What are the benefits of Moisture Wicking Fabrics?
Moisture wicking fabrics draw perspiration away from your skin through capillary action. Moisture wicking fabric helps moisture “wick” to the outside surface of your clothing where it can evaporate while still keeping your skin and muscles warm. Because of their wicking properties, moisture-wicking fabrics are excellent thermal regulators. (Meaning you will not get too hot or too cold.)
Moisture wicking fabrics keep sweat moving to the surface area of the fabric instead of absorbing it. With a fabric such as cotton, your sweat gets trapped in the fibers of the material and cannot evaporate easily. This leads to your clothes feeling heavy and clammy against your skin and ultimately, discomfort. Damp, wet clothing also results in losing body heat, cooling down your muscles leaving you more susceptible to pulls and sprains.
When should you use Moisture Wicking Fabrics?
Clothing made with wicking properties is perfect for year-round wear. Moving moisture away from your skin keeps you warm in cool weather and dry and comfortable in hotter weather. Wear our moisture wicking arm and leg sleeves and our compression braces by themselves or comfortably under an outer layer of clothing.
Are any Natural Fibers considered Moisture Wicking?
Wool is a natural conductor of water. Wool will absorb a small amount of water but it still effectively moves moisture to the surface of your clothing. Products made with wool are the perfect clothing option for cold winter months, they keep you warm while wicking moisture to keep you dry and comfortable.
Another benefit of wool is its odor-fighting properties. Warmth, dryness, and odor-free comfort make wool a favorite of winter clothing manufacturers.
Cotton while breathable and highly porous it absorbs water in its fibers and does not wick the moisture away from the skin. If you are exerting yourself your sweat will get soaked up by the cotton becoming heavy, clammy, and uncomfortable. Once temperatures cool your sticky, cotton shirt will cool down quickly leaving you chilled and at risk for muscle strains.
Synthetic Fabrics
Synthetic fabrics such as polyester, rayon, and others are almost non-porous, leading to almost no sweat absorption. A process is known as “Capillary Action” drives moisture to the surface of your clothing. Synthetic fibers spun and knit into clothing items are perfect for performance wear that can be worn year-round to help wick moisture and regulate body temperature during normal work activity or heavy exertion.
