Synthetic vs. natural fibers regarding stench factor

I used to have a lot of synthetic but recently switched over to wool for long underwear. There are so much better in the smell department. Synthetic would sometimes get smelly in like a day, with the wool i would wear on and off for a week or two and bearly smell anything. havent tried silk.

Probably something to do with one's physique and cleaning habits — so there will be some subjectivity here…

All my baselayer / tees are 85/15 poly/cotton blends. To me, they offer the best of both worlds — the wicking, quick drying and no ironing properties of symthetics — and also the comfortable feel of cotton — and no particular stink factor. I can wear the same tee for a weeks' worth of summer hiking without washing and head straight to a restaurant with no one noticing.

"No ironing" isn't going to be an issue at all on the trails, but I also wear the same tees on multi-month backpacking (hosteling) trips. Two years ago, I switched between just two tees on my seven month RTW trip. They performed marvelously, each looking fresh for days at a time.

"and head straight to a restaurant with no one noticing."

I, too , love getting a quiet corner spot .
Franco

Thin natural base layer and everything else synthetic.
I find a merino wool tee and brief or long length bottom to be the most comfortable.
Silk can be cheaper and more durable, but I find it a little itchy.

Others find merino wool itchy, but silk not itchy?

I think merino wool feels better against the skin than other fabrics when damp. Other fabrics can feel clammy.

Perfect. Sounds like wool is the way to go. As far as that goes, has anyone discovered any appreciable difference between the various brands in terms of comfort or durability, or does anyone have any specific favorite briefs/tees that are just awesome?
Seems like they vary quite a bit in price (6 dollar difference between Ibex Zepher and Smartwool Microweight). I guess I just don't see how one pair of underwear could be 6 dollars better than another, unless the construction in the smartwool ones is shoddier.

Some of those big marketing words cost money.

–B.G.–