Pros and cons of synthetic fabrics (2023)

Synthetics fabrics are great exercise and travel. They wick sweat, pack down, don't wrinkle, and dry quickly.

But what about on a day-to-day basis? It's getting harder to find clothes (even underwear) that aren't completely synthetic or some sort of synthetic blend. I hear people rave about their synthetic polos and t-shirts, but unless I am exercising, they always seem to trap heat and humidity. Anecdotally, I'm much more comfortable in a 100% cotton or linen shirt, even on the hottest summer days. Am I missing something with synthetics?

Is there a difference in the kind of synthetic used (i.e. poly, nylon, lyocell, etc.?) What about the weave?

Some places say synthetics are breathable while others don't. I can't sift through the marketing jargon to find out what's actually true.

Depends. I was out in a rain storm today. I'm glad I was not wearing cotton jeans. I was also glad that I had a Gore-Tex rain jacket with pit zips and hood (Montbell Versalite in case you want to know).

There is no "best" because it depends on what you are doing and what is happening to you when you are wearing the fabric. For you, cotton is best based on what you described.

A fabric that breathes is Polartec Alpha Direct because it is mostly holes. It is a specialized fabric. Are you special or do special activities?

Walmart has cotton underwear (Hanes, Fruit-of-the-Loom), so that's easy to find.

have you tried rayon?

j

I completely agree. I can't stand almost all synthetic fabrics and non-synthetic clothing s becoming harder to find. I don't even usually like them for working out, with the primary exception being wearing rash guards for BJJ.

I think cotton v synthetic has a lot to do with weight. Think about the old cotton polo shirts weight versus a synthetic polo’s style shirt.

I know here in Florida on the links no one wears cotton anymore. Also, synthetic has some UV protection & that was not a concern back in the polo shirts hay day.

Now linen is another story but hard to find in athletic wear.

livesoft wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 4:57 pm
Depends. I was out in a rain storm today. I'm glad I was not wearing cotton jeans.

How do I know?

Many years ago I was in a steady downpour for over an hour so as to see a live performance outdoors of Taj Mahal and his band. I had no shelter or umbrella.

As a result once I got home I had to peal off those jeans from my skin and they were too many times wetter than they ever are when I take them out of the washing machine.

Flammable I assume because of what a friend berated me for wearing one those polyester shirts in 1975 - "You are wearing tar!"

Cotton are breathable unless get wet. This is why exercise clothes are not made of cotton.

They sell waxed cotton clothing which I like the look but feel that they are not breathable. They are often favored in areas with a lot of thorny type bushes since goretex jacket will get destroyed.

They actually make a cotton fabric call ventile that is cotton woven to be waterproof. These have been mostly replaced by goretex. The downside is that waterproof occur because the fiber expand to block off the water but it also makes the fabric feel like cardboard. One advantage is that it’s quiet, good for bird watching.

I have noticed the same as well. Either you have chemically treated fabrics because the quality of the cotton is not up to par or cotton-synthetic blends or synthetic. Many of these cause bad skin reactions for me. I had been buying polo shirts from a vendor but they don’t seem to be restocking cottons. Tried their newer tech fabric and it caused a skin reaction. If you want natural fabrics they are hard to find (high end and/or boutique brands) and cost a lot.

On the outerwear front, the tech fabrics work ok and seem to provide a benefit in terms of being wind and water resistant while being breathable and lightweight.

NYCaviator wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 4:19 pm ...They wick sweat, pack down, don't wrinkle, and dry quickly...

On a day to day basis I rarely need a shirt to do any of these things so these features aren't all that relevant. And most of the time I am exercising I actually prefer a shirt that doesn't wick sweat away because the water next to my skin has the cooling effect that I am desiring. This is also particularly beneficial on multiday hikes where distance between water sources are great and one wants to minimize how much water one wants to lose through sweat because it will all need to be replenished. As to travel, I bring a mixture for versatility. So a cotton shirt, cotton/synthetic blend, wool shirt and a synthetic shirt often make it in my pack especially on multi-month or year long trips where conditions can be a lot more variable.

