poly workout shirts

I’ve had some champion/target short sleeve Ts from a few year ago that are heavier and don’t breath as well as the champions I just picked up a month ago. So, I guess that means…..it depends on the material the brand is using. However, I just can’t bring myself to spend $50-60 compared to $10 when they both are going to smell after a day.

I’m a big fan of the OR Echo line. I’ve wore them while active in the upper 90s.

+1 for the OR Echo. The polygiene-treatment also works quite well.

+2 for the OR Echo, from a place where it gets plenty hot and humid as well in summer.
The lightest weight Patagonia Capilene is same or very very similar at least.

Sebastian,

I’m not sure about the answer to your question but I can point you to my favorite poly workout shirt, which is also the least expensive shirt I can remember buying.

This Augusta shirt costs between $6-$8 depending on the color you choose.  I have a few of them and prefer them to my much more expensive Under Armour shirts.  The Augusta shirts are thinner and cooler.  I don’t know if the Under Armour will pass more moisture through the fabric but the Augusta definitely (according to my unscientific “feels like it” standard) retains less heat.

The Augusta shirts also come in long sleeve but I can’t give you any meaningful feedback there other than that they are also really inexpensive.  I have one but only use it under an Irish wool sweater to keep the scratchiness of the sweater at bay.

Kris

My favorite thus far are the Russell brand poly tees I found on the clearance rack at Walmart for $5. They work great and I’m kind of partial to the name!

I’ve found Polygiene a bit hit and miss.  I have a mostly white, OR Echo ls shirt with polygiene treatment, and it doesn’t seem to be as effective as some of the other stuff that i have with it.  Also, there is the factor that body oils can seep into synthetic fabrics, reducing the effectiveness of such treatments, because the oils can eventually start to cover over the ionic layer.  Think a longer, continuous hike, or using a shirt or what not often and not washing ideally.

All synthetics, but especially polyproplyene, polyester, Polygiene, and EPIC type treated fabrics, need to be occasionally “degreased” and you can do this with high ph materials that also alter water tension (Washing Soda etc).  This may however, possibly shorten the life of a Polygiene treatment?

If you are a DIY’er type, you can do a Polygiene like home treatment, and if  you use copper instead of silver, and use an AC to DC electrical converter, it becomes extremely economical.

What you do is, take a very well cleaned and rinsed piece of clothing, preferably white.  Take an AC to DC converter plug that you don’t particularly need (9 to 15 volt output), cut off the plug end, and separate the two connected wires some (half a foot or so).  Strip them down some (about an inch).   Take some thicker, bare solid copper wire and connect it to the wiring.  Tape a little electrical tape over where you connected it.

Get some deionized or preferably distilled water and put it in a large glass jar.  Depending on the size of the jar and how much clothing  you want to treat, adjust the amount of water and as pure sodium chloride you can get (non iodized etc).   If i treat say 2 liters of water, i’ll use about a tablespoon of salt (you want the water to taste noticeably salty, but not overpoweringly so).  You probably should pre warm up the water a bit and dissolve the salt in very well before putting it in the jar.

Take the solid copper pieces connected to the wiring, and put them in the water on opposite sides of the jar, making sure they don’t touch the sides or bottom (or each other!).  Use some plastic or wood clips to secure the wiring part to the jar.  Plug it in to your AC electrical source.   Go do other stuff, and depending on how much water and salt you’re treating and how much voltage you’re using (the temp of the water also affects the speed, warmer equals faster), it can take anywhere from a couple hours to half a day to treat.

You’ve just created copper chloride ions.  If you used silver, you would have made silver chloride ions.  Both are quite antimicrobial and generally safe for contact with the skin.

Get some iDye Poly synthetic dye packets from Joann’s, online, etc.  Follow the instructions on the packet to dye your clothes, but use your copper or silver chloride ion infused water for the main water source to dye.

If you dye it right, the copper or silver chloride ions will have bonded with the dye to the surface of the fibers of the clothing you treated.  It may not be, and probably isn’t,  quite as effective or durable as a true Polygiene treatment, but it will be better and more durable than a lot of the other kinds of treatments out there that add a finish or coating.

Note: Can NOT be used on Polypropylene based fabrics. These don’t accept regular dyes, because the surface energy is too low.   You could dip it into the water with the copper/silver chloride, wring it out and let it air dry, and have a very temporary treatment, but key phrase-very temporary.

Unless you know how to do plasma treatment.  You could plasma treat the surface of the polypropylene and then dye etc like the above, but that’s way more work and expense than i want to get in.

Doing polyester and nylon the above way i outlined earlier is quite easy, cheap, and really just takes a little time–most of which you can do other things while waiting for the electrolysis process to happen.  If using copper and an AC to DC converter, if you dye treat a few articles of clothing at a time, we’re talking cost about a dollar for each piece.  Most of the expense is the deionized or distilled water and the few dollars per Dye packet. The copper (or silver) will last a long time before you need to replace it.

Surprisingly, i’ve gotten very little interest here from talking about this DIY home treatment.  I would have thought that at least some of the MYOG type folks here would have been all over this, but mostly resounding silence.  Perhaps if i sent a piece of treated fabric to Richard N. to have it analyzed, people might become more interested?   One could potentially save a lot of money, if having antimicrobial treated, synthetic clothes is important to them.   I may make a separate thread about this in the MYOG section.

