[Closed] The Great Merino Myth

I rarely wash mine. People who know me know how much i sweat too.

They seem to still ride with me so i can but assume i dunny smell too bad.

yep, out on multi day bivy jaunts and it definitely honks less then a helly

I don't wash mine much.

Ideal for trips.

how much do you sweat :O i dont have to wash mine often at all - i wear it for the commute every day. ...

infact i washed mine tonight - first time this month i think !

Only wash mine if it's covered in mud ... sweat doesn't seem to make it smell at all. Great for snowboard holidays as you can go all week in the same top 🙂

Unfortunately merino socks don't seem to work so well!

Yep, I wear it a few times before washing, sometimes because of the novelty, sometimes because there isn't enough similar stuff to do a load. Not hard to wash at all, but if it doesn't need washing...
If you don't want to use it like that, don't, I am not sure you have to not wash it, just, you can get away without washing it.

What Merino top is closest in warmth/thickness to a Helly Hansen lifa?

In fact that reminds me, I was going to nip off to the On One shop for one of their cheap tops. Tried a mates on tonight and seems ok, especially for the money.

it really is that good, I wear mine (icebreaker 150 or 200 weight) for biking and walking. just after getting them I thought the same and just hung them up after using them, they were wet through with sweat at this point. after a few hours over a warm radiator or in a breeze they were dry and did not smell at all.

also very comfortable in warm weather as a base layer (merino boxers are great, if bleedin pricy)

Yes, but... you can also get away without not washing your pants if you want to. But who would want to..? 😕

It has some magical antibacterial property, that stops the bacteria in your sweat/from your skin from replicating, thus reducing the odour. Don't ask me exactly how it works, but it does seem to be pretty bloody effective. Man-made materials are the worst for stinking.

It's good stuff, Merino, but expensive and needs care. I think regular washing in detergent soap may degrade it more than other materials. Smarter Merino/Cashmere type garments should be dry cleaned only.

If your Merino is stinking then it could be something to do with your diet, or possibly a BO health issue. Merino is good, but it's no miracle worker...

I work in a warm environment and dont wear deodorant, even showering every morning I cant wear anything twice, except merino. Plus its well comfy.
It really comes into its own on longer trips away tho, one to wear and one for sleeping and your ok for as long as your likely to need.

Wear mine about 5 times between washes - could do more 🙂

There, I will now own 3 items of merino, a long sleeved Rab base layer, that was cheap in a sale, short sleeved Endura t-shirt that was a Christmas present and now half price On One ermmm, cardigan?
Might wash the others more often now.... mind you, not much duplication yet, will just wear merino in more situations I guess.

Mine do sometimes pong a bit even after one wear. I think 'fear sweat' from ice climbing might do that though. What I have noticed is that polypro tops tend to hold onto smell after they've been washed, but merino tops don't.

I've got a couple of Merino tops - Mainly because I do sweat a lot and when commuting to work, my normal cycling jerseys stink by the time I'm riding home whereas the merino ones don't smell at all.

I'd never really use them otherwise though as they're too warm in the summer and soak up sweat something silly (eg they just get soaked). Plus they seem to bring me out in a rash if I wear them more than a couple of hours under anything else.

I run in mine for several days sometime (not non stop like!) without washing it. If i did that with a polyester top it would be rank.

I'm not a massive sweater, so I can run around at race pace even at 20C in merino and I find it great.

I have some howies merio boxers for a long weekend away traveling light with no other pants next month.

Wore mine every day for 2 weeks on a ski trip in Jan. No smell. It was v cold though so wasn't sweating much. the thing that amazed me the most though was how it doesn't pick up fag smoke. Austria hasn't got a smoking ban yet and you come out of pubs reeking. All except the merino that is which truly is magic!

I don't get it. Just because it smells ok doesn't mean it's not manky with salt residues, oils, and dead skin cells etc. Surely? The idea of wearing the same top next to my skin for days on end gives me the boak.

Just because it smells ok doesn't mean it's not manky with salt residues, oils, and dead skin cells etc. Surely? The idea of wearing the same top next to my skin for days on end gives me the boak.

Ponce. All this 'cleanliness' stuff is a modern affectation. Won't do you any harm, to wear the same top for a couple of days! MTFU!

Talkemada, earlier today...

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🙂

the only thing merino i own is socks. i've had them years.
and no. i've never washed them.

