Odour Resistant – The no-stink effect of merino wool

Wear your merino wool garments for longer and still smell good

Body odour is a personal as well as social topic, as we want to feel fresh and clean and not be perceived by others as smelling bad. When we work out or travel in our clothes for a longer time, we may start to worry about sweating and developing body odour. With merino wool garments this worry can be easily eliminated because merino wool is naturally odour resistant. In this blog post we explain why merino wool is odour resistant and the benefits this brings along with it. 

How does body odour develop?

Everybody sweats differently depending on temperatures, activity level, situations, or even hormones. In the majority of cases, our body produces sweat with the goal to cool down our body. When moisture on our skin comes in contact with air, it has a cooling effect. Although we generally don’t like sweating, it does have a good purpose to keep us from overheating.  Interestingly, our sweat usually does not smell as such. Only when sweat gets broken down into acids by the bacteria on our skin or in our garments odour develops, and we start to smell. Taking a shower and washing our clothes then gets rid of the broken down sweat and the odour is removed. However, with merino wool it is a little different. 

Why is merino wool odour resistant?

Wool prevents the development of smell in two ways. First, wool helps the body manage body heat well, by absorbing moisture, moving it away from the skin, and releasing it into the air. This keeps the body dry and less sweat remains on the skin to develop odour. Second, any moisture that remains on the fabric itself gets absorbed and locked in by the fibre and only released during washing or airing. Therefore, there is no sweat for bacteria to break down that may cause odour. 

This is the theoretical explanation, but let’s have a look at what this means in everyday life.

No smell when you work out

Did you ever work out and afterward you had the feeling you could be smelled from a mile away? At least you desperately wanted to take off your clothes and hit the showers to freshen up. With merino wool, you will have a different experience. You will notice that even though you did sweat during your workout, you and your merino wool garments still don’t smell which will leave you feeling comfortable. 

Besides feeling more comfortable, what else can you do with this no smell effect? We have a few ideas.

Wear more times before washing

When our merino wool garments don’t smell after one workout, it means that we can wear them again during our next workout without washing. Why should we do that? Well, non-smell garments that need less washing will save you time spent on doing laundry in addition to saving water, energy, and washing detergent with every wash cycle saved. Instead of washing after every wear, we recommend airing the merino wool garment either in fresh air or in your bathroom, especially after taking a hot shower. This will freshen up your garment, and you can wear it again and again. Of course, eventually, also a merino wool garment will want to see the inside of a washing machine (wool cycle and wool detergent only).

Take fewer garments with you when you travel

Another benefit of no-smell merino wool garments is that we can travel more lightly. How does this work? Well, it is simple mathematics. If we can wear each garment several times during a trip or holiday, then we don’t need to bring along as many garments in the first place. This saves on luggage volume and weight to carry around with you. This can be particularly beneficial when you go on a longer hiking trip where you need to carry everything with you on your back and also don’t have many opportunities to wash and freshen up. 

Own fewer garments

Another benefit is that eventually, you can also own fewer garments overall. As you get more wears out of your merino wool items, you can downsize your wardrobe. Fewer items in your closet mean fewer resources used which is better for the environment. In addition, having to care for and maintain fewer clothes is also a time and space saver in your home. If you ever thought about becoming a minimalist, merino wool garments will help you become one more easily. 

There are of course many other benefits of wearing merino wool garments. Click here to learn more. 

Thinking about putting merino wool garments to the no-smell test? Take a look at our Core Merino collection here.