There are two factors: breathing and moisture wicking.

Synthetic clothing simulate "breathing" by being treated with chemicals and woven (with micro mesh/tiny holes for example) to pull moisture away from the body. It's hit and miss to find those that work for a person.

Rayon and nylon are considered somewhat breathable, but they are woven tight and don't' have moisture wicking properties.

Cotton however might be treated also, so it's prudent to do a wash on cold, no detergent, a bit of baking soda to remove the finish. But it is naturally breathable and has moisture wicking as does flax (linen), bamboo and even thin wool.

I've gone from wearing a synthetic tee shirt to the full reenactment garb in natural fibers and the reenactment garb in layers is much cooler that a simple tee shirt.

"Your cloathing in summer must be as thin and light as possible for the heat is beyond your conception . . . You must carry a stock of linen waistcoats made very large and loose that they may not stick to your hide when you perspire.” 26 March 1765 Stephen Hawtrey to Edward Hawtrey on the Virginia heat.

I am curious about the above statement. What chemicals simulate "breathing" ? Got a link to a synthetic clothing item that has such a chemical treatment? I can understand anti-microbial treatment, but that's not to simulate "breathing." Thanks!

There are chemicals which affect vapor permeability in clothing. I don't know if any commercial store product would say what they treat it with, though for firefighters and so forth, they do. (Heck, most stores which sell cotton towels don't know they are treated with the finish which increases their softness to touch in the store, but which has to be rinsed off to improve absorbancy.) It's a science which is beyond me - my neighbor is a dry cleaner and was trying to explain to me. I found these links which might provide insight:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/en ... athability

https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=23152

For more: Engineering Apparel Fabrics and Garments, Chapter 11.

My opinion formed from personal experience is that breathability is the most exaggerated quality of a fabric (whether by inherent material or the mechanical weave)

The context is in both casual wear, and some athletic/functional wear.

Most often it comes in the form of how wool is a magic fabric that it even works in the hot (lol), or how linens and seersuckers make wearing suits in summer tolerable (lol).

They might have have a marginal effect on a compared to another fabric of similar weight, but overwhelmingly the weight or thickness of the fabric is what determines cooling comfort. If you want to stay cool in summer, wear the lightest/thinnest garments.

With the exception of sun shirts, I try to never wear synthetics. I find workout clothes (activewear) stink horribly during and after use and irritate/chafe my skin. Polos of the similar material drape poorly and highlight the nipple. I also have a sensitivity to “tri-blend” t shirts that cause my skin to burn/itch.

So cotton all the way. Dress shirts and polos are easy. T shirts I get for $5 a pop. Plain, but 100% cotton and somehow soft and wrinkle resistant.

Mr. Rumples wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 11:07 am There are chemicals which affect vapor permeability in clothing. ....

Thanks for this, but reading quickly these are mostly about waterproof-breathable fabrics such as those incorporating GORE-TEX or other tech which are generally incorporated into multilayer laminated fabrics. I don't think this thread is about such things. Nor is it about durable water repellant (DWR) treatments. And sure, fabric softeners add a "finish" to various fabrics, but I do not use softeners nor dryer sheets nor perfumes on any of my clothes.

For t-shirts, 100% ringspun cotton, with a 4.5-oz fabric weight, feels phenomenally good, way better than the coarse t-shirts of old. They're lightweight, perfect for wearng alone during warm weather and make a great base layer for cold weather.

If I were to go hiking during extremely hot weather, I would get some sort of poly blend. The moisture-wicking would be worth it.

There's a guy on YouTube who demonstrates how wicking works via capillary action. He demonstrates with blue-colored water in a glass travelling up a celery stalk. Cotton doesn't do that, so moisture-wicking synthetics have a definite role.

victw wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 1:33 pm Application matters.

Agreed. Synthetics are good for working out, but I don’t find them nearly as nice as real, natural fibers for every day wear. Even when you are sitting still, synthetics seem to trap heat and smell. But sometimes they are ideal for applications like travel, so it’s a matter of finding the “least worst” option. Synthetics can pack down much smaller and you don’t need an iron.