...please - for the love of god - tell me why you've never washed your socks for 'years'?! 😯

rode across the alps last year. i took with me: woolen socks (2 pairs); one merino t-shirt; and one long-sleeved merino top. my mate took the same except more socks and an extra t-shirt.

i rinsed the t-shirt on the fourth day as salty sweat stains had appeared, but i was still smelling ok.
he stunk like a shit on a stick after the fourth day. despite having rinsed out the t-shirts they still stunk.

it was a good job i knew the way and he didn't otherwise i'd have been riding in his tail wind.

Well don't know about smell but I fail to see why merino is so popular with bikers.
I have one, from ice breaker short sleeve top. And I found it to be absolutely rubbish for biking purposes.
compare to lets says a capilene top from patagonia, it does not wick at all so I end up with massive stains of sweat. I shall add that I usually don't sweat much and my sweat isn't too smelly. I have tried the merino top for riding and for commuting, and in both cases it has been rubbish.

I do wash mine (tops and socks for cycling, leggings for under trousers when walking in the winter) but not all that often, as others have said it does work and it means you can pack lighter when on a multi-day trip.

As an experiment a couple of years back I wore a merino top for a week of trekking without washing and at the end of the week it didn't really smell whereas most of the parties synthetics were nasty after a couple of days. On the downside thicker weights do hold a lot of liquid and the cheaper stuff tends to fall apart quicker than manmade fabrics. Sportwool is a nice compromise but starts to smell quicker as a result.

It's a renewable sustainable material, that requires infrequent washing.
2 counts of environmental thumbs up.

Apart from it coming mainly from NZ which at the last time of checking the map was miles away.

A small price to pay for it being great.

I got some merino 'Meggings' for jogging and wearing under my jeans. It is ridic cold in the shoppe over winter on account of me being a tight bugger with the heating dial. They work excellently, Juan - try some.

Next door neighbours, with whom we are good friends, gave me some Howies merino underpants for my birthday a year or two ago. Great for weekends away and camping - and very, very, very comfortable.

I always hang tops (and short liners) outside in the sun after rides, the UV light helps aid all that anti-bacterial goodness.

I peddalled the length of New Zealand with 2 merino tops and wasn't too smelly. It's great for that sort of thing, but I'd not wear it normally.

Talkemada - Member

Just because it smells ok doesn't mean it's not manky with salt residues, oils, and dead skin cells etc. Surely? The idea of wearing the same top next to my skin for days on end gives me the boak.

Ponce. All this 'cleanliness' stuff is a modern affectation. Won't do you any harm, to wear the same top for a couple of days! MTFU!

+1

<MY theory by A N Elk> If you wash too often your body's ecosystem adapts to it, so miss one shower and you niff. If you wash more rarely your little friendly microbes get used to it, and it's people like this who find merino particularly good. If you wash too often it just don't work</MTBANE>

A merino base layer needs to fit closely to work.

I wear mine out in the middle east. If I wear a synthetic top it starts to honk by the end of the day, the merino doesn't. I still wash it and put a clean one on every morning though.

I wash mine after every ride. I question peoples habits if they don't. Its clothing ffs.

Oh the irony!

Talkemada - All that material is derived from you in the first place! Its the clothes I feel sorry for.

I may have shocking news for you.

Humans are covered in dead skin particles, produce smelly oils and sweat continuously and are a haven for all manner of bacteria and mites. We are, in ourselves an ecosystem.

Did you know we also excrete foul smelling solid and liquid waste products and emit noxious gasses?

hora - Member
I wash mine after every ride. I question peoples habits if they don't. Its clothing ffs.

Its clothing that gets worn in an environment that covers it in mud, dung, sweat, snot, road grime and more, almost as soon as you start riding.

Why does it need to be spotless when you start?

My base-layers get a couple of days use before washing in the winter - no issues with smell at all. Synthetic jerseys do a day - in the summer I actually take a spare to work as after a couple of hours commute into work in the morning they're not too nice for the journey home...

Merino (and to a lesser extent other wools) 'work' because they are hydrophilic (absorb water) and have a coating of fatty acids/lanolins.

The hydrophilicity leaves the bacteria to dehydrate on the surface of the fibres and be more susceptible to the bactericidal effects of the fatty acids etc.

However, the fatty acids etc are valubale chemicals in their own right (cosmetics industry) and much merino wool is harvested for these chemicals before the fibres are used for clothing.

Also the cheaper merino wools need to be pretreated to increase the crimp of the fibres, this pretreatmet is usually based on high (relatively) temp washing which again can leach out the 'useful' chemicals.

The definition of 'merino' in clothing just refers to the animal origin of the wool and not the subsequent degree of processing - so your cheap merino will have likely lost many of the magical properties as it is effectively a by product of the chemical industry.

