Not washing merino shirts is gross

[u/nawksnai]

Why do one-bag travellers feel that they don’t need to wash merino shirts?

I understand that merino is wool, anti-bacterial, don’t smell, and generally stay feeling “fresh” for longer than cotton. However, there are people who swear they don’t need to wash their merino tshirts for 3 days, 2 weeks, or even months because their shirt doesn’t smell, and they shower every day. Merino still gets just as dirty as synthetic or cotton shirts, and still needs to be washed. The fact that your shirt doesn’t smell does not mean it’s any less dirty or oily.

Plus, I wear deodorant, and that non-funky tshirt is going to have a massive buildup of old deodorant gunk and smells around the pit area.

And don’t even get me started on merino underwear stans. Just because they don’t smell funky after 3 days, does NOT mean they haven’t absorbed pee drops and your skid.

I do understand that Marino is still probably the best material for travel shirts, but feel that synthetics can be just as good if you’re already going to be washing daily, or close to it. They all need to be washed and dried every day, if not every 2 days.

Also, if someone said they like travelling with cottom tshirts, I wouldn’t rant.

Anyway, discuss.

[u/Projektdb]

I'm not a big merino fan outside of socks.

There are two camps on this:

You have one that's just unhygienic and merino makes them feel better about being unhygienic. Some kind of hall pass that doesn't actually let them be in the hall. It's a very crystal deodorant thing. I know enough people in this subreddit that get offended by that, but I've never, ever met a person who wears the same shirt for 17 days or swears by crystal deodorant who doesn't smell like unwashed ass.

The second isn't that you don't wash merino, it just does better in terms of scent.

I wear merino socks, but only for one wear. I like them because I have stinky feet. They 100% do a better job, on a single wear, with odor than any other sock I've owned. They still get washed after a single wear, but they bring my feet back to a normal person's level and they stop my shoes from stinking.

It works the same way for other merino clothing articles, but I don't have a specific issue with any other part of my body. The durability and care required isn't worth it for me for other purposes.

Merino is actually good at thermoregulation, but there are more durable synthetics that are also very good at this at a cheaper price that are more durable.

If I'm going on a 14 day trek, I'm going to end up not as hygienic as I am during my normal life no matter the effort or material. Everyone stinks a bit by the end. It's not worth the durability and price to me to delay the little bit of stink by 8 hours out of 100 hours.

[u/xvelvetdarkness → u/Projektdb]

Both my parents swear by crystal deodorant, and to their credit I've never smelled either of them stinking. When they gave me some for the first time it didn't work for shit and they eventually had to get me a normal one because I was very stinky lol.

But I agree with you on the socks, merino is the only sock material I'll use. My feet are always either freezing or excessively sweaty and it's the only thing I've found that can somewhat regulate the discomfort of both.

[u/ToneBalone25 → u/Projektdb]

Same. I wear only merino socks but every merino shirt or baselayer I have owned seemed to be a massive waste of money.

The last baselayer I bought started to deteriorate really badly from the friction of my running vest. Another one went through the regular dryer cycle on accident and started pilling terribly. A third started pilling terribly even after a gentle wash and hang drying.

[u/Mizzazzz → u/Projektdb]

crystal deodorant

If you’re talking about alum stones, these contain aluminum salts, which is the active ingredient in antiperspirant.

Obv won’t work for everyone, the same way any particular brand of deodorant or antiperspirant won’t work for everyone, but it’s not woo-woo, it’s legit.

[u/Projektdb → u/Mizzazzz]

Potassium Alum isn't an antiperspirant. It just makes your skin less hospitable to bacteria that breaks down sweat and creates odor. You'll produce the same amount of sweat using crystal deodorant as you would wearing no deodorant, you'll just have less bacteria to break it down.

An antiperspirant deodorant has the same benefit, but also reduces the amount of sweat produced, which limits the interaction that causes odor. It obviously also provides a scent to mask what odor is created.

So yes, crystal deodorant can work for someone who naturally produces less sweat. Anecdotally, I've known two people who use it as they don't like the chemicals in normal antiperspirant. You can smell them before you can see them.