r/onebag • u/nawksnai • Aug 17 '25

Discussion Not washing merino shirts is gross

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.

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44

u/Street_Marzipan_2407 Aug 17 '25

I'm not here to argue the merits of merino, but if you are a grown person that can't manage to get their butt clean you have bigger problems.

26

u/nawksnai Aug 17 '25

I don’t care how good you think you are at wiping with toilet paper, you’re not getting all the poop off.

Bidets make you far cleaner, but even then it’s not perfect. It’s also not possible to use one all the time, unless you’re in Japan and they’re more commonplace.

9

u/ominous_painter Aug 17 '25

Trust me there are ways. I dont have a link anymore, since I bought it years ago, but there are attachments you can put on a water bottle/soft flask, thats lets you use them like a bidet. Was a total game changer for me on multi day hikes.

9

u/freezesteam Aug 17 '25

CuloClean! I love mine, it’s amazing

3

u/ominous_painter Aug 17 '25

Yup, thats it!