And yes, it may smell less but is still full of bodily secretions, dirt, dead bacteria and skin cells 😕

dunno, i always found synthetic stuff cleans out fairly easily, and on multi day jaunts I take a bar of soap anyway.

And yes, it may smell less but is still full of bodily secretions, dirt, dead bacteria and skin cells

The point is, if they're not doing any harm and not smelling, so what?

Your skin's permanently covered in millions of bacteria that do no harm, you don't scrub yourself constantly with disinfectant to remove them, do you?

Merino socks are lovely (but washed daily), merino tops on the other hand are horrible itchy, scratchy sweaty things things, I only wear mine when it's well below freezing.

That said my sweat doesn't really smell wet or dry, so normal man made fabrics suit me fine.

The Great Merino Myth is that it performs as a technical fabric; as people have already pointed out, it doesn't deal with moisture as well as manmade stuff. I bought one on the strength of recommendations from here and was very disappointed, ending rides wet when using manmade tops I would be dry.
It's also very expensive and fragile compared to things like hellys lifa; I've got a 16 year old one still going strong..

The Great Merino Myth is that it performs as a technical fabric; as people have already pointed out, it doesn't deal with moisture as well as manmade stuff. I bought one on the strength of recommendations from here and was very disappointed, ending rides wet when using manmade tops I would be dry.

I think it just deals with moisture [i]differently[/i]. Man-made stuff lets the water through without absorbing it, while merino soaks it up.

I got soaked on a ride when my waterproof failed, but I didn't notice until I got home because the merino base layer I was wearing was still warm. In fact, merino actually gets warmer when it gets wet.

They are fragile though. My Howies long sleeve base layer has some holes in the hem from being washed with shorts that had a velcro closure and my Swobo shortsleeve ride top has a hole in the arm from where I tried taking it off with a race number still pinned through it and into the layer beneath.

I think this must be the problem I have with merino too, although I'd never realised quite why. Every time I go out for a ride in merino it feels almost as if I'm sweating out a fever. Hence, the definite need to wash my merino after every ride. Still, it's 2010 now and automatic washing machines have been invented for at least the last oh, 80 years or so... 😉

...please - for the love of god - tell me why you've never washed your socks for 'years'?!

because they're my lucky socks. 😆

coating of fatty acids/lanolins.

How does this survive washing?

because they're my lucky socks

Your special salty sock?

i don't think it does survive extended machine washing. i just rinse mine in lukewarm water from time to time and dry properly after a ride. i've worn the same top every day for 3 weeks plus and it didn't smell sweaty, brilliant stuff for trips when you're out for days on end in mixed conditons. it's no myth, natural fibres end to work better than man-made.

it's no myth, natural fibres end to work better than man-made.

Define 'works better'.

For me, in summer, other than smell, it works less well.

fair point - feels more comfy, works across a wider range of temperatures and dryness.
i've used the same top in warm conditions as well as cold and it's a wider-ranging item than others i have. but i'd agree in dry, warm conditons polyester's at least as good and faster drying, feels cooler, but get to the top of a high hill in summer where it's cooler and windy and your top is damp - then i'd still rather be wearing wool.

Merino / synthetic. They both have their pros and cons. Merino is a perfectly good technical fabric, it just has different properties to synthetics, which in themselves have a wide range of different properties.

I love merino, but apart from synthetic/merino mix socks, I wouldn't wear it all the time in all conditions.

what ever works for your particular personal ecosystem! Synthetic just makes me sweat more and stink even more. One berghaus top was relegated from biking to walking and still made me feel as if I was wearing a plastic bag full of cold water.The no-wash plus for merino is only useful for trips really. Most people at home will just wash there gear as a matter of course but away it's handy to leave them as long as you can stand it

I'm addicted to merino. I find a merino top is fine for a week (200 km) of commuting without a wash.

If you find merino itchy, you've bought cheap stuff.

I find it definately less smelly. Even one top I've got that's a merino blend is vastly less smelly than any of the synthetic tops I have.

Merino I can wear for days without it honking, synthetic won't last a day if it's warm before honking.

Also find merino chafes my nips less. 🙂

Not 100% sure about (wicking) performance, but I'd choose not to smell and having intact nipples over having dry clothes next to my skin!

(It can be a bit fragile though)

I'm a total merino fan but it is good to see newer items with zips and short sleeves etc for essential venting!!!! I'm merino only through autumn winter and spring....I love it and only wash it every few rides or if I forget and leave it sweaty in my bag!!!
Haven't touched my sealskins this winter, woolly boolies only, and have not suffered with cold feet once, even when wet. Love em love em love em 🙂