Summer in DC. Yuck. When I’m working here, I usually take the subway, which is double yuck. I by no means have an arduous commute by DC standards, but I arrive at the office drenched in sweat. I have occasionally resorted to traveling in gym clothes, then blotting off with paper towels before changing into a suit. Or just swapping underclothes.
I’d rather not take the time to do that. I see all sorts of high tech clothing sold for exercise. Anyone try this under business attire? I’m tired of soggy cotton. But I see that a lot of them are made from polyester. I wore polyester trousers once and the resulting swampass was toxic. I’m assuming the active wear is fabricated differently.
I thought we once had a thread on this very topic, but it is eluding me.
Last couple of weddings I’ve gone to, including my own, it’s been warm and I’ve worn synthetic shorts & undershirt. Under my tuxedo, under a suit incl. vest, definitely way more comfortable than cotton undies.
Most of the synthetics will be some variant of polyester, it works quite well (I am also a backpacker, long-distance runner and so forth so I use the stuff all the time). I haven’t worn the modern merino wool stuff but I’ve heard good things about it (merino wool socks are awesome). It’s not scratchy and heavy.
FWIW, I have bought plenty of inexpensive synthetic stuff from Target and it’s been quite good so if you want to try it out you don’t have to spend a bundle. Whatever you get make sure it’s all synthetic and/or wool, no cotton blends.
Most of the synthetic wicking stuff does work well at wicking the sweat away from the skin, keeping you drier and cooler.
The problem is that most (all that I have tried personally) quickly develops a very definite stink – not the smell of sweat but a stench caused by certain bacteria that thrive in the moist, warm, microscopic channels in the fabric. Manufacturers advertising claims far exceed their actual ability to stop the stink. The smell may be tolerable during athletic activity where the wearer will remove the shirt and hit the shower immediately after, but in my experience there is no way I would consider wearing one all day even if nobody else was around to smell it. The smell tends not to completely wash out in the laundry and can reach full stench in a matter of minutes of perspiring in a clean shirt.
Merino wool is my choice. It doesn’t stink, even after days or weeks on a hiking trail. I can wear the same merino shirt for many days, even weeks, without washing it, even with a sweaty daily bike ride – just air it out overnight and generally wash it when I slop lunch down the front.
Modern merino wool is not itchy/scratchy if you spend the bucks for a high quality, small micron fabric. It is hypoallergenic. It is comfortable, warm in the winter and lighter weights are cool in the summer. It wicks sweat while it is still in vapor form, unlike synthetics which first condense the sweat and then wick the liquid away from the skin. It doesn’t stink. It is expensive – but you only need one or two, not a whole drawer full to last between laundry days.
Merino wool underpants are also available. More frequent washing than for shirts is advisable because sweat isn’t the only factor there. They are very comfortable year round.
I thought the whole point of wicking gear was not only to pull the sweat off your skin, but encourage evaporation of the sweat absorbed into the fabric by allowing air to flow over the garment. Seems like if you use it as a base layer, you’re just going to have all that sweat and stink trapped inside your cotton shirt and wool pants anyway.
I guess it can’t hurt to try, but I think you just have to commit to changing your shirt when you get to work. A lot of people do it, and I just can’t see that there’s a magic bullet to get around the discomfort.
Says me, who spends about 37 seconds outdoors during the totally miserable days.
$50 for ONE pair of boxer briefs? :eek: I try to keep enough undies on hand to last at least a week, that’s $350 worth of skivvies! There are people in this world (perhaps on this board) who think that $350 is a small price to pay for a little sheep hair next to the privates. I ain’t one of them.
I highly recommend Merino wool, also. I only used to wear them in the winter when we went snowboarding or mountain trekking, but then I read an article a few years back about how wool isn’t only for winter and is the best natural wicker of moisture to keep you dry even in summer. All I had was long-sleeved underwear for winter so I bought a short-sleeved version from Icebreaker and it was like my world had changed. No more peeling off shirts because they’re sticky from sweat. No more shivers in a room with air-conditioning on full blast. No more showers after a quick jaunt outside because you’re still bone dry.
I replaced all my summer synthetic underwear with Icebreakers and bought briefs as well. No more changing of underpants because they’re wet. The only downside I can think of is the price. Someone mentioned $50 for a pair of underpants and that’s about right. (5,000 yen in Japan.) The t-shirts are about $100. It is a bit of an investment but well worth it in my opinion if you perspire a lot, or live in a humid climate like I do.
I shelled out for some merino wool from Ibex. While DC is not yet at its hottest, I can report that there is a noticeable decrease in toxic swamp-ass. I do feel silly wearing $50 undies, but given the suit and shoes I’m wearing anyway, I suppose it’s not really increasing the price tag on my daily wardrobe all that much.
So far they seem pretty durable. We’ll see what I have to say about them after an entire summer.
Huh. I had apparently subscribed to this thread last year right before moving to that area. This’ll be my first full summer in DC. Please do continue to report. Might be time for me to invest.