Importance of Moisture Wicking In Our Clothes

Choosing the right outfit for your lifestyle activities is crucial. Several factors should be taken into consideration such as the often mentioned “moisture wicking” feature. But what does the term really mean and is it really that important to have in our clothes?

Whenever we perform any strenuous activity, we sweat a lot. This is the body’s natural way of regulating our temperature. Just imagine if you do not perspire. You may collapse any moment due to heat build-up inside your body. But as we perspire due to a certain activity, what we wear should keep us cool and comfortable.

For our outfit to be categorized as “comfortable”, researchers said that a fabric must possess at least two important factors since it is worn next to our skin. The first factor is the ability of the fabric to evaporate the perspiration from the skin’s surface. The second one is to let the wearer feel comfortable by transferring the moisture in the atmosphere.
The fabric’s ability to evaporate moisture is what we call the “wicking” property. This property of pulling the moisture away can be found in natural fibers as well as in microfiber and other treated synthetic materials.

There are types of fabrics which certainly do not have the wicking property. Thus, they are not suitable for use when one intends to perform any physical activity. One perfect example is cotton fabric. Albeit cotton is considered as a lightweight and breathable material, it doesn’t have the ability to wick away moisture. So what happens is, moisture is absorbed by the clothing material and does not evaporate right away. With this, the “cooling effect” cannot be achieved which is very important when one perspires a lot.

Another disadvantage of this type of material is that it’s a perfect breeding ground for both fungal and bacterial growth. And because of this, clothing might just develop a foul odour.

Do all synthetic fabrics have moisture wicking property? The answer is NO. Since they are chemically treated, there’s a possibility that a wearer may experience skin irritation or allergy.

To help you in choosing the moisture wicking fabric, listed below are some qualities that you should consider.

• Lightweight and durable
• Has the ability to dry quickly
• Absence of sogginess
• Breathable and comfortable
• Soft to touch
• Have optimum moisture and heat regulation
• Does not absorb moisture
• Has an efficient design
• Hypoallergenic

Now that you already have an idea of what moisture “wicking” property means, you can have the liberty to choose clothing material that best suits your active lifestyle. What’s important is the comfort that it can possibly offer.

Check out our why bamboo page which explains the moisture wicking and other comfortable properties of bamboo fabric which is our main material for our clothing products.