn't smell drier fresh after a day or two, it didn't plumb the depths of dead sheep aroma either.
But merino would be my suggestion.
emperorsnewclothes.com
Thanks all. That icebreaker stuff is lovely but ooch.
Will give a few of these a try as it's getting worse. Might just be a case of stuff never getting properly clean in a household of teenagers so might give @aP's suggestion a shot too.
Off to online shop...
How old are the t-shirts you are wearing? I find that eventually they get that pong when they are old and it's time to get rid , it's only a t-shirt
I found the bamboo stuff feels nice, but takes ages to dry once wet. I found the merino stuff might take longer to dry than synthetic, but still feels ok when damp. Still to try polygiene.
I found that shaving my armpits regularly really helped me.
Oh, and that Halo stuff is really good as well.
I found that shaving my armpits regularly really helped me.
Yep, +1 to that. Back in the UK next week briefly so need to stock up on Halo
Bamboo is a good call, might try that.
be wary of the gulf between the claims made for bamboo and the reality. Many of the claims made are true of the raw, pre-processed material but not of the rayon your t-shirt is actually made from.
It has its uses- its very soft, stretchy and comfortable and holds its shape well. Nice for a t-shirt but as mentioned above, once wet it takes a longer than cotton to dry out again.
You're washing machine can contribute to clothes getting smelly, but actually so can you're choice of wash cycle and detergents. For 'eco' reasons (either ecological or economical) theres a tendency to suggest that powders or machines can work at lower temperatures, and that might be true in terms of stuff 'looking' clean, but hotter cycles and bio rather than non-bio detergent can make a big difference to the smelliness of clothes.
I have this a bit, 60 deg wash helps (I've not gone higher), and deodourant is a huge factor (as I hate the mess the roll-ons make of clothing, I tried sprays, some work, some don't. My female flatmate has just started raving about lemon juice, which I will try).
I also have some sterilizer for baby stuff (effectively bleach) that I used in the past and I think worked.
Merino is magic but I don't like pure merino as an outer layer for riding (great as a base layer, but then only needed when it's cold). Merino mix fabrics can have the benefits of both merino and synthetic. Defeet socks. Rapha's classic jersey. I've got a Helly Hansen merino mix thermal thats great.
Silver seems to work - can't remember what it is but I've got something with a silver element that doesn't smell.
Whatever Morvelo treat their riding tops with seems to have some effect.
Cotton t-shirts seem to get to a point where they just smell and not even a very hot wash will deal with it.
look at the default temperature your machine is using - my shirts temperature setting is too low even though it is using the detergents recommended by the washing machine manufacture, wash at 10 degress more and it's OK.
Also these, although I don't use them :
Silver seems to work – can’t remember what it is but I’ve got something with a silver element that doesn’t smell.
isn't silver a natural anti-bacterial agent :
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2364932/
Turnerguy, where's the fun in that? I hope the GF doesn't find out...
Blocks Turner guy's site...
Can you imagine the explosion at the end of the day when you took them off
Use Napisan in the wash, kills the bacteria that cause the pong. I started using it for sports stuff, and then for work shirts when I was commuting by horrible sweaty Northern Trains services that had the heat on full blast in the middle of summer, cos they would hum by the end of the day. We now pretty much use it in every wash.
I use Sainsbury's antibacterial laundry cleaner. Does what halo does but a fraction of the price. Goes in with anything I've been sweaty in.
Also these,
is that the prequel to he Human Centipede?
Fart sniffing is a niche too far, even for me.
I have an enduro merino base layer - so far so good.
Merino is great of course but I’ve only seen it in light under-shirts.
It's available in all sorts or weights, and layers nicely too. I think 260+ is getting into midweight layer territory, but ou can just as easily wear two short-sleeved base layers, or a short and a long, or a short and midweight...
sportpursuit usually has a few different brands at any one time, and Finisterre has a sale on at the moment.
Not come across anything quite as nice as Icebreaker, though: nicest feel against the skin, best finish, longest lasting. Not cheap though, as above!
Bamboo clothing is supposed to not be very environmentally friendly (although it is advertised as being so)....
Bamboo clothing .. has very similar properties to cotton when it comes to sweat. ie. it absorbs it, so wets and will smell if the bacteria are allowed to fester.
Comfortable though.
I’ve got a base layer made from coconut fibre that stays fresh for a good while.