Moisture-wicking fabrics move sweat away from the body through tiny spaces featured in the material. This wicking action, along with evaporation, limits the buildup of bacteria and prevents chafing during exercise.
In addition, breathable moisture-wicking materials regulate body temperature by preventing sweat from absorbing into the fabric and causing you to overheat. Read on to discover the five benefits of these sweat-fighting wonders.
Keeps You Cool
Unlike other fabrics that absorb and hold moisture, the best sweat-wicking materials pull moisture away from the skin through capillary action. The same principle works in plants, skin, and natural wonders. This technology uses tiny tubes that work with your own to draw the moisture up through the fabric and out through its outer surface, where it evaporates into the air and helps you stay cool and dry.
This technology is used in high-performance athletic apparel and workout gear. But you can also find high compression fabric in other clothes that will keep you sweat-free, stain-free, and odor-free during hot weather or activities like hiking, working outside, or even during hot flashes of menopause.
Moisture-wicking fabrics prevent clinging moisture, leading to bacterial growth, which can cause odor and fungus. Keeping the material drier and allowing your body’s perspiration to evaporate quickly enhances comfort, making all the difference when wearing your favorite workout clothing. This fabric can also be worn as everyday clothes because it’s lightweight, breathable, and quick-drying.
Keeps You Dry
When sweat soaks into fabric, it becomes stuck and can’t evaporate—which is a problem when trying to regulate your temperature or get an optimal workout. Most cotton fabrics, for example, trap moisture against the skin, hindering the process of evaporation and leaving you feeling hot or damp. But moisture-wicking fabrics have tiny openings that allow sweat to flow from the skin to the fabric’s surface for evaporation.
In addition to their ability to wick away moisture, these materials are lightweight and quick-drying—which helps prevent chafing, skin irritation, and foul odors from prolonged sweat exposure. Moisture-wicking fabrics are ideal for high-intensity exercises and running and medium-intensity exercises like yoga.
Both synthetic and natural (like wool) fabrics are moisture-wicking, but polyester is a popular choice for athletic apparel because it’s fast drying and resists pilling, shrinking, and fading. Moisture-wicking fabrics are machine washable and require little maintenance. They also fight odor-causing bacteria.
Prevents Chafing
The sweat from your body can cling to your skin and clothes during workouts. This is a problem that can cause friction and lead to chafing. When you wear sweat-wicking fabrics, this chafing is prevented because the fabric pulls your sweat away from your skin. This is also helpful if you have any aches or injuries because it reduces the pressure on your skin.
Non-wicking fabrics like cotton soak up sweat and stay damp against your skin, which is why they’re so bad for chafing. On the other hand, moisture-wicking fabrics have tiny tunnel openings that allow sweat to move through them and evaporate on the outside of your clothing.
This helps your clothing dry faster, too. Plus, it prevents your clothing from smelling after a hard workout because the fabric doesn’t have to hold onto sweat and bacteria. This means your dress will stay fresh and clean longer. Of course, drinking plenty of water and wearing looser clothing is still the best way to prevent chafing, but the moisture-wicking fabric is a significant extra step.
Prevents Bacteria Growth
Moisture-wicking fabrics use a special treatment to pull sweat away from your skin. This causes sweat to evaporate more quickly, which helps regulate your body temperature and keeps you cool and comfortable.
The wicking effect happens through capillary action, similar to how water travels up the roots of a tree or the way wax rises the wick of a candle. The capillaries in moisture-wicking fibers have tiny tubes that draw your sweat through the fabric to the surface, where it evaporates. This prevents work from clinging to your body and keeps it cool and dry throughout your activity.
Not only does this reduce the likelihood of heat stroke and hypothermia, but it also prevents bacteria from growing around the sweat. While avoiding sweaty environments and using antiperspirant and deodorant are great ways to prevent body odor, wearing moisture-wicking fabric is an easy additional step that will help keep you feeling fresh and clean.
Prevents Odor
When sweat gets trapped in your clothing, it doesn’t just feel sticky – it also smells. Odors are created when the bacteria in your skin mix with your sweat, which causes a stinky buildup that can be hard to eliminate with antiperspirant and deodorant alone. But moisture-wicking fabrics pull your work away from your skin and promote its quick evaporation, which helps eliminate body odors.
As an added benefit, wicking fabrics are typically easier to care for than other types of apparel. They are typically machine washable and can be tossed in with your other workout gear, requiring no notable hassles or extra steps. They’re also more likely to resist stains than different fabric types and don’t require fabric softeners if you want to preserve their moisture-wicking properties.
However, it’s still important to remember that if you use moisture-wicking clothes to prevent odors, you must wash them right after workouts. The warmest wash temperatures on your care label and a quality laundry detergent will help eliminate odors from your sweaty workout clothes before they can stink up the whole hamper.
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