effects of fabric on BO

For a whole bunch of reasons I think we should not wear synthetic fabrics - but that's a different conversation.

I have read reports that say body odour is worse with synthetic fabrics than natural ones. My experience agrees with this. But I have also heard the opposite.

Do you have any ideas as to why? What have your experiences in this space been?

I do long-distance hiking and live in a truck without running water. I can say unequivocally that natural fibers do not retain body odors nearly as much as do synthetic fibers, and are more easily deodorized by airing, as opposed to washing. Wool is king in this regard. The only disadvantage is that natural fibers usually do not dry as quickly; the only time I have odor problems with natural fibers that I don’t with synthetics is when I am trapped in constant rain/humidity, and the thicker natural fibers (wool socks, for instance) get musty/moldy smelling. If worse comes to worst, as on extended backpacking trips, I would still rather smell like old, damp laundry than old, damp armpit/crotch (sorry), so I choose natural fibers.

Some clothing is being treated to prevent BO smells - T-shirts are advertised as such. That makes me *really* nervous since I tend to over-react to certain chemicals and once had a violent reaction to some sort of anti-bacterial added to a laundry detergent sample a friend gave me to try. It seems to me that some artificial fibers actually make me sweat more despite claims to the reverse.
I try to have cotton close to my skin and wool socks all winter, but I admit that in my wet climate, the warmwear fleece is just too convenient as outer layers when it's cold and damp.  

Jay, I definitely find that synthetic fibers make me sweat more. It’s almost as if I’m wrapped in plastic—imagine that!

Natural fibers are very good at absorbing dirt and odor. I resurrected this old thread that concerns using Cottonwood fluff as a sort of disposable sock. It really does a good job of absorbing odor.

https://permies.com/t/67035/permaculture-projects/Dale-Cottonwood-fluff-socks-Cottonwood#890481

I definitely get sweatier/ stinkier with cotton-poly blends than I do straight cotton, and the clothes themselves seem to stink more (especially if they've been at the bottom of the laundry pile for a week or two).  I also knew an older woman years ago who had no qualms about detailing why she wouldn't wear nylon underwear.

My guess would be the synthetic fabrics retain moisture in the spaces between the fibers, making a good environment for bacteria to grow, whereas natural fibers would break up/ absorb/ wick away the moisture.  

I just spent a few minutes googling the antimicrobial synthetics and, while most of it was over my head, some of the stuff being produced for medical and high-tech laboratory applications is treated with a compound containing silver or a compound with a carbolic acid component.  (That's not super relevant, it's just interesting to me that everything old is new again, and at least the basic components have a long history of use so those are probably safe, but who knows about any of the other things)

I've done a lot of manual labour year round and found that cotton smells the worst, synthetics somewhat, and wool the least.  A cotton shirt is good for a day, synthetic long underwear shirts make it 3-5 days, and wool long underwear shirts can make it 7-10 days.  The wool and synth both wick away sweat, where the cotton doesn't, so my hypothesis is that the cotton traps everything while the other two move it through the fibre to the outside.

In Ruth Goodmans book about life in medieval times  (How to Be a Tutor), she talks about an experiment she did. She wore linen underwear and wool and cotton outter clothes, and changed the linen underwear everyday and rubbed herself down with a linen cloth. She did this for three months in modern society, and no one noticed! (page 23) When she was on her historical documentary, she changed her linen undergarments but once per week, and the woolen outer clothes only got washed 3 times in 6 months. She writes, "there was a slight smell, but it was masked by the smell of woodsmoke" (pg 24)

This isn't to say that natural cloths are miricle workers agaisnt smell. Ruth also wrote that a friend wore THE SAME (unwashed) linen underclothes day after day, and he washed his body everyday with soap and water. "The smell was overpowering, impossible to ignore. He looked filthy, too." (pg 24)

So, natural fibre clothes work wonders on removing our stank and neutralizing it, but we must wash the clothes touching our skin at least once a week.

(I got all the quotes from the free amazon preview of Ruth Goodman's book. You can actually read quite a bit of her book through the preview, and it is an EXCELLENT read, and I now really, really want the book!)

