50% wool enough to keep the stink away?

It definitely helps.  I have a cheap shirt with 30% wool and rest polyester, and even that helps noticeably over a 100% polyester shirt.

I have some stuff that is about half wool and half nylon, and it’s pretty low odor.  But nylon is less stinky than polyester so it’s hard to directly compare different blends. I took two shirts on a recent long’ish trip, OR Echo ls polyester shirt with polygiene and a ls shirt which is about half nylon and half tencel.  The latter was noticeably less stinky than the former.

It would be nice if companies combined things like polygiene treated polyester and wool. In such a case, i would like to see blend ratios around 65 to 55% polygiene treated polyester and 35% to 45% wool.  Meanwhile, wool nylon blends are the way to go as far as reducing odor while upping durability, lessening dry times, etc.

I took two shirts on a recent long’ish trip, OR Echo ls polyester shirt with polygiene and a ls shirt which is about half nylon and half tencel.  The latter was noticeably less stinky than the former.

That is informative. I did post awhile ago in an old Polygiene thread seeking experiences but no luck so your experience is very informative. I have a bikepack coming up with around six days of no options to wash clothes. I was hoping to go with one top and a Polygiene based summer product was on the short list. May look at a merino option instead.  It is a pity that Icebreaker don’t do a long sleeve “T” in a  summer weight.

Justin, your last paragraph almost describes Rab MeCo as far as ratios, with the difference of using Cocina instead of Polygiene. Wondering whether you are familiar with it.

Edvin,

I personally haven’t had a great experience with Super.Natural. I have their thinner material in some shirts. I like the texture, but stink is comparable to synthetic garments with working treatments.

I personally have had good luck with Rab MeCo.

Others experiences may vary.

Even 50% cotton / 50% polyester helps tremendously in reducing odor.

Clark Howard was talking about the stink issue the other day. Manufacturers call it reblooming. They are trying to find ways to reduce the recurrence of odor.

Kelly

Hi Iago, i have a Rab MeCo shirt and overall like it for colder weather use (especially late Fall to early Spring).  It would have been too warm for the recent CT trip we did though.

Rab MeCo is a similar percentage ratio as i earlier outlined, but opposite.  It’s 65% Merino and 35% treated polyester.  I would reverse it and use polygiene instead of Cocona for the polyester (called something else now i think).

I should clarify that my experience with polygiene has not been consistent. While that shirt has some issues with odor, especially over time (hiking for a month, is very different than a few days or even a week, especially since body oils build up cumulatively over time), some other shirts i have with polygiene work better (one is also all polyester, and especially the one that is about half nylon).

I think the science behind polygiene is fairly sound, but i’m not sure if it accounts for the build up of body oils over longer periods of time and like most mass produced products, it’s probably possible to sometimes get a lemon or less than ideal batch.

But more and more, for warmer weather (consistent highs above 60* F), i’m really liking nylon tencel blends.  Very tough, durable, and comfortable–the odor control is pretty good (though not as good as pure Merino, Alpaca, Linen, etc), dry times fine, and a bit more cooling.

In case of any further interest on this topic, for the same above trip referenced, for bottoms i used a pair of shorts that are 77% nylon and 23% cotton and Prana Sutra pants that are 53% Hemp, 44% polyester and 3% spandex.  I was pretty happy with the combo of their characteristics–odor control, drying time, durability, overall comfort, though slightly less so with weight (all nylon would have weighed less in both cases).

I saved a little weight in that instead of bringing dedicated rain pants, i sewed some velcro to the shorts, and made a corresponding pair of pant “sleeves” to go on that were highly WR (EPIC fabric).   Since i used a poncho, i didn’t have to worry too much about the shorts themselves getting wet (poncho covered all but a fraction of the lowest part of the shorts).  Worked pretty well, but we were lucky with rain–we had maybe only 4 days total of more serious rain.

Alright, sorry for not getting back to you guys earlier. I posted this thread just before I was about to leave on a bikepacking trip, then right after I got back home I crashed with my mtb and was out for a few days. Back in the game now. Kind of.

Anyway, I picked up a t-shirt in the 48/52 blend from Super.natural just before the bikepacking trip. I wore it for 5 days straight, with lots of sweating during the days. Didn’t wash it, only let it air dry during the evenings/nights. I really like the fabric, dries much quicker than pure merino and also feels really soft against my skin. I’m quite sensitive and can’t wear some pure merino garments because they itch. No smell after those 5 days, been wearing it on and of after I got back home without washing it and so far no bad smell. Hopefully it’s enough. My girlfriend also picked up a sports-bra and some other stuff, she really like it aswell!

Here is some pictures from that bikepacking trip on Bohusleden on Sweden’s west coast

The first day was nice, loads of slickrock but a bit scary when it started to rain

Then some gravel over a plateau that in most places had been completely burnt down by a forest fire some years ago. After that the trail kind of disappeared into the forest and it was clear that it hadn’t seen much use. My pushed more than we rode and decided to bail some 50 km earlier than we planned because it simply took to much time. No pics from that part though, took to much energy just to push!

The Rab MeCo mentioned here is now on Massdrop. The price will be $33 if the lowest price is met (currently $37).

That price is for the short sleeve T-shirt. They’ve got other styles, including a long sleeve zip and a hoodie. Seems like a pretty good deal; the regular price for the T-shirt is $65.

Massdrop also has the Rab MeCo for women now, also in various styles.

A contrarian point of view for your reading pleasure.

Is 50% wool enough to keep the stink away?

-Not when you smell twice as bad as everybody else!

Bah-Dum Ting!

Embrace the stink!

Thank you for the update Edvin.

Well, now my hopes are dashed Nick. I was looking forward to someday hiking with you, but in lieu of the above, i’ll have to pass…

Just kidding, and i know you prefer hiking ala solo anyways.

Embrace the stink… I don’t know. I normally jump into a lake or stream at the end of each day, it’s so much nicer to go to bed without that sticky feeling on your skin from the salt residue. Definitely worth the couple of minutes of suffering. So I don’t really get to the point where I stink myself, even when going for a longer period without a proper shower or the possibility to laundry my clothes

On another note, ten days and counting… No stink!

Thansk for the link to Massdrop Jim C! I really like the look of that Meco hoodie in wasabi, unfortunately it wasn’t available in my size but I found one on sale elsewhere. I really wish they would do it in 120 gr/m2 and not 160 but I guess it’s good enough :)

A side suggestion to remove the stink is to eat less processed food.  I know that can be hard while on the go, but I noticed when I eat all farm fresh or plain bulk staples, I can go a week or more without needing a shower.  Then when I eat meat, every other week or so, I can smell the grease coming out of my skin. even local fresh meat.

Having multiple silk undershirts and underwear to swap out helps absorb the smell without overheating. Plus I have a bandana that is only for sponge baths.  I hate exposing my skin in the cold for sponge baths so I devised a system to wash one section of my body every other day, works well, is a fast routine before bed and doesn’t cool off my core like doing the whole body at once.