For what it’s worth, I’m somewhat surprised how effective the Polygiene treatment on my LS Echo Zip is. I jog in it, and I’ll go weeks without washing it, and it’s never acquired a smell. It’s pretty surprising, actually, consider how quickly a pair of running shorts acquires a “funk”.

Jonathan, does your shirt happen to be mostly white?

I ask, because mine is white and doesn’t seem to be as good as the other shirts that aren’t. I talked to a guy that works for Polygiene and he mentioned that the silver chloride gets put in with the dye during the dye treatment.  I logically surmised from that conversation, that’s how the silver chloride gets bonded to the fibers, it embeds in and bonds with the dye to the fiber surface (which is why it’s more durable than a lot of other treatments).

Some synthetic polymers are first naturally white or whitish in color when made.  I’ve wondered if maybe because my Echo shirt is mostly white, that maybe most of the fabric didn’t actually go through the Polygiene treatment, which is why it doesn’t seem to work as well as the other shirts i have that are darker or colored in some way?

Neon yellow. :)

I usually pick them up at the end of the season, and the ugly colors are usually the only ones left. Can find them about half price then.

Interesting about the Polygiene treatment and dyes. I’ll have to consider that next time I buy some poly active wear.

Justin,

I’m interested, but it sounds so science project.  Do you have pics of the ionizer in action.  Using wood chips to hold the wiring is hard for me to visualize.

Ive used the champion poly Ts with good results in hot weather, I especially like the champion running shorts. For what its worth, my favorite hot weather shirt is made by George 100% poly collared button up short sleeve, buy it loose fitting. Bought at WalMart for 8 bucks

Anyone have any sizing advice on the OR Echo LS shirts? Really like the look of these shirts but would be buying them from a prodeal sort of thing and can’t return them otherwise I would just buy a med and large and return the one I didn’t want.

Thrifts are great places for shirts and shorts. You could also try the Terramar Helix short ($10) and long ($15) sleeve via Sierra Trading Post.

Went to various thrift stores, Target, Walmart. No luck or no sizes for me.

++ on the OR Echo. I have a mostly whitish long sleeve, I’ve worn it and slept in it, basically never took it off for over a week on the trail, and no stink.

I’m usually an off-the-rack size medium and the Echo medium fits me well.

Thanks for the feedback JS. I don’t know for certain if that is the case or not (the white fabrics etc).  It’s possible mine is just a dud for other reasons, but it doesn’t really have that great of odor control, and i don’t have high stink factor.  I wore it a lot when in Costa Rica, so maybe i need to degrease it.

Hi Bob, i’ll be doing a treatment in the near future so i will take some pics then and start a thread in the MYOG section.  It’s probably easier than it sounds, and the only time consuming part, is doing the dye treatment.  I’ll probably contact Richard Nisley and see if he would be willing to take some pics with his microscope to see if the copper ions are bonded to the fibers or not.

By wood clips, i meant like clothes line pins.  Any clip or fastener made with electrically non conductive material would work.  Just something to secure the wire to the side of the glass jar.   You could also take a piece of wood or plastic long enough to go across the mouth of the jar and drill or punch a small hole through opposite ends to put the solid copper pieces through.

I’ve not had very good luck with polyester blend T shirts from Rebook and the other usual suspects when it comes to smell.  I realize that I will stink but I don’t want my shirt to smell worse than I do which is what I was running into with these shirts.

I started a thread a couple/few years ago and had the Duluth Trading Co.  Buck Naked Performance Crew Undershirt recommended to me.  It’s a 93% nylon/7% spandex knit blend.  They say that it’s treated to prevent odor.  I worn them now for over two years, often times under body armor which is a stink factory all to itself, and don’t see any evidence that the treatment is wearing off.  I suspect that nylon/spandex blend may be more resistant to odor than polyester so I’m not sure how much of this has anything to do with any treatment.

This shirt dries quickly and on days where it’s hot out and there’s salt buildup on my shirt, I’ll rinse and wring it out and just throw it back on.  Depending on how warm it is, it’s typically dry within an hour.

***I’m not affiliated with Duluth Trading Company.  I’ve never been to Duluth nor have I ever step foot in Minnesota.  Despite my requests to be treated like a rock star, I was required to pay full price for this shirt; no one was more disappointed than I.  I am not a trail ambassador although I am working on a sponsorship deal with a yet to be disclosed company that makes middle of the road powdered hollandaise sauce… but am still air-quotes un sponsored at this time*** 

Perhaps related to what Ian said, i’ve found that untreated nylon is noticeably less stinky than untreated polyester.

Seems to be somehow related to moisture regain, or a property of materials that also relate to moisture regain.   I say this because most of the fabrics that have higher moisture regain, are the least stinky, and the lowest moisture regain fabrics–primarily polyester but also and especially polypropylene have high stink factor.

Nylon is kind of in the middle of the extremes.  For a synthetic, it has high moisture regain, but compared to wool, the various rayons, linen/hemp/ramie, etc it’s noticeably less.

One of my shirts with a Polygiene treatment, was a PNW thrift store find, that is like 60% nylon and 40% polyester.   It has very low odor.  Hard to say if it’s mostly because of the polygiene treatment, or because the majority fiber content is nylon, or that it’s a blend of the two.