I work outside every day, live in a wood-heated structure that stays pretty cold in the winter, and don't enjoy doing laundry.

My mom was right--once BO is ingrained in a fabric, it's well-nigh impossible to get out.

My favorite feel against my skin is a knit silk thermal top I picked up at a senior center sale (i.e. from back when clothes were well-made). A few months of wearing that puppy under my bulky sweaters and insulated coveralls mean that the shirt can never be worn in the open air again. But I still wear it under my voluminous layers and offend no one. Silk is where it's at for my damp climate. I have on a wool sweater made from one of my sheep but it's pretty intense without a layer between me and it. Thrift store cashmere sweaters are another favorite underlayer.  I throw these in the cold wash and even the dryer maybe once or twice a year.

Ruth Goodman makes good points about laundry vs. washing the body, but: The BEST defense against BO I have found? A cold shower every morning. When I have my morning cold dip/splash, my sweat doesn't stink. If I skip a day or three, I am back to aromatic. I like the cold dip anyway and the social benefit of smelling better is a happy side effect.

I wish I could remember the details, but the author of Fibreshed goes into detail about the benefits of natural fibres, including how breathable they are and their tendancy to wick moisture. Highly recommend the book, she wears only clothing that was produced (fibres grown, spun, designed and constructed) within 150 miles of her home in Northern California for a year. I am slowly replacing much of my wardrobe with natural fibres and I notice that I have to wash them less often.

My experience is: it depends on the synthetic. There are lots of different ones. If it's designed for outdoor work or athleticism, it will probably stink less than cotton. But your average synthetic shirt off the department store shelf will probably stink more.

Wool is best.

I find that synthetics make one sweat&smell way more. I really do liken it to being wrapped in plastic. I actually saw socks in a store yesterday that said "Made From Recycled Plastic!" As if that is a selling point. Thanks, I will avoid those. I used to collect a lot of vintage clothes and much from the sixties was polyester, acrylic, etc. I would wash the items and soak them in baking soda which really seemed to get the odors out...after a little time, not even wearing them, just on their own the odor would return. Not even odors from me, they came with the stank. They hold on to the stank of previous owners. Wool is THE BEST! A superior fiber in so many ways. It's sad that it is kind of falling by the wayside, or really expensive, and people just don't know about it or appreciate it. I have had wool sweaters that I work in, worn while building with cob, didn't wash for over a year...you just brush off the dried mud off and it's good to go. If you're out in the fresh air they always smell good. I LOVE WOOL<3 Also, if you're eating pretty clean and healthy, BO just isn't a thing really. I haven't worn deodorant in over 20 years, I never smell(bad), even if I sweat(unless I'm drinking coffee) People close to me tell me I smell sweet :)

I have been on a quest of making my own clothes, one garment at a time as new items are required for a few years now. This includes growing and processing nettles and flax for spun line to knit or weave and building a relationship with sheep farmer just outside the city where I live. Like others, I don't wear deodorant either, and find my pure wool base layers are the best, unfortunately many companies will put a 5 to 10 percent nylon in for durability in 'performance wear' and those garments will stink sooner, and hold that smell so it comes back very quickly once in the cloth!
I have used old linen tablecloths to make my underwear and undershirts, and certain wool breeds like targhee, marino and ryeland are soft and very springy making them excellent choice for close to the body. I for some reason can't wear silk without sweating profusely, and for sure all the polyester and other plastic wear feels horrible and also holds body odors... Wool is known for its antibacterial properties, finding local makers and farmers who are supporting the ancient sheep breeds that can thrive in the region you live in, that are in decline as they are no longer fashionable is a very worthwhile pursuit!

The fabric which keeps me evenly heated and I never sweat in is fine knit hemp (a hemp version of t-shirt material). I don’t know why it hasn’t taken over from cotton as it doesn’t even need pesticides, herbicides and only small amounts of fertiliser (and sometimes even none).
My second comment is that when I ate a very clean diet - lots of green juices, raw foods, no animal products, lots of water  - I soon had no odour - even if I sweated - I always smelt sweet! As soon as I changed my diet I was not so lucky.

