oes underwear breath?

INANIMATE: Not animated; lifeless, not endowed with animal life.

Source: The Oxford Universal Dictionary

Recently I have seen commercials on the television from companies that make and/or just sell underwear made probably in Asia that the companies represent as “breathable” underwear. I chose to call Duluth Trading and inquire as to how their underwear was breathable. What I was told is the original underwear is made from cotton and the new “breathable” underwear is made from a blend of nylon and spandex, two manmade fibers. I was further told the “breathable” underwear also wicked. At this point in my conversation I explained that the natural fiber cotton does wick because it can absorb the moisture whereas the nylon spandex blend was synthetic and therefore does not absorb the moisture. It should be noted that the nylon spandex blend is not attached via lamination to ant film such as PTFE which is what Gore calls Gore-Tex.

To the best of my knowledge when I was born my mother used cotton diapers for me and then as I grew I was put in cotton underwear which I still wear today; ( of course they are new). All of the underwear that I have worn all of my life has been made from cotton and it is a knit construction. The spaces between the yarns allow the moisture that comes out of my body to escape and some is absorbed by the cotton yarns as well. What I have never noticed is my underwear breathing. It is inanimate you know!

The outdoor industry in my opinion is obsessed with offering “wicking and breathable” garments and will say whatever they believe they can get away with to try and convince the ultimate consumer to buy what they are selling. My observation over the last 40 years is that these companies will listen to the yarn producers or knitters or weavers who say the most glorious things about the fabrics they make and have large advertising programs that the end item sellers jump on.

My suggestion is that you take what you are reading or hearing about all of these various garments with a grain of salt. During the warmer weather I recommend wearing cotton garments so the moisture from your body can be wicked away. When you wear any synthetic it will not absorb the moisture but basically trap it against your skin so you will become clammy.

It is again my opinion that the outdoor apparel makers are trying to distance themselves from the “waterproof/breathable” concept that has existed for too long in the industry.

When it comes to underwear cotton is best and because it is not coated it is VAPOR PERMEABLE. That is a term they have stayed away from for eons. When moisture leaves the human body through the pores it is vapor and the materials that cover your body should always be vapor permeable. That is it should not be coated in any manner.

Even though synthetic underwear is not coated if the knit is very close moisture will not necessarily as a vapor move through the spaces between the yarns and will condense against your skin surface versus cotton which will absorb the moisture and it will move through the fabric.