Tips on: Clothing and Fabric Choices

Issues concerning fabric always come up at the store. Usually these are problems with blistering, abrasions, callusing, over heating, and wet or frozen body parts. If any of these sound familiar, they are most likely related to fabric choice. We have been led to believe natural fibers are the bests for us. Natural fabrics such as wool and silk are excellent materials for being non-abrasive and wicking wetness away from the skin. The one natural fiber we all tend to use and abuse is cotton. Cotton has great feel appeal; it also has as excellent ability to absorb moisture. For casual use it makes perfect sense. It feels good, is affordable and easily available. As good as cotton is at absorbing moisture, its downfall will be absorbing too much moisture to the point of saturation. This causes the excess wetness to lie against the skin. This wetness will create over saturated skin (a good example of this is, when you're in the tub too long and your hands and feet are very wrinkled) When you add any movement or heat the likelihood of blistering, chaffing, or calluses is high. So, when selecting your socks or t-shirt to wear for activities try avoiding all cotton products. Choosing a blend of 50% cotton and 50% polyester is common. However, currently the best all around choice would be a garment made fully of polyester.


Why polyester? Isn’t that the stuff that leisure suits were made of during the 70's? Doesn't that material smell when worn to long? This is the typical reaction when someone is first told about using polyester as a performance material. Today polyester is the "king of the mountain" for performance activities It has an incredible ability to wick moisture away from the body It also has a very non-abrasive quality to the material, which avoids chaffing or abrasions. By being very smooth against the skin and having the ability to wick moisture away, the material can cut down on most of the friction and heat build up associated with most activities The biggest advantages to polyester is the lightness, durability, ease of cleaning and it's ability to fit many applications Because polyester is such a fine fiber, meaning that it's very light and thin, it can be easily manipulated. You'll find polyester in wind shells, a silky lightweight short, a thermal insulating winter piece to a fleece vest Polyester is very chameleon in its ability to perform many functions, to provide a lot of textures and cover a broad range of temperatures needs When the temperature is cooler, it will keep you warmer and when it's warmer outside it has the ability to keep you cooler. This is primarily due to the fabric's ability to wick or keep moisture from over saturating your skin.


So the next time you feel like you're over stressing your body and you don't want your clothing to complicate things, choose polyester When you become active you produce heat and perspire, whether it's warm or cold out Managing how to keep this wetness from overheating or freezing you can best be solved with the proper fabric weight, fabric texture and appropriate number of layers Polyester material will allow you to be more comfortable during your activity