Alexia Allen - thankyou for your post! I am really pleased to hear that cold dipping also stops odour. To me, it sounds as if it is detoxing you - and at least doing something to you that is very healthy! I notice that my level of smell - including breath - changes with my general health.

I love it! There is no topic untouched at permies!!

In my experience, hormones have the biggest effect on BO. When my kids were teenagers, they stunk to high heaven. Other obvious changing points are pregnancy and menopause.

Many nature fibers do breathe better, but not always.

I would say the reason that hemp hasn't taken off is that it is still illegal in many areas, largely because the cotton industry has lobbied against it.

The big thing about BO (body odor) is that it is easily remedied. That is unless a person works outside all day in the heat or is doing a lot of physical exercises.

Bathing prevents BO.

Despite doing that if the clothes are still being stained by BO then the thing to do is wash the clothes in baking soda and hang them outside in the sun.

Anne Miller wrote:The big thing about BO (body odor) is that it is easily remedied. That is unless a person works outside all day in the heat or is doing a lot of physical exercises.

Bathing prevents BO.

Despite doing that if the clothes are still being stained by BO then the thing to do is wash the clothes in baking soda and hang them outside in the sun.

I think there are more factors at work - it is not as simple as this for many people. The thread above has examples.

Lisa Sture wrote:I think there are more factors at work - it is not as simple as this for many people. The thread above has examples.

The number one factor may be the deodorant that everyone feels a need for ... I did a one time.

2nd is that the clothes are not being washed in baking soda and hung in the sun to dry.

When I store my off-season clothing (which there really isn't much of, because in winter, I mostly wear the same things as in summer, but simply layer them for added warmth), I've noticed, for years, a distinctive, strong, offensive petroleum smell, upon pulling them out of storage. I hunted and hunted for what could be causing it, finding nothing. We use Meliora laundry soap, and 100% wool dryer balls - so no weird detergents or synthetic fragrances. The items were stored in clean, non- stinky(well, until the end of storage time, anyway) cardboard boxes, in the coolest, driest place in our home.

A couple years ago, it occurred to me that maybe it was something in the fibers, whether a fire retardant, or something about the fibers, themselves. So, when I put them in storage, the next time, I sorted my natural fiber items from my synthetic ones - and stored them in (the despised) plastic tubs, just in case it was the boxes, or because cardboard boxes are so porous, maybe it was something else in the storage area that I hadn't thought of. When I pulled them out next, only the synthetics stunk.

That was when I decided that as my things wore out, they'd be replaced with only natural fibers, because if a thing can off-gas that badly, chances are, it's not helping my health, to wear it. I'm careful about taking care of my clothes, and they tend to last a *very* long time, so I still have most of those same synthetic items, but now, they're never stored with the natural fibers, and I'm often torn between (the all too common idea in our disposable culture) "just getting rid of them", finding other purposes for them, and the expense of replacing them, if I do either of the first two things. But, I've definitely noticed that doing the same activities will often leave me far stinkier in synthetics, than in natural fibers (some synthetics are worse for that, than others), and there are also differences in the bo between natural fibers,  in those same activities, with cotton being the worst of those. I love my linens best for plant fibers (though I've not tried many other plant fibers, besides those that are so over processed, they're closer to synthetic than natural), but love my silks and other animal fibers, best.

What you want for a fabric that almost never stinks up is New Zealand merino wool. I wore that stuff in the Himialyas, climbing mountains for 12 plus hours a day, and for 10 to 12 day stretches. I did not stink up.
Most people I met who could afford decent gear were also wearing NZ merino. Well made pieces (like the Icebreaker ones) last about a decade.
We are now going in to winter in Nz. I live in an uninsulated and unheated part of a 30 year old house.
I wear merino boxers and Cami, t shirt, and thin long sleeve and long John underlayers. Then other wool layers over that.
I do not get cold and I do not get stinky even after hefty work in the garden.
I make all the under layers myself, and they are the best and most worn undergarments I have ever owned.
Hugshugs from early winter New Zealand where I built tiny cob garden edgings today and revisited being 2 again and making mud pies... but on a grander scale.