Does merino wool dig into your skin?

My guess is this has more to do with the gauge of the fabric ( thread) than the material. Since synthetics  can be “spun’ thinner we can get smaller gauge fabrics that have less texture to them and chafe less. Some peple have allergic reaction but it sounds like this is not the case with you. Seems like people with hairy bodies react to wool more because the hair gets a bit caught in the fabric and moved about.

edited to add: did you switch detergents?

Not at all (not hairy or using anything new). It was really just a massive pressure irritation. I could even see the weave on my skin when I looked closely.

Bummer because I love the shirt but it obviously doesn’t work for higher mileage days.

Some Merino comes with barbed scales still attached, and these can contribute, along with the general size of the fiber factor, to skin discomfort.  But i would say that overall, size of the fibers is more a factor.  The finer/smaller the fibers, the softer and more comfortable they feel on the skin, and conversely the opposite with larger fibers which feel coarser and irritate more.  This is for all fibers and in general.  However, because of the possible barbed scales of Wool, fiber size affecting comfort seems to be particularly noticeable with sheep’s wool.

Some sport/outdoors oriented brands treat the Merino to get rid of the scales.

I’ve found that Linen has similar odor reducing properties as Merino, and is cooler.  Cheap linen though, often feels a bit coarse and rough for awhile. Better quality linen tends to feel softer from the get go.  Not quite as good as the above two, but still pretty good, are nylon and tencel blends.  Also more cool than Merino.

For my CT trip, i plan to wear a 53% nylon and 47% tencel blend ls shirt as my main shirt.  Very durable, fairly quick drying, cooling, and pretty good odor reducing properties.

Very often wool fabric has been treated with various chemicals to blunt the cuticle (scales) and to prevent shrinking and felting. They do not always scour the excess chemicals off properly, and you might be reacting to them.

I have some Voormi Merino base layers sent to me some time ago for review. They STANK, very literally. The processing mill had not washed the shrink-proofing chemicals off.  I had a row with the PR agent who did not want to believe me about the smell. He flipped into being very abusive. This was amusing as I spent 27 years doing wool research, and I KNEW what the smell was.

On the other hand, the merino wool might just be rather coarse fibres. They are cheaper.

Cheers

What brand of shirt? My icebreaker shirts are smoother than anything else ive worn after being washed a couple times.

Justin, have you ever seen a knit linen shirt? 

I have Justin.  The one i bought and used however, wasn’t particularly good quality, and started to fall apart faster than i would have thought. Thankfully, it only cost me around 10 dollars to begin with. It was a knit t-shirt made out of linen, and was bought off of ebay.

Typically, 100% linen shirts are woven pretty loose anyways though–very breathable for being woven. Most don’t do a very good job of protecting from biting insects.

I had one linen shirt, more tightly woven than the average, that i wore in Alaska during some very intense mozzie conditions and unusual heat, and as long as i was moving, it provided enough protection, but when i had to stop, i had to pull out a baggy mesh over shirt.

i have some bankbreakers and personally i find a minor irritation on the skin sometimes … especially on days the skin is sensitive

never had an issue with synth ones …

for synth, look for polygiene treated ones, it aint perfect but it work decently

;)

You’d think that A Smart Wool shirt wouldn’t do that. I bought a good long sleeved synthetic with handy roll up snaps but I just know I will reek before I even pick up my permit from the Yosemite rangers.

We’ll see. I’ll keep my mileage under 13/day anyway.

I think that Smart Wool is one of the companies that treat the fibers to remove the scales as a standard practice.

So it’s either the fibers are larger/coarser, or like Roger said, possibly left over chemicals.

There is such a demand for finer micron count Sheep’s wool nowadays, that while great strides have been made in producing greater amounts of finer and finer wool, it’s likely that demand sometimes outweighs supply, and companies sometimes probably have to go with a bit larger/coarser fibers at times.

Some companies are more rigorous than others in what they let pass through according to their standards.  I don’t know enough about Smart Wool to say anything either way.

Have you thought about trying Merino-Synthetic blends like Rab MeCo?   Generally i only wear any wool during fall and winter season, but in any case, i much prefer wool-synthetic and synthetic-wool blends over straight wool.   Rab MeCo has pretty good odor reduction–partly because it’s only 35% polyester and partly because the polyester is treated with Cocona.   It also wicks better, dries a bit faster, and is more durable than 100% wool.

(I would like to see a blend like 55% Polygiene treated wicking polyester with 45% Merino–or even better, Alpaca, which does not absorb as much moisture and if similar sized fibers are used, slightly warmer per same weight).

What size are you?  I have a Rab MeCo shirt i could lend you if you have an upcoming trip.

Much appreciated Justin. I’m looking for something with a collar though and I don’t see them making any

Never mind, just remembered it’s one of the heavier ones, and probably too warm for most summer trips.

My personal experience.  I have worn a merino wool shirt for backpacking with a heavier pack and nearly as far with 0 issues.  This was an icebreaker tshirt, either 150 or 160 weight I believe.  I love this shirt and use it constantly.  This trip was part about 1 week into a 3 week stretch where I wore the shirt every day to see if I could make it smell bad.  No success there either.  But as so many things in life, YMMV.

You mentioned the shirt was pressing into your skin all across you back.  Wondering how that happens carrying a 14# pack.  I wore my shirt this weekend carrying nearly 20# with no waistbelt, no issues.  Maybe I am just picking up on certain words used and reading too much into this.  Seems rather strange to me though. . . .

I’m beginning to think that it may have had to do with prolonged, excessive sweating since I ascended out of Lake Augusta up Icicle ridge toward Leavenworth in Alpine Lakes. I basically climbed for half the day it seemed.

Next day it looked lobster red almost like a hot water burn.

My Darn Tough socks seem to get too tight across the tops of my feet near my ankles and dig into my feet and I only hand wash and air dry them. I’ve found I like the wool shaped socks by Cabelas much better. One sock is made for the left foot and one is made for the right- and they have a lifetime guarantee.