I see amazing claims made in ads for clothing made from merino wool and synthetic fabrics. It will (purportedly) stay odor-free, without washing, for extended periods. The synthetics are also said to be easy to wash (they dry quick).
If true, this would make it possible to travel much lighter.
Anyone have experience with same?
I love wool clothing and the lack of oder is part of it. I can wear my wool shirts camping for a week and only need two shirts and they don’t start reeking. Any clothing that I wear as underwear (boxers and undershirts) I prefer in wool since they smell better at the end of the day and the wicking properties make the cloths feel better all day.
It all depends on the synthetic fabric, of course.
When I was running regularly, a few years ago, all of my running gear was “tech fabric,” or various synthetics made for athletic wear. I certainly got stinky wearing them, but then, I was exercising and sweating heavily, and I don’t think that they were made for odor prevention, so much as wicking moisture away from the body, and preventing chafing. But, yes, those sorts of fabrics do dry out very quickly.
As long as it’s not from eastern Europe, I think that lack of Oder is a given.
Synthetic fabrics, especially base layers, will end up stinking. Some are better than others, but they get funky after a while. I used to just shower in my base layer every few days; they dry quickly enough hanging outside. Many come with coatings that prevent odors, but they wear off after a while.
Merino wool really does last for a long time before it starts to smell. Not forever, but good enough for a week long trip. The garments don’t hold up to hard use as well as synthetics in my experience, and they cost a fortune, but I have a set for use on ski and hiking trips.
I’m allergic to wool so I can’t wear it. I also find many synthetic fabrics irritating because they cause me to sweat more than plain cotton, and my own sweat irritates my skin. At my time of life I don’t have occasion to be unable to launder my clothes, so I wear cotton for almost everything.
Sure. When I walked the Camino de Santiago, I had two short sleeved shirts and one 3/4 sleeve shirt, plus 2 pairs of pants, plus 2 pairs of underwear (all synthetic, claiming to be quick wash, quick dry, wrinkle-free, odor resistant) and 3 pairs of merino socks. I washed a set of clothes by hand in cold water at a sink with shampoo every day. They worked as advertised. Before the Camino, I was in Europe for two weeks, mostly wearing a merino shirt (also washed every other day in the sink). Also effective, cool, no odors.
Synthetic wicking fabrics are great for wicking sweat but they will stink, some of them will stink horribly and quickly within a few minutes of putting them on. They pretty much all claim some form of “odor control” but they will all stink if you get sweaty – and some will still stink right after being washed. It’s the nature of the fabric; it provides a warm, humid environment ideal for breeding bacteria and after washing will still carry a load of dead bacteria waiting to decay the next time you put it on.
I have a few cotton t-shirts for mowing the lawn and such and one ‘nice’ button-up for special occasions, but mostly I only wear merino wool shirts these days.
Merino wool shirts are expensive. They are great at wicking. They are comfortable and good ones are as soft as cotton, not the itchy scratchy stuff from days of old. They do not stink. Wool is naturally anti-bacterial. I have experimented with wearing the same merino wool shirt every day for 100 days without washing it and even when asking people if it smells never got anyone saying “Yes.”
I wear them year round, light-weight in summer and medium-weight in winter. They are less durable than the ‘lasts for ever’ synthetics. Since washing and drying is hard on clothes I tend to only wash my merino when it gets dirty, like when I spill my lunch down the front of myself – otherwise I just hang it over a chair to air out overnight.
I live near the Appalachian Trail and day-hike there frequently. You can definitely tell from some distance which of the thru-hikers are wearing wool and which are wearing synthetics.
When I wear socks they are Smartwool.
I’ve been trying merino underwear (gasping at the prices) [and washing them much more often than my shirts] but haven’t yet settled on a brand because I haven’t found any with a waistband that suits me – so far all have been too wide, too narrow, too likely to curl up, etc.
I think Smartwool is a good choice to start for a shirt but there may be other brands that you find will fit your body better. Cheap brands tend to more scratchy so stick with the better ones. You don’t need a lot of them because you shouldn’t be washing them every time you wear them just like you don’t get a men’s wool suit cleaned every time you wear it – just air it out.
So yeah, modern merino wool is something special.
I wear synthetic-fabric shirts pretty much all the time–Columbia Silver Ridge Lite long sleeve and Sugoi t-shirts. They’re made of a lightweight polyester, have a very smooth feel to them, and have something like an SPF 30 sun protection factor. I’ve never had a problem with odor, but they get laundered pretty quickly after wearing.
Pants-wise, Prana Zions are a nylon/spandex blend, the most comfortable and durable I’ve ever found for travel and general walking around. No smell issues with them either.
Back in the day [about 35 years back, when Mom and Dad were still in the habit of buying me clothing for my birthday and Christmas] I had a lovely merino business suit [female type, long below the knee skirt, classic suit jacket, not one of the short jacket miniskirt ‘power suits’] in an amazing heather tweed that I adored, and 3 different silk blouses for with it. I think if I tried to replace the set it would easily be 3 or 4 thousand bucks.
Currently, around the house I wear bamboo vicose capris and tank tops and am happy with them because they was well, dry fast and don’t seem to get smelly until worn for 2 to 3 days and nights [I still am dealing with cancer and treatments, and spend a lot of time bedridden] I would love to find inexpensive sweat pants out of the bamboo vicose, but a couple sets in merino would be fantastic.
I think we have more money tied up in my underwear drawer than in my wife’s jewelry box. 
I tried some hyped synthetic travel underwear (“just rinse, wring, and hang up overnight!”) over a decade ago and I found them to be a stink factory.
I’ve been trying various wool underwear since my first DC summer commuting on the metro left me with day-long swamp-ass. I was buying from Ibex, but they went out of business a few years back. Some investors bought their IP and I wasn’t initially impressed with the relaunch. I also have some from Icebreaker and Ridge. They’re all cut a bit different so I imagine what works best for one may not for another. It’s worth trying different ones if you don’t mind spending that much.
Note that some products use merino with just a touch of elastane. Others use a yarn with merino around a nylon core. This is more durable but has a different feel. My thighs rub when I walk and I was blowing out the all-wool boxer briefs faster than I’d like.
I’m currently not wearing a suit to work, but when I was, I have some v-neck undershirts from Icebreaker that I like to wear to the office.
Ex Officio’s motto is “17 countries. 6 weeks. One pair of underwear.” Generally I’ve found that to be accurate, though I always pack 2. No odors. Dries quickly. Comfy.
If you were given enough money to not have to worry about money, many people would buy a Ferrari. Not me, I’d make all my clothes merino. It really does work well, dries quick and is generally pleasant to wear.